Letter to OR re car - please look

raradel

After my OR interview the lady I spoke to said I had to write a letter to say I needed the car on domestic grounds (as it is my husband who needs my car for work and not me). Please can anyone take a look and give their advice - much appreciated.

Dear ........
I am writing to you today following my telephone interview, in regards to my vehicle.

The use of my vehicle is essential to my family on domestic grounds and would cause undue hardship should it be taken from us.

As the only vehicle in the household - my husband does not have a vehicle and is not in a financial position to purchase one - it is obviously vital in getting him and his equipment to and from work (he is a HGV driver and regularly works "nights out"). My husband has used taxis in the past as an alternative but the average cost of £25 return is unaffordable.

Should we lose our vehicle it is a genuine certainty that my husband would be unable to get to work and we would therefore lose his income on which our family solely relies on.

In addition to this, my daughter has begun regular appointments with a speech therapist which is out of our local area. It is absolutely necessary that my daughter attends these appointments as we are working along side the special needs team and teachers in her school to provide additional help in her language development.

Again there are no direct bus routes to any of the clinics that the appoinments maybe held - there are three clinics in which these appointments are held - and a taxi journey would be approximately £28 return minimum based on the experience of those taking similar journeys.

I genuinely appreciate your time and consideration in this matter and should you require any further information I would be more than happy to provide this.

Yours Faithfully .............

So what do you think - have I pleaded my case well enough or have I just waffled myself into losing my car for sure?

Tobiwan_Kenobi

Sounds good to me. The one thing I would change is "I am writing to you", just a bugbear of mine when it comes to letters. They know you are writing to them otherwise they wouldn't have your letter!

iquit

Your letter is clear and your request to keep car is reasonable. I'm worried about my car being taken, work is 50miles from home & I work odd shifts so hope they'll be understanding. I'll keep fingers & toes crossed for you - good luck.

raradel

Tobiwan_Kenobi wrote: »

Sounds good to me. The one thing I would change is "I am writing to you", just a bugbear of mine when it comes to letters. They know you are writing to them otherwise they wouldn't have your letter!

lol okey dokey, good point, consider it gone.

MercMan

Same situation as me in a way. I work for Mercedes and I have to go to various places to collect vehicles to take to new owners or for service. Without a vehicle I'd be out of a job.

headoutofsand

raradel wrote: »

After my OR interview the lady I spoke to said I had to write a letter to say I needed the car on domestic grounds (as it is my husband who needs my car for work and not me). Please can anyone take a look and give their advice - much appreciated.

Dear ........
I am writing to you today following my telephone interview, in regards to my vehicle.

The use of my vehicle is essential to my family on domestic grounds and would cause undue hardship should it be taken from us.

As the only vehicle in the household - my husband does not have a vehicle and is not in a financial position to purchase one - it is obviously vital in getting him and his equipment to and from work (he is a HGV driver and regularly works "nights out").My husband has used taxis in the past as an alternative but the average cost of £25 return is unaffordable.

Should we lose our vehicle it is a genuine certainty that my husband would be unable to get to work and we would therefore lose his income on which our family solely relies on.

In addition to this, my daughter has begun regular appointments with a speech therapist which is out of our local area. It is absolutely necessary that my daughter attends these appointments as we are working along side the special needs team and teachers in her school to provide additional help in her language development.

Again there are no direct bus routes to any of the clinics that the appoinments maybe held - there are three clinics in which these appointments are held - and a taxi journey would be approximately £28 return minimum based on the experience of those taking similar journeys.

I genuinely appreciate your time and consideration in this matter and should you require any further information I would be more than happy to provide this.

Yours Faithfully .............

So what do you think - have I pleaded my case well enough or have I just waffled myself into losing my car for sure?

I would change the nights out bit, if the OR knows about truck driving then they will know that your OH could be away for days meaning he would have no need for the car. You could say he has to start work at various odd times in the morning at varios locations, such as large ind estates situated well off bus routes at those times, which is true, because I am or was a trucker myself. Is he with an agency? If so then the case would be bullet proof;)

ekkygirl

Your letter looks good and you explain yourself well. It would be great if common sense prevails

Good Luck

missymugwump

Hi

You don't mention the age or value of your vehicle
This information will be amongst the first things they consider

ie.. if it really old & due an MOT they may be concerned that it may not pass if its very old and you will not be able to afford it

If its over 2k in value you are highly likely to be told to hand it over & you will be given a lower amount to buy something cheaper

Its a complicated decision based on more factors than just your family need

I wish you luck

Lensman_2

While you are right to consider the value of the vehicle, the OR will follow a laid out decision process.

1. Is the car necessary to the bankrupt? (For various reasons. Work is the main one). If the answer is no, the car will be taken, whatever it is worth.

Then

2. Does it have excess value that can be realised? Guidelines state £2,000 for this decision but it varies by OR. Some will go as low as £1,500 while others will allow a value of £2,500.

Since this letter (very well written BTW) is designed to address only point 1, I would leave the value part out. That's another bridge to cross.

LM

missymugwump wrote: »

Hi

You don't mention the age or value of your vehicle
This information will be amongst the first things they consider

ie.. if it really old & due an MOT they may be concerned that it may not pass if its very old and you will not be able to afford it

If its over 2k in value you are highly likely to be told to hand it over & you will be given a lower amount to buy something cheaper

Its a complicated decision based on more factors than just your family need

I wish you luck

missymugwump

When considering whether to exempt a motor vehicle the principal points that the Official Receiver has to consider are;

whether the vehicle is used by the bankrupt in his/her employment, business or vocation,

that the bankrupt could not reasonably travel to and from his/her place of employment without a vehicle, due to lack of alternative transport,

that the bankrupt’s prospects of obtaining employment would diminish without use of the vehicle, even though the bankrupt may not be in employment at the date of the bankruptcy order. In such cases, the official receiver will need to decide whether there is a reasonable prospect of the bankrupt obtaining work,

that a self employed bankrupt who does not have work at the date of the bankruptcy order may be able to retain a vehicle as an exempt asset if he/she can satisfy the official receiver that there is a reasonable prospect of him/her obtaining work, and

that the bankrupt’s prospect of obtaining work would diminish even if a vehicle requires repair but will then be used to travel to work or to seek employment.
The bankrupt must satisfy the official receiver that a vehicle is necessary. If the bankrupt cannot do so, and the official receiver has reasonable grounds for believing that the vehicle is not exempt, he/she is entitled to treat the property as part of the estate and deal with it accordingly.



This in mind I think that using your husbands employment as primary reason for keeping it may cause an issue
If it is your car it needs to be proved that YOU need it
Have you posted it yet ?

missymugwump

the vehicle should be used personally by the bankrupt and must not be a vehicle maintained for another's exclusive use with occasional assistance and transportation given to the bankrupt.

she will need to demonstrate that there is no public transport alternative or that the distance to travel would make walking (or cycling) an impractical alternative. It is not sufficient for a bankrupt who lives in a rural area to claim a motor vehicle simply by virtue of distance from facilities


The bankrupt must provide a statement that there is no transport alternative (e.g. a local authority school bus service) or, if there is more than one child, show that diverse locations makes it impossible to transport all the children to school by public transport.
The practical problems such as organising children to walk to school, to travel with more than one child on public transport, or any general concerns expressed about safety are simply a matter of convenience and in such cases the vehicle is not necessary to meet a basic domestic need.

However, if the children attend school in opposite directions and could not physically be delivered at school on time without the aid of a motor vehicle, it might be considered necessary to the household.