bankruptcy approved.......

jonesy1973 · 15 July 2017 at 3:07PM

Hi, all. that I would share my experiences on my bankruptcy and hopefully get a few questions answered.
I submitted applications last week, after speaking with turn 2 us and receiving a grant from a charity, linked to an industry I once worked in, which covered the bankruptcy fees.
I am yet to speak with OR, however, I'm confident this is the correct decision for my family and can already see a glimmer of light at the end of what has been a very dark, long tunnel.
I would be really interested to hear of peoples experiences with the Oficial receiver as one of my main concerns is our current income is made up of my wife's part time wage, child tax credits and some housing benefit.
I have always worked since leaving school nearly 20 years ago, however, i registered as self-employed last year with a vision of making my own money selling utilities to homes and businesses. In reality, I have turned into a house husband and have been taking care of my young sons.
my concern is how this will be looked at by the OR?
I've also read lots of conflicting stories about allowances with broadband and mobile phone contracts. My wife and I have mobile phone contracts which are tied with a company which also do our gas elec broadband and phone line. (all on one dd) wondering is this will go in our favour as its realy helped with budgeting.

thanks for reading everyone, happy to answer any questions and hope to hear from people in a similar boat.

LEK · 18 July 2017 at 10:36AM

Hi there,

Just a bit of input that you'll hopefully find useful behind my story.

I went BR back in July 2016, I was assigned my own personal OR within a few days and also had the telephone interview carried out within the first 10 days if I recall. The phone interview itself lasted for just over 30 minutes and went pretty straight forward, as expected I was nervous to begin with as it was actually the very first time I opened up about my financial troubles to anyone else besides my partner but my OR was very straight up, took everything on board that I said and not once judged or criticised me for my past.

At the end of the day it's the OR's job to simply gather as much background and information about you as much as possible, a lot of people in this position out there get worried & are under the impression that the OR will talk down to you and give you a grilling for getting into this much financial strain, but this is not true. As long as you are honest and truthful with them, they will cooperate with you as much as possible. The OR will also advise on exactly how you should proceed forward in your situation and will also advise on your other questions promptly.

During the telephone interview I was informed that it was not in their interest to set up a 3 year IPA in my case but that I would be subjected to the NT Tax IPA that would last from August 2016 through to April 2017. Once they handed the NT Tax IPA case over to my assigned third party to collect monthly payments, I never heard from my OR again (apart from when I notified them that I had changed address & them acknowledging the request). I kept up to date with my NT Tax IPA payments, and I was finally discharged from my BR last week.

With regards to your allowances, if you're not in any debt with your mobile phone provider then you may get away with keeping the contact in operation - however from my own experience I had to downsize to a SIM only Pay As You Go with EE as I read up originally that O2 (who I was with) regularly check the London Gazette and therefore if you are made BR then they will cancel your contract with immediate effect. I passed over my O2 contract details to my OR as a debt anyway as it was still valued at over £500 at the time of going BR. You may still be able to carry on a contract if you're with another mobile provider and others do not check the London Gazette.

I've been with PlusNet for my home broadband / landline for the past couple of years and my account was unaffected and even up to now as they are BR friendly from what I've heard. I'm also with OVO for my gas & electric and have been for the past couple of years, again this was unaffected at the time of me going BR.

All the best of luck to you and your wife.

Liam.

silvercar · 18 July 2017 at 2:55PM

I would be really interested to hear of peoples experiences with the Oficial receiver as one of my main concerns is our current income is made up of my wife's part time wage, child tax credits and some housing benefit.

None of those can be touched in bankruptcy. So you would be safe from an IPA. in fact, once the OR hears you are not actually earning at the moment, I suspect they won't have much interest in you beyond the initial interview.

jonesy1973 · 20 July 2017 at 11:51AM

Thanks for the replys guys. I had my interview with official receiver yesterday. The gent I spoke to was great. Very friendly and understanding, the interview only lasted 17 mins. During the interview he didn't ask me anything about my soa and stated he would contact my bank to basicaly state he wants nothing from me. Can I expect further problems down the line regarding my mobile contract or should I be Ok? Thanks again for replys.

LEK · 20 July 2017 at 1:34PM

jonesy1973 wrote: »

Thanks for the replys guys. I had my interview with official receiver yesterday. The gent I spoke to was great. Very friendly and understanding, the interview only lasted 17 mins. During the interview he didn't ask me anything about my soa and stated he would contact my bank to basicaly state he wants nothing from me. Can I expect further problems down the line regarding my mobile contract or should I be Ok? Thanks again for replys.

Glad to hear it went well

About your mobile phone, did you include it as a debt within the bankruptcy? (If it's like others where you have an expensive handset, it's just like a loan agreement as you effectively pay for the handset as well as the airtime). If you didn't mention it as part of the bankruptcy and depending who you are with - just keep using it as normal and see if it goes undetected since the bankruptcy takes effect.

As I mentioned on my original post, I ended up declaring mine within my BR as O2 themselves are very particular with bankrupts & immediately cancel contract holders that go BR.

Also be on the look out to see if you hear of any correspondence from any other household supplier / utility firms that you might be with. For water supply I am with Severn Trent and even though I was not in debt with them at the time of me going BR and even though I didn't mention them when I went BR, they still wrote to me a month after going BR as they acknowledged this after my OR wrote to them but they stated that my account would be unaffected and still operating as normal.

Lastly have you opened up another bank account since going bankrupt? If not then get one open ASAP with a BR friendly bank (Nationwide & Barclays being the two major ones - if you already hold an account with either then they will automatically downgrade your account to a basic one anyway). I was with Halifax at the time of going BR and even though I emptied it & had no overdraft on the account, they still closed it down despite the OR having no interest in it as they are not BR friendly at all.

Liam.

jonesy1973 · 20 July 2017 at 5:05PM

I currently hold a cashminder with the co-op so should be ok there. in regards to my phone it was included in soa + my gas elec broadband and mobiles are with one company (1 monthly dd for all ) realy helps us budget and we get cheaper deal having all todether. hoping we dont loose that. the or gave me no reasons to think otherwise. things just appear to be running a little too smoothly and i keep waiting for reality to kick in and something happen which will have an impact on us.

gman1980 · 25 July 2017 at 2:59PM

Quick question LKV- Does the OR tell specifically about a BRO/BRU at the end of the interview? I understand they have until the last 21 days to write to you in case of a BRU acceptance, but just wanted to know whats the norm?
apologies jonsey for hijacking the thread..

jonesy1973 · 25 July 2017 at 3:42PM

no problem mate. I'm also a little confused as today I have received a letter with an attached IPOQ form to complete. this is asking me to complete my income and expinditure again which i have already done as part of the application, is it normal to be completing numerous soa's as part of the bankruptsy process?

luvchocolate · 25 July 2017 at 4:15PM

When I met with my trustee they gave me another S.O.A to complete, I said nothing had changed since I did the one for the court, they said that one would be fine then.
I would just ask them.

bankruptcy approved.......

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