Got my fee together, next steps

alltaken wrote: »

I have a concern on the property sale. You say it was joint, what was the total release from the sale? I mean to say what did the split of the proceeds look like? 50/50 of the sale with the joint owner? I ask because the OR may look at this with interest if you have realised the proceeds at under value by way of taking less than your share.

Which leads me to my next question, what did you do with any proceeds from the sale of the property? I understand you will hopefully make clearer the split, have you spent any of the money on other things? I'm just trying to get an overview so you can be prepared for any issues the OR may have.

My final question, and my apologies if this seems overly harsh (I don't know your full circumstances), why did it take the sale of the property to gain the bankruptcy fee? I understand that it can be a large sum of money for some people to find, but in general once you stop servicing debts the fee is largely acquired in a few months.

The actual bankruptcy process is very quick, as you likely already know, it is an online process and the reported result as quickly as 24-48 hours. Once bankrupt you can expect a call from the OR within a couple of weeks but this can vary. You'll receive a pack via post to sign and send back, forms such as a data protection waiver (For purposes of the OR inquiries) and more importantly perhaps, a document explaining your duties as an undischarged bankrupt (You will need a witness to sign this alongside yourself) Send the documents back either via the prepaid envelope or via email (ask your OR office for the email address, their number should be on the documents they send).

The initial interview will be face to face or more commonly, over the phone and generally lasts up to an hour, depending on complexity. I say initial interview, it could be the only one. That interview could set the basis for any potential IPA or BRU/BRO going forward, with follow up questions/additional appointments, if required, further into the bankruptcy. Equally, the interview could be very straight forward and uneventful in that the OR office does not have any questions about the information submitted and is largely satisfied, this is why it is important to get your financial past as exact as possible, with proceed details from property and assets etc etc and what the money went towards as clear as possible.

alltaken wrote: »

Thanks, I'll hopefully put your mind at ease somewhat by saying the spend on insurance and car seem justified and I highly doubt you have anything to worry about. You spent under £1000 on a vehicle which was sensible, I'm guessing the market value is also under £1000?

Your student loan would be excluded from the bankruptcy as you appear to already know; is your current income comprised of state benefits? If so you will not be subject to a budget per se, you would of course fill out the online forms with relevant budgets as you spend currently, but would not be held to a hard and fast agreement with view to an IPA being put in place, that can't happen if your income is as mentioned.

With your student loan repayments, is the current amount affordable? If you're happy paying the current agreed figure, I imagine the OR will have no objection, your income is yours to budget as you wish if not subject to an IPA.

Lastly, have you discussed a Debt relief order at all? I understand your property would have made you ineligible initially, now that you do not have (presumably) any assets over £1000, do you have a total debt under £20,000? Your student loan does not count towards the limit.