Court Date

petrified_2

Woohooo, just wanted to share - i have br forms all but filled in, and court date for 26th March. Have phoned all my creditors this afty to explain the situation, and they were all extremely kind and understanding - even those with court dates for reposession orders and order against home. However, the creditor i owe the least to was extremely rude and threatened to send 'doorstep recovery officer' round for their £34!!! The biggest shock was the insolvency service helpline. The man i spoke to was so abrupt nad unhelpful he made me cry.
This br malarkey is such a rollercoaster of emotions. Am now on a high because there is now light at the end of the tunnel.

Just wanted to say thanks everyone for your being here to provide somewhere to turn to for help and advice in my darkest hours. (Between you and me, some of you know more than the CAB advisor i saw today). It really does help to know you're not alone.
x

headoutofsand

Was it they who advised you to tell your creditors?

petrified_2

No, it was the CAB who told me to do that because there are pending court cases. Shouldn't i have told the creditors?

headoutofsand

petrified wrote: »

No, it was the CAB who told me to do that because there are pending court cases. Shouldn't i have told the creditors?

Not sure. Your situ may be different. Someone else will have the answer.
Just thought I would query it;)

petrified_2

Well, i didn't give any of them my new address or phone number, so fingers crossed all will be well. Cab seemed sure creditors couldn't do anything...

headoutofsand

petrified wrote: »

Well, i didn't give any of them my new address or phone number, so fingers crossed all will be well. Cab seemed sure creditors couldn't do anything...

I doubt they will have time. I just wondered why CAB had advised you to tell them? Is this something they do?

Dooood

Hi Pet!!

I'm surprised the CAB advised you to inform your creditors - I spoke to the court before my bankruptcy and they said that the Official Receiver will inform my creditors.

Talking of the CAB, I have been disappointed by the CAB in the past but I reluctantly wanted someone to look over my bankruptcy forms the day before my hearing. I'd filled in my forms to the best of my abilities but there were a couple of ambiguous areas that I needed clarifying so I went to CAB - the guy looked at it and agreed with me - without being able to advise any further....????

Anyway, without any practical help from CAB (for the 4th time in my case) the clerk at the court was friendly and helpful as she went through it with me before it was submitted to the judge.

The judge could have been a touch warmer - a cosy chat over tea and biscuits would have been nice!...LOL... He flicked through my SOA and approved my bankruptcy before telling me of certain restrictions - which I already new - and I was out again.....about 2 minutes work for judge!!

I was sent on to see someone at the Official Receivers about my SOA.
He was pleasant too, infact!!!.....considering the comments I've had from certain family and friends (and my gf) - he made me feel less guilty than anyone else!

On the day, it was so straightforward and easy-going it was almost an anti-climax.

Trust me Pet, it's not worth making yourself ill for - you'll see.

Having said that, it's been a week today for me and I'm well aware that things are going to be tough for a year and bloody inconvenient thereafter!!

I can't complain though, after-all, I've walked away from £17k. I think I got off bloody lightly.

Shame I had to hand in my credit cards though - they're great for scraping the pots clean when washing up!!

I'm down to redundant rewards cards and old top-up cards.

Hopefully, you'll breeze through the 26th ok so I'll just wish you luck for the year afterwards!!

Take care.

Doooooooood!

petrified_2

i think it was to reassure me that they coudn't/wouldn't do anything horrendous like lock me up for not answering court ccj letters from sept/oct that i didn't receive until last week til as they were delivered to my old address. she was just getting my head firmly out of the sand i think as i was making myself sick with worry about it all.

ThreeQ

Hi Petrified, just want to add my good wishes to you. I'm a year down the line and can tell you it doesn't hurt all that much!
Dooood's post reminded me that I also found the clerk of the court to be helpful and sympathetic. I was stepping off into the unknown on my own on that day and she made the court business a lot easier for me.
Like you found, once I'd bitten the bullet and done what really had to be done, things felt a lot better

petrified_2

Thanks Dooood and ThreeQ, it really does help to hear from people who have come out the other side of br with positivity in such dire circumstances, that it isn't all as horrendous as you think it will be. I was on phone to samaritans at 1am last tuesday, and this week thanks to cab help and this board with nice people like you, i'm feeling a million times better this week, and have stopped waking up with that blind panic feeling. i just can't wait for it to be over now. Am dreading the OR meeting, and explaining how the situation arose, going through my soa, etc, as i'm rubbish at putting my point across and get all flustered and forget what i meant to say. oh well, what will be will be and all that. let hope they just flick through my soa too then!
x

Dooood

Samaritans?

Trust me Pet - I'll say it again...."It's really not worth making yourself ill for!!"

You'll see!!!

I must admit I felt totally crap about my situation about a year leading up to it - with every failed job application I could see bankruptcy looming.

but!!.... when I seen all these outrageous bank bail-outs and high profile golden handshakes / pensions to bank bosses who'd lost billions .... my guilt and fear of the unknown turned to anger and defiance!

On the day, I was ready to 'exchange words' with anyone who gave me 'attitude' as if I was a cheat and a fraud - especially from some stuffy bureaucrat who hasn't had my run of bad luck in the last couple of years.
I didn't ask to be in my situation.

Turns out, my pent up frustration was all for nothing as everyone was reasonably pleasant and easy-going on the day.

As long as they can see that you're co-operating as much as you can and you're not intentionally with-holding information or being misleading - you'll be fine.

Do what I did.... after I did my duty and left the OR's place - I found myself in Marks & Spencers and treated myself to a twin pack of chocolate eclairs and I ate BOTH regardless of calories / saturated fats etc.
Sod it!!..I felt I'd earned myself a treat following my eventful morning.

Have you got anyone to go with you on the day Pet?
Sounds like you'd benefit from a reassuring hug / hand to hold.

I'm almost glad I did it on my own.
It was so straightforward that I would have regretted sharing my chocolate eclairs with anyone else!! LOL.

Try and take it easy and before you know it - you'll be back on here in April trying to reassure other nervous members "Not to worry. I did it on on March the 26th and it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I feared!"

Sleep well!!

Doooood!