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My Account of my OR interview
empty_wallet_2
Posts: 433 Forumite
My OR Telephone interview
I am posting this account of my OR interview today, hopefully some of the info will be of help to others:
A, preparation for the interview
I sent as much paperwork as possible to the OR before my interview, this was basically 12months of credit card statements, bank statements, 3 months payslips, final completion statement for house sale 2 years ago with supporting bank statements showing how the assets/equity was spent, tenancy agreement, loan agreements, vehicle valuations from wisebuyers website, details of my premium bond, share certificate, cheque books, credit cards (cut up). I also included a covering letter for each set of statements and detailed any purchases over £100 to show what they were for. In all I sent 1.5kg of paperwork off to the OR. The first thing the OR said to me today was to thank me for sending so much paperwork and having it organised, he said it will help in his reports and would mean the interview would be shorter.
A note to make on sending info off, some forum members have said send as little as possible, or if you cant find it easily then don’t bother as it’s the OR’s job to get all that info, well I spent a day going through all my paperwork to fill out the SOA court forms so all the info was at hand for the OR and the more info you can send and the better organised it is can only help your case as if you put the OR in a good mood to start with it certainly helps.
B, just before the interview
Get a glass of water (for those dry mouth moments), pen, paper and a copy of your SOA and have a quick read through.
C, The interview
The phone rang within 1 minute of my appointed time and he asked if I was ready for the Interview, he explained that it was his job to ascertain how I got into the situation and make out the report to send to creditors and the court and also to reclaim any assets of high value to distribute between the creditors. He also said that if during the interview there are silences, then not to worry as he will probably be making notes.
So he started off by asking me to describe how I’ve come to the stage of becoming BR. Then he wanted to ascertain a timeline to my debts. What he was trying to do was find out when my debts became unmanageable, we went back over the last 5 years, he asked about loans I took out 4 years ago, what they were for etc, what my income was like, how much my mortgage had been and living expenses, how my personal life had been, why I sold the house, what I had paid off with the equity from my house sale. All was going ok and he was happy with most of my spending and explanations apart from a silly period last April, May, June where I put quite a bit onto one Credit card, most was down to balance transfers and decorating/furnishing a new house we moved to. I don’t think he was too happy with the fact that even though I had cleared 30k off my CC’s 2 years ago I had managed to build them right up again and kept asking when I got to the stage where I new I couldn’t afford to repay them, this though I couldn’t really answer as I had my head buried in the sand (which I told him), I did say that It had gone on longer than maybe it should have but that was because I was trying to get a new job so I could apply for an IVA and he answered with so you knew you couldn’t afford to repay your debts then as an IVA isn’t really repaying your debts, so he got me there really, not much more I could say. Then he asked when I decided to go BR and I said end of January as I had looked into an IVA and realised how deep into debt I really was and that I couldn’t afford to pay anything on an IVA, also that I had sort advice from CCCS and they said BR was only option. I was then asked when I stopped paying my creditors and that was easy as it was this month, asked if I had made any large purchases and I said not in the last 12 months and that was pretty much all he wanted to know about my debts.
Then onto my assets, they being a premium bond and a share certificate. We discussed my vehicles and he was happy to make my van exempt as I used it to get to and from work and its worth maybe £1500. He said my motorbike wouldn’t be exempt but If I could find someone to pay towards it then I could keep it and he said basically they would be looking at what it would be worth at auction which is about 50% of true value.
Then onto my I&E and discussed my job and what my income was, my OH’s contribution to living expenses and then looked at the expenditure. My rent was ok as it was proved with my tenancy agreement, all other household bills were fine and reasonable, however he did say they do not normally allow birthdays/xmas and holidays but he would allow it on mine as I didn’t have sufficient surplus for an IPA anyway. Then just asked me to let them know should I change jobs or my income or expenditure changes.
And that was pretty much it , he then asked if I had any questions. I asked about them not contacting my landlord which he said they don’t normally do anyway unless your in arrears and its included in the BR or if you cant supply a copy of your tenancy agreement to prove your rent, they would then have to contact them to confirm your rental amount.
