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

NewStart09

I think it would be a positive step to approach the University, in this economic climate why is a bankrupt worse than a criminal? In addition these banks have a right cheek, they basically are the pot calling the kettle black, as if it were not for the government they would have gone BR!

Where are our rights after a reasonable period of time, like 6 years where the BR would drop off the credit reference.

I did not go BR to be charred for life, I made the mistake of trusting my OH with the finances, and got burned for it.

I had to go cap in hand to my accrediation scheme to explain my BR, and it was only because of my circumstances, being I was a silent partner in a business that failed, that I was allowed to continue. I was also lucky that my Professional Indemity Insurance also allowed me to continue.

I dont want to make light of bankruptcy but surely after a reasonable period of time you should be allowed to move on and leave it behind you. I dont even have a credit card, and have no intention of ever being in debt again if I can help it.

Keep us updated, I think the human rights is the way forward for any hope of BR not being tarred for life and beyond.


NewStart09

out_of_cash

hi city slicker,

just to let you know i have just fired off 2 emails to mps regarding this whole issue concerning the london gazette and there lets keep the info forever attitude.

regards

out of cash.

Doucam

I agree with the others, it can't hurt anyway.

It does seem very wrong that when you go BR it stays online on the gazette for ever and that banks etc can ask have you ever been BR yet you can commit a crime and under the rehabilitation of offenders act after so many years you don't have to disclose it?

I would sit down and write to my local MP but she is good friends with a good friends mum so that could be awkward lol!

MTDancer

I have written as requested. We need to take action and, hopefully, one day the law will change

MTDancer

CitySlicker wrote: »

I am still waiting for a reply from ABI about this.

In the meantime, planning for a negative outcome with them, I would really like some views on a possible next step I have been contemplating.

The EU Human Rights act is controversial at the moment but there have been some cases where the steer was to disregard convictions etc. after so long. I think if I do some homework it may be it is against the principles of the act to take into account something of this matter (and even potentially stopping lenders asking a perpetual question, stopping the Gazette publishing the info online after so long etc).

With that in mind, what are people's honest opinions about me approaching perhaps some universities to ask if they will consider pro bono work on this case?

I appreciate all feedback on this, I want to know views - good or bad - but please be constructive with them.

Thanks

I think you are doing a wonderful job. I wondered about the court of human rights too given that they have changed the law about age discrimination for insurance.

4$£&*(£$&*(!

Another month, another reply. This one from the ABI, I get the impression this is important. Here goes.

30 March 2011

Thank you for your letter of 19 February about insurers' approach to bankruptcy when assessing risk. You raised concerns that it is unfair for insurers require a full declaration of bankruptcy and cited the example of credit referencing agencies where such data is retained for six years.

Bankruptcy, and credit scoring more generally, can be an indicator of risk and evidence shows that it is predictive of claims experience. As such, some - but not all - insurers use credit scores as one of several rating factors that determine risk and a poorer credit history is likely to lead to a higher premium.

In order to set the premium at the right level, insurers need to understand the level of risk posed by each individual who will be covered by the policy. In the case of home insurance, everyone living at the insured address, not just the policyholder, benefits from the cover afforded by the policy. For instance, if the belongings of anyone living in a property were stolen or damaged, a claim could be made to replace them. That is the reason why information about all members of a household must be declared, as for instance in the case of a child living with a parent.

Your support for the ABI's work on Treating Customers Fairly is appreciated and I can assure you that we take these responsibilities seriously. With this in mind, we are currently working to better understand insurers' use of bankruptcy and other credit-related factors in assessing risk. Insurers have been keen to stress in response to our initial enquiries on this issue that they only use any factor - including bankruptcy - for as long as they believe it to be relevant to the risk. However, we have not yet established how long insurers believe bankruptcy to be a relevant factor, nor the extent to which approaches to bankruptcy differ between insurers; this is something we will continue to examine. We are also giving consideration to what more can be done to make it clearer to customers and third parties to understand exactly what should be disclosed to insurers, and why.

I was surprised to learn that you found premiums tripled following a declaration of bankruptcy: I should assure you that this is not the case across the market, and would urge you to shop around to find the best deal. A broker can help; the British Insurance Brokers Association would be able to put you in touch with a broker who can help. They can be contacted on 0870 950 1790.

I hope this letter provides sufficient information, but please do get in touch if you require anything further.

Yours sincerely,

Maggie Craig
Acting Director General

4$£&*(£$&*(!

Here's my response to that letter, sent this evening.

Mrs Craig raised a couple of points I would like to clarify as it may help in her current work to understand insurers' use of bankruptcy in their assessment of risks. The first point is about price differentials. I have used the comparison site gocompare.com tonight and obtained illustrative quotes using bankruptcy and also ignoring bankruptcy when entering information. The initial quotes available for comparison when bankruptcy was not declared came back with 59 quotes starting at £264 for both buildings and contents insurance with accidental cover. The second best quote was £281 and the third quote was £286.

When changing the quote information to add a bankruptcy, the lowest quote available with the same information in all other fields returned at £307 with 7 quotes available. The second best quote was £364 and the third quote £435.

Gocompare.com asks if anyone living at the house has ever been bankrupt, and does not request any further information; the quotes provided do not factor how long ago a bankruptcy took place. Churchill, Prudential and Privilege insurance came in at the same prices regardless of bankruptcy. Fresh! insurance (https://www.freshinsurance.co.uk) returned a quote of £368 when bankruptcy was not declared. When bankruptcy was declared, their quote rocketed to £887.

Uswitch.com and Confused.com comparison websites both ask during the information gather if a bankruptcy is involved, and if so who it relates to - the proposer, the joint proposer, or other. The sub-categories then filter if a person has been bankrupt or subject to other measures such as an IVA, and also requires the name, date of birth and date of bankruptcy relating to the person in question. Regardless of the different dates of birth and dates of bankruptcy I attempted to enter; some as far as being bankrupt 20+ years ago, neither site would provide a quote and both insisted a telephone call was made. This automatically locks out applicants from online exclusive deals and may push other applicants onto other comparison sites where a poorer deal may be selected.

I hope this information proves useful whilst you are examining how long insurers take this information into consideration. I am not set against the relevancy of bankruptcy during its infancy for policy holders and I appreciate the associated risk, it brings me back to my original basis that after so long it would seem more fitting in my opinion when companies are providing quotes (including the comparison sites mentioned here) would not require customers to declare a bankruptcy at all following a certain duration. To date, a thread on Martin Lewis' https://www.moneysavingexpert.com website on this topic has reached 14,407 views and dozens of people have confirmed they are lobbying on this matter, so there is clear importance to this.

Once again thank you for your reply which I read with great interest and I feel very much enthused from this. I would be particularly grateful if you would keep me appraised of progress.

iquit

Thank you for all your efforts.

NewStart09

Thank you for your persistent pursuit in this matter, it is really appreciated.

I don't understand how BR is really a risk, as the reasons for BR vary from person to person, and to have the people you live with suffer is clearly unfair.

I personally don't understand the justification for the premuims, up until the day I filed for BR I never made a claim on any of my insurances, and nearly 2 years later, I still have not, so therefore, where exactly is the risk that they are basing their high fees upon?

Please keep up the good work.

NewStart09

MTDancer

Thank you for your work. You are tireless