A chance for all bankrupts to change your life - Your help needed!

rog2

Great thread - has all the makings of a 'classic'.

out_of_cash

Hi city slicker,

have emailed my mp regarding the insurance rip off debate i wasnt aware of this and this could prove to be hugely expensive to everybody on here in the long run this is another way banks etc are going to penalise people with their complete numbskull mentatlity.

i really hope the mps get off their butts and do something for once:rolleyes:

CitySlicker wrote: »

I said on Saturday that this board has the potential for immense lobbying power. Well I'm doing something about it, but I need your help.

I want to stop bankruptcy being an indelible crime, and to say after six years that is enough. To that extent I am writing to politicians at all levels. This isn't enough on its own, I need your help.

Below is a letter I have so far sent to my MP, my MEPs, and I have trawled through www.writetothem.com to identify possible Lords to write to (I have hit the maximum limit of writing to six Lords in a day at the moment). The letter misses off three paragraphs of very personal information, but I would encourage people to please write how they arrived at their current situation to give the politician some background.

---

I have learnt bankruptcy is never an easy option. It causes arguments, sleepless nights, worrying about your loved ones and thinking of consequences. Before my first-hand experience of this, I was under a common misconception that bankrupts may live a very enjoyable lifestyle then write off their debt. I was shocked that nothing was further from the truth, and when my partner eventually told me some of the harassment they had been subjected to from the banks, I felt sick to the stomach.

So why am I writing to you today? Well, quite simply, to ask for a change in UK law. I am in the process of corresponding with my MP, my MEP representatives, and identifying Lords who may be sympathetic to my concerns; detailing what I hope is a heartfelt story of personal struggle against institutional adversity.

I have always been a good credit risk. My finances are impeccable. I have never made a claim on my household insurance. This is the first change I am asking for. It is fundamentally wrong for insurers asking if I, or more importantly, if anyone else living in my house, has ever been bankrupt. Many, many insurers ask this as do many comparison websites. Why a bankrupt person creates a higher risk I have no idea. What I do know is this question penalises me despite being a good risk. I have written to insurers who tell me this is their responsibility to ascertain higher risk factors. I have written to the Information Commissioner to advise this information is irrelevant, who advises me I have to make individual complaints against specific organisations. I have written to the Ombudsman who say these companies are compliant with UK legislation.

The resolution must be to outlaw this question. I am aware of a situation where the son of a family became bankrupt and hid it from his parents. The parents had to make an unrelated claim. As the son had hid the bankruptcy, when it was uncovered by the insurance company they advised the claim was to be voided. Legislation must be passed to prevent this ever happening to anyone. Bankrupts are not a higher risk. If insurers feel that a bankrupt may make an outlandish claim, use existing control measures to stop outlandish claims, don't tar everyone with the same brush.

This may seem like a small problem, but my insurance renewal premium increased by over 100% in one year just because of this. Yet it is not a time-bound problem, insurers who take bankruptcy into account do this for the rest of the person's life, barring them from cheaper deals, possibly leading some to ignore insurance and become an undocumented insurance-poverty case.

The second point I am asking for is to stop criminalising bankrupts for life. The London Gazette, Edinburgh Gazette and Glasgow Gazette are publications which hold lists of bankrupts. These lists are never erased. Mortgage companies will always check these lists, as will insurers. I am not suggesting for one moment that the details of bankrupts are never produced; if I were a creditor I would want to see such a list. However the Credit Reference Agencies ensure financial details are applied on a six year rolling basis, on the premise a six-year duration is good enough to see a financial snapshot of the person's credit risk. If Credit Reference Agencies consider bankruptcy to be irrelevant after six years, a central life-long register is inappropriate and potentially against the spirit of the Data Protection Act in the sense the data must be relevant and current.

On this basis, I hope I have been comprehensive enough to advise the reasons why there are good justifications for changes in the law. Many of these changes simply unify our position with other EU countries. A bankrupt person is a financial risk initially, I do acknowledge this. My belief is a six year time limit is ample to demonstrate the person has changed their financial situation, and no public register should be held beyond this. Financial institutions should be prohibited from peering beyond six years into a person's financial past for the purposes of bankruptcy, and the bankrupt should be allowed to get on with their life.

I sincerely hope I have conveyed this information eloquently enough for you to consider changing legislation, I also hope you will consider lobbying the relevant financial and insurance institutions here in the UK.

out_of_cash

Hi city slicker,

have emailed my mp regarding the insurance rip off debate i wasnt aware of this and this could prove to be hugely expensive to everybody on here in the long run this is another way banks etc are going to penalise people with their complete numbskull mentatlity.

i really hope the mps get off their butts and do something for once:rolleyes:

CitySlicker wrote: »

I said on Saturday that this board has the potential for immense lobbying power. Well I'm doing something about it, but I need your help.