I asked about what to do with nasty letters from creditors and he said to forward them onto him as that’s what they are paid for, he also said he hadn’t contacted my creditors yet, this he would do with the report from today, strange though as Capital Ones wrote to me yesterday saying they had been informed. He did say if I wanted to I could just send my creditors copies of my BR order to keep them off my back till he has made contact.
And there you go 56 minutes of interview.
Conclusion
Do send as much paperwork as possible and keep it organised.
Do send a tenancy agreement if you rent and it should stop the OR from contacting your landlord, however reading many posts on here this seems to change depending on which OR office you deal with.
Do carryout your own vehicle valuations and include copies.
Be as truthful as you can be, by this stage your already BR.
The fear of the interview is alot worse than it actually is.
I am posting this account of my OR interview today, hopefully some of the info will be of help to others:
A, preparation for the interview
I sent as much paperwork as possible to the OR before my interview, this was basically 12months of credit card statements, bank statements, 3 months payslips, final completion statement for house sale 2 years ago with supporting bank statements showing how the assets/equity was spent, tenancy agreement, loan agreements, vehicle valuations from wisebuyers website, details of my premium bond, share certificate, cheque books, credit cards (cut up). I also included a covering letter for each set of statements and detailed any purchases over £100 to show what they were for. In all I sent 1.5kg of paperwork off to the OR. The first thing the OR said to me today was to thank me for sending so much paperwork and having it organised, he said it will help in his reports and would mean the interview would be shorter.
A note to make on sending info off, some forum members have said send as little as possible, or if you cant find it easily then don’t bother as it’s the OR’s job to get all that info, well I spent a day going through all my paperwork to fill out the SOA court forms so all the info was at hand for the OR and the more info you can send and the better organised it is can only help your case as if you put the OR in a good mood to start with it certainly helps.
B, just before the interview
Get a glass of water (for those dry mouth moments), pen, paper and a copy of your SOA and have a quick read through.
C, The interview
The phone rang within 1 minute of my appointed time and he asked if I was ready for the Interview, he explained that it was his job to ascertain how I got into the situation and make out the report to send to creditors and the court and also to reclaim any assets of high value to distribute between the creditors. He also said that if during the interview there are silences, then not to worry as he will probably be making notes.
So he started off by asking me to describe how I’ve come to the stage of becoming BR. Then he wanted to ascertain a timeline to my debts. What he was trying to do was find out when my debts became unmanageable, we went back over the last 5 years, he asked about loans I took out 4 years ago, what they were for etc, what my income was like, how much my mortgage had been and living expenses, how my personal life had been, why I sold the house, what I had paid off with the equity from my house sale. All was going ok and he was happy with most of my spending and explanations apart from a silly period last April, May, June where I put quite a bit onto one Credit card, most was down to balance transfers and decorating/furnishing a new house we moved to. I don’t think he was too happy with the fact that even though I had cleared 30k off my CC’s 2 years ago I had managed to build them right up again and kept asking when I got to the stage where I new I couldn’t afford to repay them, this though I couldn’t really answer as I had my head buried in the sand (which I told him), I did say that It had gone on longer than maybe it should have but that was because I was trying to get a new job so I could apply for an IVA and he answered with so you knew you couldn’t afford to repay your debts then as an IVA isn’t really repaying your debts, so he got me there really, not much more I could say. Then he asked when I decided to go BR and I said end of January as I had looked into an IVA and realised how deep into debt I really was and that I couldn’t afford to pay anything on an IVA, also that I had sort advice from CCCS and they said BR was only option. I was then asked when I stopped paying my creditors and that was easy as it was this month, asked if I had made any large purchases and I said not in the last 12 months and that was pretty much all he wanted to know about my debts.
Then onto my assets, they being a premium bond and a share certificate. We discussed my vehicles and he was happy to make my van exempt as I used it to get to and from work and its worth maybe £1500. He said my motorbike wouldn’t be exempt but If I could find someone to pay towards it then I could keep it and he said basically they would be looking at what it would be worth at auction which is about 50% of true value.
