Bankruptcy Restriction Order against me

bosco1977

Hi all,

Am looking for some advice here - maybe from someone who has challenged a Bankruptcy Restriction Order before?

Heres the background:
In 2006 I made a false claim to my employer for additional payments. I was investigated by the police and 1 and a half years later pleaded guilty at court. I was sentenced to 2 yrs - because it was my first offence I spend this time in an open prison. I was a high earner at the time (£60k) but because of my incarceration and not being able to earn income (and thus pay my debts) these quickly spiraled to £70k.

I went bankrupt whilst in prison. I have provided full co-operation to the Official Receiver throughout, I have not blown the money - indeed I managed to sell my house before going into negative equity. I also had about £30k of unused credit at the time or bankruptcy.

The Official Receiver after 10 months into the bankruptcy wrote to me saying due to my conduct a Bankruptcy Restriction Order (BRU) will be sought for approx 4-5 years. Their own advice forms states that they will inform the bankrupt within 9 months. I wrote back to them within their 21 day timeframe to contest it.

My discharge dated came and went. 8 days after my discharge date I received a large heavy envelope from the OR, with a court date for their application for a BRU. The court stamped it the day before my discharge date, and they wrote to me dated the day of my discharge. I find this very underhand.

I am contesting this fully on the basis of my good conduct before and during the bankruptcy, had I have been made redundant and failed to secure a new job I would have been in exactly the same situation - high earners sink faster into debt when they dont work. Oddly there were others in prison (in for 4+ years) who did their bankruptcys without any orders - I cant work that out. They cannot pay because they are still inside yet receive no BRU's? I am also complaining to the court about the OR's poor timing and poor communication. Also, the OR has failed to collect to the tune of £15k of assets of mine for the benefit of the creditors - I dont think they would be happy to hear this? Had they have collected this then they would have recoverd approximately one quarter of my debts - which I am sure would be above average in comparison to other bankruptcies. I am also contesting the 4-5 years as if they are trying to relate it to my criminal offence (the punishment was 2 years) why the difference in timeframes?

I feel let down that they are trying the 'conduct' reason for the BRU and would appreciate some guidance / and or real life experience in fighting this. The official reasons for granting a BRU is fraud - my offence was under the theft act not the fraud by false representation act - does anyone know if that makes a difference?

All I want to do is get back onto my own two feet, get working again and put all of this behind me.

Sorry for the long note but no point giving half a story! Cheers

peppa-pig

Sorry I can't really answer your questions or give any advice. I am sure someone will be along later to help you though!

Good luck.

elfieb

bosco1977 wrote: »

All I want to do is get back onto my own two feet, get working again and put all of this behind me.

In short, you can do!!

An undertaking has very little effect in the "real world".
You wont be able to obtain credit over £500, but the chances of that after bankruptcy is virtually nil anyway!
I take it you dont work in a sector where an undertaking would become a problem, so that wont hurt you either.

If you refuse to accept the Undertaking, it will then be passed to court who will impose an Order, and in most cases increase the time of the restriction.

In my humble opinion, I wouldnt waste time bothering about it. Put it behind you, the restriction will be over before you know it, and probably will have had no impact on you

maxmycardagain

Also, the OR has failed to collect to the tune of £15k of assets of mine for the benefit of the creditors - I dont think they would be happy to hear this? Had they have collected this then they would have recoverd approximately one quarter of my debts

er, actually no, i bet only £5K would go in the "pot", as most of it would vanish like anMPs promises at election time

debtinfo

It is possible for the OR to make an out of time application if they want to, they just have to justify it to the judge. There can be a different allegation in the BRO than the criminal proceedings even if it relates from the same initial action, remember that BRO's are done of the balance of probabilites rather than beyond reasonable doubt for criminal convictions, so more of an allegation may be "proveable" in the BRO

even though you may have co-operated fully the delay bau be genuine and connected to hold ups in other areas such as obtaining information from 3rd parties

bosco1977

Just to keep everyone updated. I had my hearing and only 10 minutes was allocated! Unbelieveable. The Judge could see that I am very strongly opposed to an Order being made against me, and could see the 20+ pages I sent to the OR. A full hearing is to be scheduled for May. Against me time is ticking - my bankruptcy finished in Jan and if an Order is made against me it will be from the date of the order! hopefully the Judge will take into account the fact that I have made valid arguments. Will keep you all posted....

emos4607

Good luck Bosco - everyone has a past and can understand why you want to put it behind you and move on, all credit to you.

sizzler

quite a story:eek:

Thanks for sharing that.

If you feel strong enough go for it and good luck:)

JCS1

The other view that you need to consider is that that your credit record is shot for 7 years, and a 4-5 year BRO would lapse before that time.

The BRO paperwork will have been checked via an Assistant Official Receiver, the OR, the authorisations team in London (who also request paperwork evidence when reviewing a case), and no doubt a few more too. So they must be fairly confident of obtaining a BRO.

I understand that it is now a point of principle for you, but that has to be measured against your time and stress levels in dealing with it all.

sizzler

JCS1 wrote: »

The other view that you need to consider is that that your credit record is shot for 7 years, and a 4-5 year BRO would lapse before that time.

The BRO paperwork will have been checked via an Assistant Official Receiver, the OR, the authorisations team in London (who also request paperwork evidence when reviewing a case), and no doubt a few more too. So they must be fairly confident of obtaining a BRO.

I understand that it is now a point of principle for you, but that has to be measured against your time and stress levels in dealing with it all.

I must admit it is probably already decided but worth a fight

thechippy

elfieb wrote: »

In short, you can do!!

An undertaking has very little effect in the "real world".
You wont be able to obtain credit over £500, but the chances of that after bankruptcy is virtually nil anyway!
I take it you dont work in a sector where an undertaking would become a problem, so that wont hurt you either.

If you refuse to accept the Undertaking, it will then be passed to court who will impose an Order, and in most cases increase the time of the restriction.

In my humble opinion, I wouldnt waste time bothering about it. Put it behind you, the restriction will be over before you know it, and probably will have had no impact on you

I'd agree with the above TBH. Even upon discharge you're credit rating etc is still shot. The bro will probably have little effect in reality..;)