I want to stop bankruptcy being an indelible crime, and to say after six years that is enough. To that extent I am writing to politicians at all levels. This isn't enough on its own, I need your help.

Below is a letter I have so far sent to my MP, my MEPs, and I have trawled through www.writetothem.com to identify possible Lords to write to (I have hit the maximum limit of writing to six Lords in a day at the moment). The letter misses off three paragraphs of very personal information, but I would encourage people to please write how they arrived at their current situation to give the politician some background.

---

I have learnt bankruptcy is never an easy option. It causes arguments, sleepless nights, worrying about your loved ones and thinking of consequences. Before my first-hand experience of this, I was under a common misconception that bankrupts may live a very enjoyable lifestyle then write off their debt. I was shocked that nothing was further from the truth, and when my partner eventually told me some of the harassment they had been subjected to from the banks, I felt sick to the stomach.

So why am I writing to you today? Well, quite simply, to ask for a change in UK law. I am in the process of corresponding with my MP, my MEP representatives, and identifying Lords who may be sympathetic to my concerns; detailing what I hope is a heartfelt story of personal struggle against institutional adversity.

I have always been a good credit risk. My finances are impeccable. I have never made a claim on my household insurance. This is the first change I am asking for. It is fundamentally wrong for insurers asking if I, or more importantly, if anyone else living in my house, has ever been bankrupt. Many, many insurers ask this as do many comparison websites. Why a bankrupt person creates a higher risk I have no idea. What I do know is this question penalises me despite being a good risk. I have written to insurers who tell me this is their responsibility to ascertain higher risk factors. I have written to the Information Commissioner to advise this information is irrelevant, who advises me I have to make individual complaints against specific organisations. I have written to the Ombudsman who say these companies are compliant with UK legislation.

The resolution must be to outlaw this question. I am aware of a situation where the son of a family became bankrupt and hid it from his parents. The parents had to make an unrelated claim. As the son had hid the bankruptcy, when it was uncovered by the insurance company they advised the claim was to be voided. Legislation must be passed to prevent this ever happening to anyone. Bankrupts are not a higher risk. If insurers feel that a bankrupt may make an outlandish claim, use existing control measures to stop outlandish claims, don't tar everyone with the same brush.

This may seem like a small problem, but my insurance renewal premium increased by over 100% in one year just because of this. Yet it is not a time-bound problem, insurers who take bankruptcy into account do this for the rest of the person's life, barring them from cheaper deals, possibly leading some to ignore insurance and become an undocumented insurance-poverty case.

The second point I am asking for is to stop criminalising bankrupts for life. The London Gazette, Edinburgh Gazette and Glasgow Gazette are publications which hold lists of bankrupts. These lists are never erased. Mortgage companies will always check these lists, as will insurers. I am not suggesting for one moment that the details of bankrupts are never produced; if I were a creditor I would want to see such a list. However the Credit Reference Agencies ensure financial details are applied on a six year rolling basis, on the premise a six-year duration is good enough to see a financial snapshot of the person's credit risk. If Credit Reference Agencies consider bankruptcy to be irrelevant after six years, a central life-long register is inappropriate and potentially against the spirit of the Data Protection Act in the sense the data must be relevant and current.

On this basis, I hope I have been comprehensive enough to advise the reasons why there are good justifications for changes in the law. Many of these changes simply unify our position with other EU countries. A bankrupt person is a financial risk initially, I do acknowledge this. My belief is a six year time limit is ample to demonstrate the person has changed their financial situation, and no public register should be held beyond this. Financial institutions should be prohibited from peering beyond six years into a person's financial past for the purposes of bankruptcy, and the bankrupt should be allowed to get on with their life.

I sincerely hope I have conveyed this information eloquently enough for you to consider changing legislation, I also hope you will consider lobbying the relevant financial and insurance institutions here in the UK.

affluenza

If Joanna Lumley can sort out the Ghurkas then surely she can sort this out!

Oh and surely a bank/insurance company would see the logic in offering cost effective services to captive subprime market such as BRs. By cost effective I mean, yes, I don't mind paying a bit more but not double or triple!

I have always wondered if the Islamic method of banking is something that should be adapted/adopted by BR accounts - as it is not based on interest rates. I am not moslem, but I think there are aspects which are whole lot more sensible and treat people as people and not commodities that can be bought and sold to DCAs.

