My Bankruptcy Journey/FAQ

haggis0073
haggis0073 Posts: 160 Forumite
edited 19 December 2017 at 11:25AM in Bankruptcy & living with it
So I wanted to write this to let other people know my experience of bankruptcy, if this thread can help at least one person then i will be happy. I will post up what my SOA was in next couple of days

Beginning

My debt as arised over several years consisting of credit cards, loans, catalogues. Everyone has a story as to why they got into debt, and why they ended up not managing to repay, I will not be going into my story as this thread will be long enough as it is lol.

Remember you do not need to have defaults, CCJ's or missed payments to go bankrupt, in fact I never missed one repayment to any of my debts 1 month upto me going bankrupt. The fact was I was insolvent and decided to do something about it before it got out of hand, robbing peter to pay paul was getting silly.

So I initially rang national debtline for advice on my finances, They were fantastic, understanding and supportive, when I spoke to them I went through all my finances, income etc and expenditure and was surprised on what I did not know what I actually spent on things such as clothing, school uniforms, holidays, xmas etc etc. Even though they were very knowledgable and helpful I decided I needed someone to talk to face to face

I then contacted citizens advice bureau, within 2 weeks I had an interview with a money advisor, whilst in the interview she had (what I think) was a copy of the new SFS guidelines, she was fantastic and helped me understand what I needed to include in my expenditure for a family of my size. She was very helpful indeed. You have to remember that once bankrupt you will not have any available credit to use, so you HAVE to budget for everything, otherwise you will struggle as the months go by

I did find it hard getting answers to questions I had sometimes from CAB as every situation is different, and this forum had helped me get a lot of the answers I needed. The majority of forum members on this forum are very helpful and knowledeable, and the very few that seem to want to put people down need to just be ignored as they have probably never been in this situtation and so do not understand the stress, embarrasment, worry etc that we are all going through. I myself got bad anxiety during this process, but there is light at the end of the tunnel, even though it may not seem like it during the bankruptcy process.
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Comments

  • The forms

    From the time I hit the submit button (on a sunday), it got approved the next day, had my interview on the friday. Within a week of submitting, I got approved and had interview. Very fast and efficient

    The online forms when submitting your bankruptcy is very simple and well laid out, I read from a member called “Butts” on the forum that he/she created a dummy account to get a feel for the forms and I must say that is fantastic advice. And I too would advise this (it just gives you an idea of what it will be like, remember to use another email when doing so lol). Search up on the member “Butts” as he too has gone through this and has given fantastic views/advice, I hope you are ok with me mentioning you Butts, if not I will edit it out

    The sections to fill out are straight forward, personal details, employment details, bank accounts, assets, money you owe. That is the easy bit as you should know all this and cannot get it wrong

    You will need ALL the account numbers of your debt, when you opened the account, the amount you currenly owe, and the address of each debt

    The expenditure section is slighlty different from the “stoozing” link but not by much, once you have filled out the forms and expenditure it even tells you if it thinks you will have to pay an IPA.
    I must say that when my application was approved I felt a lot better in the view that I could start rebuilding my future....A fresh start.

    Remember to be realistic in the “income and expenses” section as this is the section that will decide if you have to pay an IPA or not. I was honest when I did my forms, I was also REALISTIC. This forum helped me a lot with filling out the expenses section as some things you spend on but dont think of it at the time such as school uniforms, car parking and even your childrens school trips etc
  • Interview

    I was so nervous leading upto the interview, I was worried I will be grilled, judged and shot down, in fact it was the oppisite, the interviewer was polite, proffesional and in a way very calming. I got a bit tounge tied in places and was just told to take a breathe and calm down. They will go through the forms and confirm what you have put down, they will ask when you last used each of your debts and when you last made any payments to them. The interviewer was not interested in my pension from previous employer (due to my age), they asked if I had any assets, what I need a car for etc very straight forward.

    When it came to the expenses section she accepted all that I put down, it seemed to be a box ticking exercise, what I mean by that is as long as your figure was not above the SFS expenses figure then they did not question it and accepted it. If your figure was above what is allowed then I guess you would just need to justify it. At no point did I put smoking or alcohol in there as I have read that they do not allow it, instead I just included the expense within my housekeeping

    They will ask you if you have seeked advice before going bankruptcy, if you have got this far then I would have hoped you did get advice, so just tell them who you got advice from

    I was asked if I had help filling out the forms, I said that I did not, Bit confused why they asked this question, It could be that if I said I did have help from CAB, then they may have gone through my expenses a bit more carefully (as the CAB etc would have access to the SFS figures) ???????