Then onto my I&E and discussed my job and what my income was, my OH’s contribution to living expenses and then looked at the expenditure. My rent was ok as it was proved with my tenancy agreement, all other household bills were fine and reasonable, however he did say they do not normally allow birthdays/xmas and holidays but he would allow it on mine as I didn’t have sufficient surplus for an IPA anyway. Then just asked me to let them know should I change jobs or my income or expenditure changes.
And that was pretty much it , he then asked if I had any questions. I asked about them not contacting my landlord which he said they don’t normally do anyway unless your in arrears and its included in the BR or if you cant supply a copy of your tenancy agreement to prove your rent, they would then have to contact them to confirm your rental amount.
I asked about what to do with nasty letters from creditors and he said to forward them onto him as that’s what they are paid for, he also said he hadn’t contacted my creditors yet, this he would do with the report from today, strange though as Capital Ones wrote to me yesterday saying they had been informed. He did say if I wanted to I could just send my creditors copies of my BR order to keep them off my back till he has made contact.
And there you go 56 minutes of interview.
Conclusion
Do send as much paperwork as possible and keep it organised.
Do send a tenancy agreement if you rent and it should stop the OR from contacting your landlord, however reading many posts on here this seems to change depending on which OR office you deal with.
Do carryout your own vehicle valuations and include copies.
Be as truthful as you can be, by this stage your already BR.
The fear of the interview is alot worse than it actually is.
Life is like a game of Snakes & Ladders, i almost made it to the top but now i'm at the bottom again and its a very long ladder to the top. I had it all and now its gone :eek:
Well my 6 years are now up, now to start to rebuild my life again
BSC Member 95
Well my 6 years are now up, now to start to rebuild my life again
BSC Member 95
0
Comments
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Fantastic account Max.
Just goes to show though that all OR's have their own little foibles :mad: with what they will allow and won't :rolleyes: even if it is in their manual.BSCno.87The only stupid question is an unasked oneLoving life as a Kernow Hippy0 -
Hello, Thanks for the account. Im going BR on 17th March and am dreading the OR interview. This really helps to prepare,will start digging out paperwork in readiness.0
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EW(should change that user name now,esp with no IPA:D )
My OR interview was almost identical,perhaps it was the same chap!.Good account and very helpful to others.Glad he got to see all your hard work before the inteview:cool: .DalipFree impartial debt advice available from: National Debtline - Tel: 0808 808 4000 | The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) - Tel: 0800 138 1111 | Find your local Citizens Advice Bureau
Laugh at yourself and others laugh with you.Laugh at others and you laugh alone. BSC No 107:D0 -
EW(should change that user name now,esp with no IPA:D )
.Dalip
:rotfl: :rotfl: i dont know about that, the old wallet will still be pretty empty come the end of the month i think, well apart from the expenditure savings for holidays, birthdays etc.
Its going to be a shock living within my own means for the 1st few months i think.
But the strangest thing is going to be the fact its going to be the first time in 18 years that i dont have any credit bills to pay or anything on credit (so to speak).Life is like a game of Snakes & Ladders, i almost made it to the top but now i'm at the bottom again and its a very long ladder to the top. I had it all and now its gone :eek:
Well my 6 years are now up, now to start to rebuild my life again
BSC Member 950 -
EW
Yes i know what you mean as i had my cc's for at least 16 years and it was so strange just paying utility bills.Even to the point where i almost had withdrawal symptoms.My hands shook the first time i paid food bill with cash, i'm sure the cashier noticed:rotfl: .But gosh the feeling is so nice. Myself and hubby(we both work together)leave our jobs tomorrow, pretty confident we will get something withinn the nxt few wks(long story)but without my bc that would not have been poss.We have worked there for the last several (me 11,hubby17)years,slogging away.Debt tied us to that company,and i could make your hair curl with stories,bc has freed us!!!!:T Hope you get to feel the same realease as i (and hubby) have now.Dalip:cool:Free impartial debt advice available from: National Debtline - Tel: 0808 808 4000 | The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) - Tel: 0800 138 1111 | Find your local Citizens Advice Bureau
Laugh at yourself and others laugh with you.Laugh at others and you laugh alone. BSC No 107:D0
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