One fundamental law should be that you should not be restricted from having a bank account - it may not have all the facilities, but they should not stop someone from opening an account with any standard bank they choose. This is especially the case for small businesses and sole traders.

PixiePie

FinancesOfAFiveYearOld wrote: »

I know that was what you meant Pixie me ol' fruitbat!

Oi! I'll ave you know I be a vampire bat, not a fruity one
Great result from my local MP!! Hurrah!! She has written back to me and said that she will pursue that matter with Kevin Brennan MP as he is from the Dept of Business, Innovation & Skills and also with Stephen Haddrill Director General of the Assoc. of British Insurers as I said about how the insurance thing was totally wrong (and she agreed) and noted the cases some of us have talked about on here and the hypotheticals that we have mentioned as well. MP will write back to me again when she gets their responses, so hurrah! Fingers crossed something is starting to happen
Very happy.

4$£&*(£$&*(!

PixiePie wrote: »

Oi! I'll ave you know I be a vampire bat, not a fruity one
Great result from my local MP!! Hurrah!! She has written back to me and said that she will pursue that matter with Kevin Brennan MP as he is from the Dept of Business, Innovation & Skills and also with Stephen Haddrill Director General of the Assoc. of British Insurers as I said about how the insurance thing was totally wrong (and she agreed) and noted the cases some of us have talked about on here and the hypotheticals that we have mentioned as well. MP will write back to me again when she gets their responses, so hurrah! Fingers crossed something is starting to happen
Very happy.

Love it. So far the politicians I've written to are making small in-roads, but generally confining themselves to doing very little ahead of the end of recess. Because this is a stopper for some, I'm not pestering them until a couple of weeks after Parliament has reconvened, but the others who have not said this to me I've started sending reminders. I'm re-affirming how much an important issue this is to us, and insurers could be the next to be viewed with public wrath after the bankers when they start declining pay-outs to the ever increasing number of bankrupts who didn't realise they had to declare bankruptcy.

As ever, my message is financiers and insurers do have the right to know if someone is bankrupt - to a limit. Don't have a glass ceiling, make it clear, make it fair, have a time limit (as I've always said, if six years is good enough for the credit agencies, it should be good enough for everyone, then wipe the slate clean).

Keep on going everyone, we are making history as we type, so long as we don't lose sight of our aim and we keep on at the politicians to say bankrupts are entitled to be treated as humans.

Former_MSE_Wendy

Hi, Martin has asked me to take a look at this thread and pop on a quick reply.

It sounds like you have all been up to a lot of letter and email writing of late and for a good cause.

Both areas you raise are important and I am going to go away and do some checks on the insurance angle, but can i ask that you post your suggested areas for reform in our '50 words' thread http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1657521

This is where we're collecting all suggestions on ways to improve financial affairs, and it's been looked at by other external organisations such as the Liberal Democrats and the Treasury select committee so far.

Thanks

Wendy

So_Sad_Angel

MSE_Wendy wrote: »

Hi, Martin has asked me to take a look at this thread and pop on a quick reply.

It sounds like you have all been up to a lot of letter and email writing of late and for a good cause.

Both areas you raise are important and I am going to go away and do some checks on the insurance angle, but can i ask that you post your suggested areas for reform in our '50 words' thread http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1657521

This is where we're collecting all suggestions on ways to improve financial affairs, and it's been looked at by other external organisations such as the Liberal Democrats and the Treasury select committee so far.

Thanks

Wendy

Thankyou Wendy for the update.....nice to see that notice is taken of this issue. Bankruptcy may be a `swept under the carpet` sort of issue but does`nt mean it is any less important....especially to those here who have the misfortune to need to take that step.

Angiexx

MicheH

Hi, just received a reply form my local MP.

Dear Mrs (me)

Thank you for your letter with regards to bankruptcy laws.

I have written to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on your behalf and will be in touch again when I receive a reply.

4$£&*(£$&*(!

Hi all, what's the progress like with people so far? We need to keep the pressure on, and with this thread slipping back a bit, there may be a few people who would like to join this campaign who haven't seen the thread yet.

If you haven't already done so, please join the fight and put some serious pressure on your MP, your MEP, a Lord, or anyone else of note you wish to join the campaign, and post your results here. We can't slow down on this now.

There's a huge number of people in the poll who have now said they have either already written or intend to write, it's a pity 11 people are saying they don't intend to; perhaps some of those 11 will change their mind and post on here to confirm their letters have been sent in?

Remember https://www.writetothem.com allows free access to write directly to an MP, an MEP or a Lord.