    My expenses were slighlty more than my income, they asked how I am managing with a negative surplus and I simply explained I was trying to reduce my housekeeping to help level the income/outgoing. I also explained that I am going to be seeking financial coaching to help with the budget, they accepted this. Again I was not lying, I was being honest

    The whole interview process is just to confirm what you have already filled out and explain a few things, It is my understaing that after the interview more checks are made in the background and as long as you have not hid any assets/money, you have not lied etc then chances are thats that and as long as nothing changes you will be discharged in 12 months.My interview lasted exactly 1 hour, this was a long time due to the amount of time spent going through each debt (I had a lot)

    You will be sent some forms out that need signing and sending back within 5 days of receiving, this just gives them permission to check with HMRC and DWP, data protection authority form and your acknowlegement form. You may get these forms before or after the interview
  • Conclusion

    I have made a lot of bad choices and decisions in the past and I must say that me personally have learnt a valuable lesson, and that is to NEVER rely on credit, very rarely does credit make a position better (at least in my case)

    Therefore for me I try to look at bankruptcy as a fresh start and as a positive, I am now forced to budget for things in my life with my income and not with credit cards/loans etc etc, if I need a new car/sofa/clothes/holiday etc then I must budget, save and only then can I purchase

    Bankruptcy is not as scary as you would be led to believe, it is a very fast process and done in a proffesional manner, and as long as you are upfront and honest then all will be just fine

    I have spent hours upon hours, day after day, week after week searching and reading threads on this forum and its been an amazing help, Members such as Debt Doctor, Sourcrates, ToxethO'Grady and many many more have been so helpful with myself and other members, and reading success stories from VeryInTheRed, Butts etc have been a great help and I thankyou all for help/advice
  • WOW thanks so much for your honest and detailed account. I literally could have written most of that myself and I think that just goes to show that most of us on here are in the same boat. This site has been invaluable and I honestly couldn't have gone through my BR without it.
    I too suffered bad anxiety when it came to submitting the BR as it was just such a scary daunting thing to do but I agree, it's not actually as scary as you think it will be.
    I'm only 2 months in to my BR and not everything has yet been completed but I hope one day I can come back on here and give advice to people who are in my situation.
    even though I'm only 2 months in, already a life without credit seems doable and I'm slowly getting passed the ashamed and guilty stage and now seeing everything as a fresh start and hope to achieve a better life now without relying on credit.
    Good luck to you with everything! xxx
  • Nice story, thanks for posting it. I think I will do the same once I am discharged, as in the lead-up to bankruptcy I was astonished at how many conflicting accounts there were, and how many scaremongers. E.g. you're going to jail if you have used your credit card in the weeks before bankruptcy etc.

    We need to dispel some of these myths. I also wish they had replaced the word 'bankruptcy' with another when they reformed the laws recently. It has negative connotations and conjures up emotions in misinformed people which are totally different to reality. As President Trump said, we have all simply "used, brilliantly, the laws of the country"!
  • LincsPaul wrote: »
    Nice story, thanks for posting it. I think I will do the same once I am discharged, as in the lead-up to bankruptcy I was astonished at how many conflicting accounts there were, and how many scaremongers. E.g. you're going to jail if you have used your credit card in the weeks before bankruptcy etc.

    And most of these stories are probably from people who have never been in our position
  • Butts
    Butts Posts: 1,289
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    haggis0073 wrote: »
    The forms



    The online forms when submitting your bankruptcy is very simple and well laid out, I read from a member called “Butts” on the forum that he/she created a dummy account to get a feel for the forms and I must say that is fantastic advice. And I too would advise this (it just gives you an idea of what it will be like, remember to use another email when doing so lol). Search up on the member “Butts” as he too has gone through this and has given fantastic views/advice, I hope you are ok with me mentioning you Butts, if not I will edit it out

    I am absolutely outraged :mad:

    Only joking :D

    Glad my incoherent ramblings were of assistance - all Royalty Payments to the OR please :(
  • Butts
    Butts Posts: 1,289
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    LincsPaul wrote: »
    Nice story, thanks for posting it. I think I will do the same once I am discharged, as in the lead-up to bankruptcy I was astonished at how many conflicting accounts there were, and how many scaremongers. E.g. you're going to jail if you have used your credit card in the weeks before bankruptcy etc.

    I thoroughly endorse this statement. The truth is whereas there are general guidelines each individuals Bankruptcy seems to be slightly different. Not all OR's the same seemingly.

    I've had clowns on here telling me to stop paying my Council Tax to the Council or I will face hideous retribution. Fact - my OR has made no claim on my Council Tax which was up to date at the time of going belly up. Indeed they told me to carry on paying it as normal (which I have done).

    Similarly I have an NT Tax Code and the OR has no interest in the extra cash I am trousering as a result - nice little earner.

    The Golden Rule of Bankruptcy is to (if you can) avoid an IPA at all costs. Access to the SFS "Trigger Figures" certainly helps achieve this.

    The definitive "bankruptcy experiences" appear in this thread authored by those who have actually been through the process.
  • haggis0073, thanks for the great post. I found it very helpful.

    Butts, is there a way to find out what the SFS "Trigger Figures" are?
  • Butts
    Butts Posts: 1,289
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    haggis0073, thanks for the great post. I found it very helpful.

    Butts, is there a way to find out what the SFS "Trigger Figures" are?

    If you are friendly with an accredited party who has access to them.

    If you "read between the lines" on Debt Doctors's evaluation of SOA's posted on the forum you will not be far away.
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