Diary of a Bankrupt

Malco

Hi all, Today at 9.31am I was announced officially bankrupt. I can tell you it has been a hell of a ride having lost my job, house wife dignity, self respect, self esteem... the list is endless. I have always paid my bills and demands without missing a beat and up until recently had a grade a credit rating but 18 months ago when the banks got their wake up call it all went "pete tong" for me. After very very careful consideration and many sleepless nights I decided to petition for BR. I would like to say I now have some relief now that I am BR but strangely I dont. I think its the fact that I still have the OR to deal with and whilst writing this post the OR has contacted me and I have a telephone interview booked on 20th April. I can be honest and say I am crapping myself for the interview. Can anyone let me know 1 What questions did the OR ask? As much info as possible will help me greatly.

Will update with further post as things progress.

sizzler

Thanks for sharing that with us:)

IF

Hello Malco, it is a strange feeling, no right or wrong way to feel! Often after the OR interview, thats when an overwhelming feeling of relief is felt.
The OR clerk will go over your SOA and ask questions pertaining to this. Don't feel you have to fill the pauses as they are writing all your answers down. I had a bottle of water by me during phone interview and kept taking sips of this during those pauses. Just be honest with your answers and if you don't know the answer to a question just say so. Let us know how you get on.

Best wishe.
If...x

Malco

It is really good to see so many people on this forum helping and making, what is a stressful ordeal somewhat easier to deal with. Thank you. Will continue to post...

dojoman

Hi and welcome to the forum, congratulations on taking the first steps to a debt free life:T

angiebhfx

I've just had my OR interview (yesterday). I was cr4ping myself for sometime b4, worrying mainly about our expenses and whether or not we would get an IPA/IPO and I suppose a little bit about whether or not we would be ticked off.

He was really nice didn't want to much info about our debts mainly when we took the debt on and only occasionally did he ask why. He went over our assets (we have a small interest in a car that is owned by my parents) Okay'd our outgoings by reducing somethings Phone and misc expenses but said we would be allowed more for food and clothes. confirmed we wouldn't have a IPA/IPO.

Finally he went briefly over the reasons for the BR and when we first got into difficulty. We asked what would happen next, he said basically, that was it and that we may or may not get early discharge he said he sends a report to our creditors and if we do get ED we will get a letter informing us, otherwise automatic discharge on 12/03/2011. The whole interview took just over an hour for myself and my OH

Really don't worry to much about it. You have had mitigating circumstances, similar situation to my own only I paid into a DMP for 24 months but lost my job and my home and felt as though I had no option other than BR.

I posted this yesterday after my interview because I got a lovely message from another poster on how I helped them, thought this may help others. Maybe you will find it useful?

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2391997

Good luck and be happy

Malco

It does give me some comfort knowing "your're not the only one" Probably stressing over nothing as I have been very honest on my SOA but we'll have to wait and see.

Just got a Basic bank account set up (easily enough) went with the Coop, I know some have complained about the card not being accepted etc but to be honest, for me "cash is king" from now on. I can set up DD etc and My sister has been kind enough to give me additional credit card (thats in her name) for the occasions when I need it in an emergency. But to be frank I don't want to use it. Thinking of selling some bits on ebay that the OR said he would have no interest in and with the money raised I will get a pre paid CC for those emergency situations. So what now? I'm obviously looking forward to getting the OR interview out the way then get myself a job and hopefully get some money saved.

Daybreak

Hi Malco, I was dreading the OR interview too, I felt sick every time I thought about it and had lots of sleepless nights. Mine lasted for 45 minutes. We went through the form that I had submitted to the court item by item basically asking me to confirm what I had written (ie is anyone holding any money for you, do you have any other assets, any other debts, I had already filled it all in on the form but I think they like you to confirm it in interview) and he asked me questions about where I got the money for the BR fees, about my wages and other incomings, he asked about each debt - when it was taken out and what it was for (I prepared all this info in advance and was really glad I did) and he also asked me about the debt management plan I had been paying into. It was not anything like as bad as I had thought it would be, the person who interviewed me was very pleasant and professional, and now its over I am so glad.

Malco

Well just had the interview with the OR lasted 1 hour 5 mins. She was a bit "off" and "up herself" furthermore she didn't really lend herself to the "really nice" label so often mentioned in these forums. She asked allot of uncomfortable questions which i was pre warned about and expecting so no surprises there!!! She also asked why I chose to pay my family and friends back with money from income over paying other creditors like CC and Loans etc.. To be honest this kind of question answers itself and I said to her in a very polite way " if you owed money to your family and friends who are not in a position to let it go, who would you pay first?" She moved on... The key is to answer all the questions honestly which is what i did. What was also interesting was that she went right back to 2006 which I found surprising but I guess she had to be thorough. She went through my living expenses very quickly but again didn't mention if I would need to make regular payments, can anyone shed any light on this one? She has asked for some more information but nothing too complicated just agreements etc but never advised me if that is it so I'm still out on a limb not knowing if i will need to go through it again. She didn't explain what happens next and to be honest I didn't ask I was too pre occupied with getting off the phone. If anyone can shed any light or information that would be helpful.

confused76

oh dear sounds like it was a bit tricky...normally they give some indication what happens next too?
if she didn't say whether there was an IPA my guess is she is off to review the file and will get back to you - did you have a surplus?
sorry the OR was a bit off with you...try not to worry too much though, the worst is over

Malco

No, she didn't give me any idea what happens next. Fortunately I was prepared had all my papers in front of me even took copies of the papers I sent her (statements etc) very good idea if you are reading this post pre OR interview as you will need to refresh your memory and if you don't have copies trying to justify a payment on your CC can be tricky. I didn't have a surplus have an income of 1250 and exps of 1298 need to cut back to make ends meet.