Clear Your Debts with One Affordable Monthly Payment!
You want to settle your debts without going bankrupt? A consumer proposal could be your best solution!
What is a Consumer Proposal?
A consumer proposal is a solution under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act that allows you to negotiate a debt reduction and to spread the payment over several years. Your monthly payment is based on your budget and your personal situation. Your debts can generally be reduced by up to 70% and sometimes even more.
Only a Licensed Insolvency Trustee has the power to file and administer consumer proposals. Your monthly payments will be made directly to the trustee and your creditors will no longer be allowed to make collection calls. No more harassment!
The Advantages of Consumer Proposal
- Once your consumer proposal is completed, you will be free of your debts!
- The interest on your debts ceases.
- A single monthly affordable payment made to your trustee.
- You can keep all your belongings.
- Your creditors can no longer harass you or take action against you.
- You are protected against interruption of services (electricity, telephone, gas, etc.).
- Your employer can not fire you because of your proposal.
- Your loved ones do not have to know you have filed a consumer proposal.
The Disadvantages of Consumer Proposal
- The consumer proposal will appear on your credit report.
- You must respect your commitments and not miss payments.
5 signs you should file a Consumer Proposal
- 1. You’re late in your payments.
- 2. Your creditors are harassing you or your salary is garnished.
- 3. You do not want to lose your property.
- 4. You do not want to declare bankruptcy.
- 5. You could pay down your debts over several years.
What’s the next step?
If you would like more information on consumer proposal, please contact us for a free consultation.
Consumer Proposal Frequently Asked Questions
1. Initial meeting with an advisor
This first meeting with your advisor will enable him to assess your situation and evaluate what your best options are. Together, you will develop a proposal to be presented to your creditors. You can set the terms and conditions of reasonable payments according to your abilities. Of course, the offer should be attractive to your creditors.
2. Filing of the proposal
Once the proposal is developed, your trustee will file with the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy. From this point, you can stop making your payments to your creditors and will be placed under the protection of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. Your creditors can no longer attempt to contact you, garnish your wages or sue you.
3. Presentation of the proposal to creditors
Your trustee will present the proposal to your creditors and give them a report on your financial situation. He will explain your inability to make payments on your debts.
4. Creditors response
Once the proposal is presented, creditors have 45 days to accept or reject it.
If one or more creditors with 25% or more of the amount of debt requests a meeting of creditors, they should go to vote. The weight of the vote of each creditor is proportional to the amount due to him. If the majority of votes are in favor of the proposal, it is considered accepted.
5. Acceptance of the proposal
If your consumer proposal is accepted, you will begin your monthly payments to your trustee.
If your application is rejected, you can try a new amended proposal which will be resubmitted to your creditors. Alternatively, you can declare bankruptcy or settle your debts in a different way.
6. Consultation sessions
Your trustee will offer two consultations on good fiscal management, credit, consumption and debt. These mandatory sessions will help you identify the causes of your financial problems so as not to repeat the situation.
7. Official discharge
If you meet all the conditions set forth in your proposal, your trustee will issue a certificate of full performance of the proposal and you will be free of your debts.
Please note that if you miss three payments without requiring a change to the proposal, it could be canceled by your creditors.
Generally, a proposal lasts 60 months (5 years).
During your free consultation with an advisor from Pierre Roy & Associés, we determine together the most favourable time for you, according to your means.
A proposal generally lasts 60 months, but it can spread over a shorter period.
Each case is unique so do not hesitate to contact us for more information on the duration of a proposal based on your situation.
The amount of your monthly payment will be determined based on the total of your debts, your ability to pay and the length of the proposal. In some cases, debts can be reduced up to 70%.
It is important to make the consumer proposal more advantageous for creditors than bankruptcy.
Your monthly payments will take into account your ability to repay your debts (depending on your income and your actual expenses).
Finally, the monthly payments depends on the number of payments and therefore the duration of your proposal.
A proposal is an alternative to bankruptcy that can be very beneficial in many cases. A consumer proposal might be your best option if:
- There is property you want to keep that would normally be taken in a personal bankruptcy (house, car, etc.)
- You want to restore your credit score more easily.
- You absolutely want to avoid bankruptcy.
Indeed, a consumer proposal offers several advantages, including:
- Only one reasonable monthly payment to make.
- The ability to keep your assets: car, house, furniture, etc.
- Protection against wage garnishment.
- A partial refund, without interest on your debts.
- A smaller impact on your credit rating.
Yes. As soon as you file a consumer proposal or file for bankruptcy, all judicial proceedings to seize your assets are suspended or annulled, except in the following 2 cases:
- In the case of secured creditors. The right to continue proceedings is only limited to their debt. For example, if a secured creditor has a secured credit on your car, the right to seize your assets is limited to the car and not anything else.
- Seizure of child support, if the creditor has obtained the permission of the Court.
If you file a consumer proposal, your credit score will be R-9 for the length of your proposal, then R-7 for the 3 years following the end of your proposal. Happily, there are many ways to rebuild your credit score after your consumer proposal, as you will be debt free.
Here are the definitions of R7 and R9 credit scores:
- R7: Making regular payments using one of the following debt management options: a consolidation order, orderly payment of debts, consumer proposal or debt management program with a credit counselling agency.
- R9: Written off as a “bad debt”, sent to collection agency or bankruptcy
Yes. The main purpose of a consumer proposal is to allow the debtor (you) to keep his assets while offering the creditors an option which is better than bankruptcy. Having said that, it should be obvious that if you want the creditors to accept your consumer proposal, it has to be more profitable to them than if you were to declare bankruptcy.
The more advantageous your consumer proposal will be (when compared to a bankruptcy scenario), the more likely it is that your proposal will be accepted.
A consumer proposal requires the supervision of a Licensed Insolvency Trustee who will handle the negotiations with your creditors and will be there to guide you in this process.
As Licensed Insolvency Trustees, we are specially trained and licensed to administer consumer proposals. We will represent you to your creditors from the beginning to the end of the process.
