My car and bankruptcy

out_of_cash

hi all,

i was just wondering i have a car worth 2300 how long is it after you have been made br until they take the car?

regards

out of cash

skylight

Depends. On price, circumstances, OR etc.

peachyprice

They're usually pretty quick in getting cars collected because unless they've expempted it they're liable for it if it's in an accident.

So within a week of telling you is has to go.

strimmerman

I have obviously been over enthusiastic over the worth of my car....having checked it on Autotrader I would be lucky to be looking at £500 for it lol. Do I assume that the value will automatically exempt it? Does the car have to be included on your SOA regardless of the value? OH has a van he uses for work that is worth less than 1K.....does also having a van in the househol make any difference to whether the car is of interest to the OR or not? I do have 3 very good reasons why the household could not lose the car.

peachyprice

The value won't automatically exempt it, you'll still need a good reason to keep it. It's not just the value of the car that it taken into consideration, it's also the running costs.

As for the van, if there's a good reason to keep both it won't make any difference, each vehicle is looked at individually. Who are the car and van owned by?

strimmerman

Van is owned by other half and reason needed - in order to work....running costs are high on that at present as he is working on a job 100 mile round trip away from home....but if he is going to work that is the only job he has available at present...as self employed the next one may be closer to home....

Car is owned by me - reasons for having to keep it are
1. youngest childs school transport (I know that is not considered as essential) however catchment school that provides transport will not accept her due to over subscription and i have so far appealed twice and will be appealing again. School currently attended has no direct public tranport - would involve taking a bus 9 miles in opposite direction catching another bus 11 miles back to reach the village the school is in....I will check but i am not certain that there are even buses at the applicable times as public transport to village school is in is sketchy at best. God knows how long this journey would take...and after school it would mean the other children would have no-one at home if I spent all my day riding round on buses as a 7 year old could not be expected to make the trip alone. Further she has to move in Sept 09 to primary school (our BR year will be up 6/11/09). Unless I successfully appeal and get her into catchment area school already mentioned she will have to go elsewhere. This school would have direct transport by bus but again at age 7 she could not amke this journey alone. A single fare for a trip of 1.5miles from here is 95p so per day it would probably cost £6 per day to travel 4 miles for that trip and I couldn't even begin to guess what her current trip would cost if forced to be taken by public transport....maybe around £20 ish per day. If we had the car it would be 2 x 2.5 mile trips per day both now and after she moves schools.
2. I work on freelance basis and this requires travel anywhere in the country at short notice. The work is intermittant and unpredictable.....not regular. can't use public transport for this as I am allocated a milage allowance as part of the job, job often requires stay near and working at out of town shopping areas and would mean I would have to fund taxis buses etc out of my own wages to get to where I have to work, which would reduce my earnings. I have used it for this purpose over the last year at least once a month for about 9 months out of 12. By once I mean I might stay for a couple of days each time. Wages from this job are my sole income and the pay is a decent amount.
3. There are 7 of us in the household myself OH 4 kids and my Dad. So practically speaking we would never be able to leave the house as a family if only left with a van. Also if OH and I have to leave the house together then we would have to leave a 7, 10 & 11yr old (other child is 16 so not an issue) alone at home...which is not really on. We have an 8 seater car as obviously we can't all fit into a normal car. My Dad suffers ill health and need to visit doctors hospital appts etc if I do not have a vehical then anytime this happens OH would have to stop work and take him by van. Also as per point 1 if I had to ride round on buses then this would mean leaving my Dad for extended periods and I cannot do this as his illnesses can be irratic. In normal daily life the only way we are able to leave him is if we know our 16 yr old is here just to make sure everything is OK. I panic if I have to pop to the local market town 2 miles away and leave him.

Not sure how the running costs pan out for car yet......

Also have another car in my name which is knackered.....it is prob worth about £400 max but needs a new gearbox which has to be specially fitted as would require conversion from semi auto to manual due to inherant semi auto fault.....this would cost min of £500 to implement (obtained info on that from dealer) so obviously we have done nothing with it.....it is a very small 5 seater (if you are midgets) car.

Do you reckon that that gives enough weight to why the 8 seater car is essential to us? Presuming I should write all that down....ascertain the bus fares and have it ready to hit the OR with if he decides we don't need car.

skylight

Get as much info as you can to back up your running costs and comparison travel costs. Look at bus passes per person (if available in your area), additional taxi costs for those late night trips and trips to take Dad to Docs/hopsital etc, home shopping delivery costs, look at your last 12 weeks of freelancing and get train/taxi costs etc for those trips.

As you have 2 cars, with one knackered, you may be able to talk the OR into taking that one instead. But your biggest argument is that you still need the big vehicle for combined family and work use. If you do not have a reliable car then you will not be able to undertake any freelance work thus you will not be able to contribute to the household income.

strimmerman

Thanks sky...will do all that with the travel.

All I can say is good luck to him if he wants the knackered car....it has stood for 18 months and consequently aside from spending more than the car is worth to fix the gear box it would need new tyres and god know what else...suppose he might get £50 scrap for it lol.