What's life after Bankruptcy actually like ?

StuntmanBob

What an excellent post from Tammera!!

For the negatives, she's summed it up beautifully for me - I'm forever having to ask people favours, putting things in their name, etc.

It's embarrassing and belittling. And inconvenient.

Thank heavens for understanding friends and family - I could not manage it without them. :T

A member of my family got me as a named user on their credit card before I went BR, and I use that a lot, paying them back in cash each time I use it.

PixiePie

Tammera wrote: »

, car insurance you get refused alot.

Just wanted to pick up on this point - I've never even been asked about my BR for this, I was AD last August, and got car insurance whilst BR and changed it after AD, so twice now searching through lots and lots of different insurers for the best deal. None of them asked if I was or had been BR so this made no difference at all (and I paid in installments both times - used my OH's bank account for this as I didn't have one whilst BR).

PixiePie

gforster wrote: »

Managed to get a mortgage 2 years ago in March 07

Just wanted to be very nosey and ask a couple of questions about this (tell me to jump if you want ).
How did you get one, ie where did you go (broker? etc) - bearing in mind I know nothing about mortgages even without BR.
Did you have a massive deposit?
Do you have a partner who hasn't been BR that was in on the mortgage with you?
Did anyone go guarantor etc?
Are you paying silly high rate?
Do you earn a huge wage? (without prying at all - for eg I am a teacher and therefore don't really earn a massive amount, nor will I ever, or get any sort of bonus, but am the only real wage earner in our house, so if you are earning a more comfortable wage then this would probably put you into a different cat. than us for eg).

I'm not being picky in any way shape or form - I'm just really interested to know the actual real life situation regards mortgages and BR (I get the point that the difference between March 07 and now is HUGE and it's very difficult for anyone to get a mortgage at the moment, but for future reference/peace of mind it would be hugely helpful).

Many thanks if you can answer any of the above at all

gforster

We went to an independent broker, all of market (very important indeed) and the first thing I told him when I walked in the room was that I was BR and he didn't throw me out so I knew there was a chance !

I had saved 10% from post BR, I cut out everything I could and saved saved saved to get a house again asap.

I did have a non BR partner but it is possible to do this without this which you can see further down this post.

No Guarantors no, My parents offered but I didn't want to Burden them with this, after BR I wanted a complete fresh start and to not put any burden on anyone else if at all possible.

I had to pay arouind 1.5% above everyone else so it is at 6.6% fixed at the moment but that comes to an end soon and my broker seems to think with the base rate this low and the my discharge being so long ago we can get a much better rate nearer to the norm.

Not a huge wage at all, I was a Taxi driver at the time so technically about £20k now I am in full time employment which is better for the mortgage on £25k.

In terms of your last post, my business partner at the time (who went BR a year after me from the same business) this week got a mortgage approved. He works for the local authority on £22k and was approved for £86k (there or thereabouts). He got his through the Homebuy scheme which pays some deposit for you as he didn't really have very much.

Don't get me wrong I am not saying it is right for everyone, I am just making the point that even in these dark times it is possible and affordable to get a mortgage after BR and that was the OP's question "What is life after BR like ?" It is certainly POSSIBLE to get back to pretty much normality.

lifebeginsagain

We went BR in April after putting it off by trying to do a dmp last year. We were so worried about being able to stay in our rented property, whether we could keep one of our vehicles etc... that we just kept trying to put off the inevitable.

We have never told a soul about our BR not family or friends so we went through it alone and even had to take our children to the court with us.

I used to dream about winning enough money to pay our debts off and be 'normal' being able to live within our means. When we came out from court it was a huge relief and as if we had won and our debts had been paid off.

Waiting for the OR interview was tough and we had a nervous few hours waiting for an answer on our car (due to the value) after the interview. Once this was over the relief was immense.

We now have a co-op account, some small savings and money put aside for annual costs e.g car, clothing from our budget.

We are debt free! and feel in control.

We can finally see a future for us and the children, to be able to pay for them to do hobbies, go on holiday etc..

It's still early days but we feel positive about money and life.

It was a stressful experience, the form filling, court, the interview.... but a small price to pay for being debt free.

I will never take out credit again so I am not worried about not being able to obtain credit in the future. It would be nice to buy our own property one day but this is not something we would look to do for many years.

I don't think anyone wants to find themselves in a place where BR is the only option and it was certainly a stressful experience for us but I am so thankful that we have been given our life back through BR.

gforster

I think that is truly awesome and by far the best response to the OP's question.

The relief is huge and the worst bit (The interview) is over.

Life just gets easier month on month and the satisfaction you will get the first time you pay for a holiday/washing machine/day at a theme park that you would normally have put on the "card" and you hand over cash will feel TRULY liberating.

It actually makes that day out or experience so much more satisfying rather than guilt ridden !

Good luck for the future !

gemma7wayne

This is very interesting news on the mortgage front as my husband has been discharged almost 6 years has above average credit score no bad points at all apart from bankruptcy applied for mortgage thru homebuy direct to be declined and get told only rbs and halifax are used for homebuy scheme and neither of these will accept a discharged BR even if it was 30 years ago.

My husband earns roughly 35k and including all other little bits brings home about 38k we so want 2 buy but cant seem to find a way.

gforster

gemma7wayne wrote: »

This is very interesting news on the mortgage front as my husband has been discharged almost 6 years has above average credit score no bad points at all apart from bankruptcy applied for mortgage thru homebuy direct to be declined and get told only rbs and halifax are used for homebuy scheme and neither of these will accept a discharged BR even if it was 30 years ago.

My husband earns roughly 35k and including all other little bits brings home about 38k we so want 2 buy but cant seem to find a way.

I will ask him this afternoon as as far as I am aware it's all gone through with the Homebuy. You are right though theose are the only two lenders who deal with Homebuy.

Alternatively you can go to an independent mortgage advisor and so long as they are whole of market they should be able to sort something out for you providing you have a deposit, you will probably need around 10%.

lifebeginsagain

gforster wrote: »

I think that is truly awesome and by far the best response to the OP's question.

The relief is huge and the worst bit (The interview) is over.

Life just gets easier month on month and the satisfaction you will get the first time you pay for a holiday/washing machine/day at a theme park that you would normally have put on the "card" and you hand over cash will feel TRULY liberating.

It actually makes that day out or experience so much more satisfying rather than guilt ridden !

Good luck for the future !

I agree with the satisfaction of paying for something with your own money rather than on a card:j

gforster

Right just spoke to him and he has been approved by the Halifax, the home buy scheme here pays 30% deposit for First Time Buyers but because he has been BR in the past they asked for a small deposit (5% I think) from him as well meaning that the mortgage is 65% LTV (65% is £83k).

He did say that he had to go to a second broker for the homebuy mortgage as the first they put him in touch with didn't seem to understand or care particularly, the second one was very helpful and sorted it all fairly easily.