Wherediditallgo’s ‘path to enlightenment’ bankruptcy diary

wherediditallgo

28 March - A strange one. Rang LTSB's main number to ask them whether I could have my account upgraded to a normal one, as I've been discharged for over six months & it had been downgraded to a cashcard one when I went BR. I was expecting a sharp "Errm, no - not in my lifetime" sort of response, & was going to tell them I wanted to withdraw the balance & close the account if they couldn't upgrade it. Instead, I got put through to the branch, & the man told me that only the card had been downgraded, not the account itself! I haven't used the account since I went BR, so I didn't know what was going on with it, & assumed that the downgrade they'd told me about had actually happened. It appears not. He said he'll order a new Visa debit card, PIN & cheque book for me, & I should have them all in the next 7 working days. I'm stunned - I must have mentioned my BR & discharge at least 3 times (& also told the woman on the main number about it repeatedly) & told them both my credit file had been updated to show I owed them nothing, yet here they were offering me better banking facilities. I'll believe it when I see it.

scaredwitless32

Blimey WDIAG, is this the start of your new life...................'rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous' ? .........remember us all when you hit the 'bigtime' ........exciting!

I have no words in regards to TSB..........I'll just watch with interest lol Knowing them you could possibly get them

NekoZombie

It would be great if the cheque book really did arrive - talk about speedy recovery from the effects of BR!

tigerfeet2006

Blimey you won't want to know us soon. What with rubbing shoulders with celebs and DJ's AND getting a 'proper' account back. What a heady few days.

Do you think it's your reward for resisting temptation in the week?

So_Sad_Angel

Hi WDIAG,

A `proper` bank account!! ...also congrats on your `new best friend` .

Angelxx

wherediditallgo

I'm going to make a point of working on the website this weekend, & also do my best to do the business cards. It's so weird - so much seems to be happening recently. I went to the radio station again this afternoon, expecting to just observe but I got a chance to read some more poetry on air & also talk about my music. There's a chance I may be able to assist on an outside broadcast soon - everything seems to be moving very fast, certainly faster than I expected them to. :j

As for the bank, I'm still in shock. I'm not going to take them at their word until & unless everything turns up as promised.

Praxis99

Must be pleasing to hear that you can get your normal banking facilities back. I've noted myself that my current account with the Coop (which I opened a few months prior to bankruptcy) is still shown as 'live' account when I log in too their website, though its a Cashminder I am actively using at present. Now newly discharged I'll give it a wee while and ask as you did and see where if anywhere it gets me. Its not that I feel I am missing out per se, its just that it would be nice to have a 'normal' account again, part of the path back to feeling financially OK again.

wherediditallgo

2 April - I can't believe the OR's office! I let Clarke Willmott know at the end of February that my hours would be reduced as of 1 April, & they said to tell them again when I'd made my end March payment. I did that, & they said they'd send me the IPA questionnaire. It didn't come with the receipt for my payment, so I instead decided to e-mail my OR as I couldn't get hold of him by phone after 3 days of trying. I asked for the questionnaire & a copy of the figures used for my IPA, & have received an e-mail saying that they'll send me the questionnaire but they can't find the original figures! So now I've got to hunt for the form I got when I agreed my IPA to see if it actually had the figures (I don't think it did), or trust that whatever I put down now will still be acceptable. It's just as well I've still got my original SOA & that my income is going down - goodness knows what I'd end up with otherwise! :mad:

tigerfeet2006

That's a real pain WDIAG. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you do find a copy.

I think it's a lesson we will all have to remember and make sure we advise everyone with an IPA to get a copy of their figures to have on file.

wherediditallgo

4 April - The questionnaire came today (no way would that have got lost in the post :rolleyes: ), but I've decided that I'm going to write to my OR about the missing figures & cc my letter/e-mail to their manager before I do the questionnaire. It's not on - I can honestly say that I've paid my IPA early every single month, except for one month where I paid it on the date it was due. I'm paying the £50 because I agreed to do it, not because I just fancy giving up £50pm. I don't think it's too much to ask them to find my records - they shouldn't have been "lost" in the first place. They can't do anything to me now - not only am I discharged, I got an ED over six months ago so they can't take that away from me now even if they wanted to, nor can they extend the terms of my BR. If they try to increase my IPA when I'll be on less money, I'm happy to go to court over it as I think my payment record will go to prove my willingness so far to pay it. A friend said today, if they can't find my figures, why not increase my expenses & see if they challenge them? It's very tempting, believe me, but I won't do that because knowing my luck they've got my original figures right there & will compare the two sets.

This is the draft:

Dear ***,

Thank you for your e-mail of ** April 2008.

I am very concerned that the figures used for my assessment do not seem to be available. Unfortunately I was unable to make contact with you by telephone, but I understand from another employee within the Insolvency Service and from a debt advisory service that these figures should have been sent to me when I was asked to sign the Income Payment Agreement. That breakdown of my assessment should be available now, especially as it must have been available when I was considered for Early Discharge which was given on 10 September 2007.

I would therefore be grateful if you and your manager could have another look for the breakdown, as it must be somewhere within your offices or archives, and send it to me. Perhaps it has been mis-filed, as I have a hyphenated surname. Maybe it is with the Income Payment Agreement that I signed and honour with an early payment every month. I look forward to hearing from you in the very near future.

Yours sincerely,

***

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Any comments on where/how to improve it would be appreciated, as I really don't see why I should let this go. Thanks.