Bankrupt today! My sorry tale....

Just been made bankrupt. I don't feel sorry for myself and have spent all afternoon looking for a bank account - no luck yet! Tried Nationwide, Skipton, Secure Trust, Abbey, Alliance & Leicester, NatWest so far...

I expect some people will judge me, but first hear my tale!

When now my ex-wife and I were sorting the terms of our divorce it was agreed I would buy her out of our home. My mortgage lender forced me to apply for a new mortgage and provided info to my solicitor which I believe was submitted to and accepted by the Land Registry and County Court saying this was the case.

The mortgage lender also gave me permission to let the property out as it was 70 miles away from my workplace. This permission in writing was good enough for another mortgage lender to provide me with a mortgage on a new home nearer work so I could start again.

I moved here on Jan 10, 2005 and on Jan 17, 2005 I was warned my job was at risk. As a salaried business adviser, I was offered a six month contract after my redundancy so set myself up as a limited company. In March 2005 I was made redundant and surprise surprise the offer of the 6 month's of work didn't materialise and my ltd company has never traded.

The mortgage co that gave me permission to rent my house out then told me they actually recinded the permission 10 days after giving it me and the letter must have got lost: I had to pay two mortgage payments. The house is 5 miles away from the Rover plant so the market was dead.

My first call dealing with my finances was to the various providors of my loans and credit cards. One told me that as a director of a company I wasn't able to claim off my insurance and this would be the same with everything. I think they told me I wouldn't be able to sign on either.

I looked for work unsuccesfully and managed to break my hand in two places which was not able to be plastered. I did not trade within the ltd company.

In June I received a mortgage statement for the ex-marital property and it was the old mortgage in both names. I contacted my solicitor who told me that the mortgage company stated that the solicitor had not provided certain information they were never asked for and that the documentation was embargoed even though the solicitor was never told: I couldn't get another mortgage so even though the paperwork went through and were accepted by the land registry and county courts I was in exactly the same position I was when we were married and there was nothing I could do. The solicitor disputed this and I was caught in the middle.

So having to pay for two mortgages and thinking I couldn't claim on my insurance(s) or sign on you can guess what I did: loaded the ccards.

Eventually I realised my outgoings were approaching 4k per month and the cards were maxed out.

In a mad attempt to sort out money, I saw an accountant. He told me that the advice about not claiming benefits,etc or off the insurance was rubbish: if the limited company did not provide me with a sustainable income then I was allowed to claim!!!!

The accountant advised me to get a salaried job and seek the independent advice of a specialist in debts and insolvency.

My ex-marital house was still on the market, dropped in price by nearly 30k from May 05, I still had my new one which is still in negative equity and I had around 84k in unsecured debts (loans/ccards).

I had job interviews but in the back of my mind was I couldn't afford to take the jobs if offered as I wouldn't earn enough. I didn't get them, but wonder if my performance was affected by the debts. As soon as I was aware that I had to be salaried to even start sorting the debts out I got meself a corking role down in Luton. I started the new job in Januar proper (they are aware that two houses, redundancy and divorce have been my life this year). My debt adviser told me to apply for bankruptcy as not even an IVA was liable.

I sold the Birmingham house, completing on the 31st March 06 and I just about broke-even, having lost 30k because of the Rover effect.

Over-riding all this, my mother was seriously ill and given a "wonder drug" just out under licence. What happened to those guys in the trial the other week happened to her and we nearly lost her...my father developed a major heary problem also for which the prognosis is not good and he needs surgery soon.

Throughout this I was under the doctor in Birmingham who diagnosed me with depression and threw Serxat at me. At my new place with a new doctor, he made me see a counsellor and come off the pills.

With the counsellors help I found direction and saw the accountant, dealt with cccs, was able to get a job and function.

So there's my sorry tale....

In summary:
1.0 By the Mrs garage flowes and don't take her for granted.
2.0 Call centres don't give accurate information, seek independent advice immediately after redundancy
3.0 Ensure that your insurance will pay out if you are on income support or jobseeker's allowance, etc
4.0 Never ever buy financial products off a well-known company whose intials are the same as a Rudyard Kipling poem as they don't know their a*** from their elbow

If anyone knows who may offer me an account, let me know!

If anyone wants to use my sorry-a***d tale for their publication, then drop me a line.

Phew. What a ramble...