6 hour interview with OR and told expect a BRO

betterlife2009

Hi everyone and thanks for your help over the past 9 months

Had 2nd interview with OR 2 weeks ago (6 hours long)and told to expect a BRO

Reason being that i was self employed running a small sole trader business, then the credit crunch hit and i thought that i could ride the storm as no-one new how bad the economy would get

However the OR is under the view that i should have stopped trading 5 months prior to my bankruptcy


But i was honest and said yes i should have stopped trading but i needed an income to live on :eek:

I did not take out any further credit within the last year before bankruptcy

I will accept the BRO as yes i should have stopped trading but i would not have been able to feed myself or pay household bills

What will happen to me under the BRO

Sorry for the thread just wanted someone to talk to

JCS1

Has the OR given any indication of length of BRU? You will still be discharged from BR, it's just that the same restrictions would be in place for the length of the BRU.

betterlife2009

No all she said was BRO and i would receive a letter

PixiePie

Try not to worry too much - it basically carries on some of the restrictions of the BR for a set period of time after discharge, but you do get your discharge. Basically this means you can't be the director of a Ltd company, or do a couple of the jobs on the banned list (Financial type jobs or a prision officer), or take out loans over £500 without telling them you have been BR. I imagine it's because they said you should have stopped trading sooner and therefore to assist you not get in a pickle in future with business (when looking at it in a good way). It doesn't stop you being a sole trader though, so don't really have a huge massive effect - depending on the exact nature of the BRU conditions that is (I think they can change some of them in a postitive way, to allow you to be a director for eg at the OR's discretion).

A BRO is when you don't agree to the BRU by the way - it sounds like my OR - talking out of his bum flaps really - firstly they give you a BRU, which is the undertaking, and ask you to agree to it. If you don't, you go to court as they seek a BRO, which is the BR Order - making you agree to it (unless you can put up good arguments against it and convince the judge).

Mine said I would get one as I was BR for quite a lot and couldn't really account for what had happened to bits of it back in the past (it was over 10 years and I had suffered from depression making me forget really what exactly had gone on over those 10 years). But I never got one, it was just him making himself out to be more important that he actually was, so really it might never even happen.

JCS1

BRU also tend to be for slightly less time than the OR would want a BRO to be if it went to court.

skylight

Technically, you are supposed to declare BR once you know you are insolvent, but by that reckoning everyone with a mortgage and negative equity should be declaring BR......

Just wait and see what the letter says (if it arrives). As mentioned, a BRO/U is an extension of your BR restrictions, so no being an MP or school governor for you! Its not the end of the world. (I think that there are also bits in there about being a sole-trader and trading names etc. You would have to check it out in full if it happens).

headoutofsand

betterlife2009 wrote: »

Hi everyone and thanks for your help over the past 9 months

Had 2nd interview with OR 2 weeks ago (6 hours long)and told to expect a BRO

Reason being that i was self employed running a small sole trader business, then the credit crunch hit and i thought that i could ride the storm as no-one new how bad the economy would get

However the OR is under the view that i should have stopped trading 5 months prior to my bankruptcy


But i was honest and said yes i should have stopped trading but i needed an income to live on :eek:

I did not take out any further credit within the last year before bankruptcy

I will accept the BRO as yes i should have stopped trading but i would not have been able to feed myself or pay household bills

What will happen to me under the BRO

Sorry for the thread just wanted someone to talk to

That does sound rather harsh and not to dissimilar to my per BR situ. How long is it since BR day? I took further credit out before BR and also sold my business asset 3 months before. I maxed out the OD £7500 and used the cards for living

betterlife2009

Went Bankrupt in Febuary,

How are you getting on with your BR headoutofsand?

fatbelly

Have a look at some other BRO/BRUs here (just click on a region) - you'll see many are for two or three years and that's how long bankruptcy used to be for before the Enterprise Act came in.

The long-term BROs are where there were deliberate attempts to conceal things from the OR

headoutofsand

betterlife2009 wrote: »

Went Bankrupt in Febuary,

How are you getting on with your BR headoutofsand?

For me March and I have heard not much since. My Br was quite complicated, or so I thought. The OR may have thought otherwise, just a phone interview and 5 months later a EDRV letter. I have not carried on the business's and intend for now to Ly low. My accountants including the last 9 years are up to date, but they only wanted a "brief" summary of 2007/08 not the current figures or indeed the full autided accounts of 2007/08.

They did not even ask for bank statements or the ripped up cards.

kew63

Im worried hubbie will get a BRU, was a sole trader and decided to wind down business in Jan, had to give 3 months notice on landlord and to the 3 staff, and had a good amount of orders to complete.
The hope was that he'd be able to clear a lot of the debt before closing. Plan was going ok until last month - 6 weeks when the tax man turned up and demanded £400 per week, then the debtors started to not pay up (knew he was closing and he went to the back of the list!) then couldnt pay creditors and in the end it all ended in a bit of a mess.
Problem is the trade creditors he owes to under BR, he did order from them after decided to wind-up (they knew he was closing) but he didnt tell them in finacial difficulty and the questions the OR has asked make me worry that he's broken some rule that says you have to have told your creditors in BR that you were in trouble and if not you're going to get slapped with a BRU.
Yes in hindsight could have done things differently, but even the OR admitted hindsight is a wonderful thing. I dont feel he did anything knowingly wrong, was intending to pay creditors when he ordered materials to complete outstanding orders, and had every reason to believe that was possible.
If he got a BRU would it be for years & years ?

Just so worried about this. We have answered the OR as truthfully as possible, and provided bucket loads of information so she can see he's telling the truth, but it comes down to whether he should have thrown in the towel and realsied his optimism was misplaced.

Also the decision to wind down came only a month after his father, who started the company, died, so it was all a bit of a painful decision, and for his father's sake he just wanted to do the right thing, and close it properly and not just shut the doors & walk off.

Will they take in account any of this ?

Thanks for any advice