Wherediditallgo’s ‘path to enlightenment’ bankruptcy diary

wherediditallgo

LilyBart wrote: »

Would like to echo Tigerfeet's words on your writing. Given the hoo-hah about that article in the Independent, perhaps you should put together a first-person account of bankruptcy for them, and send it in on spec? As long as you are clear about it, they should respect your right to anonymity. ("The names in this article have been changed etc") They should pay you for it too.
Lily

Thanks. That's a good idea & it's worth thinking about. My biggest worry would be that the newspaper would let something slip that could lead to me being identified. I'll keep the article & give it some thought before approaching them about it, as I haven't got time to write anything at the moment.

wherediditallgo

16 April (late) - Went to my radio course tonight, & we critiqued what we recorded last week. I wasn't as happy with my recording as my teacher expected me to be, because it was a format that I won't be using for any real shows I'll be doing. When I listened to the one I did the week before, it felt more relaxed as it was about material that I felt comfortable with. I've got to design a 30-min show for the final night :eek: in the format I'd like to use for my own show - it's going to take loads of work putting together interviews, music, finding/making jingles to play etc The course finishes in two weeks, but realistically I've only got a week to get my material together then the second week to practice it. I've booked some practice time for the weekend - I'm definitely going to need it. I might also book a day off work to do research locally & on the net. It's a real challenge, but I want to do it, so I'm going to make myself work hard on it.

fiveyearplan

So it looks like you're in for a busy 2 weeks. Good luck!

wherediditallgo

17 April - Started planning the show today - I'm exhausted already. I've called in some favours (actually begged & threatened to scream ) - I've managed to cajole some friends into recording news, travel & weather broadcasts for me, & I'm going to pre-record an interview with another friend about his band. Thirty minutes is a lot of air-time to fill, so I need to make the show as varied as possible. Next job is to work on some jingles - thank goodness I've got loads of stuff I can sample for background sounds.

wherediditallgo

22 April - Well, what do you know? Following on from my complaint to the ORs & their managers about them not being able to find my assessment, I got an e-mail today confirming that "I will be sending copies of your Income and Expentiture information from your Statement of Affairs with the hope that this assists you in your enquiry". That's not good enough - I know what was on the SOA (I ended up with loads of copies of the blessed thing, for goodness sake :rolleyes:). What I want to know is what was on the assessment that they did, as it resulted in me getting the IPA. I've replied & have reaffirmed the point.

It raises an interesting question. I know that I signed the IPA, but they could not find any trace of "the original calculation or IPA questionnaire" - those are their exact words. The e-mails to their managers didn't even get a reply. So, if they can't find a record of the IPA agreement, that means they haven't found anything with my signature agreeing to it. And that therefore raises the issue of whether I should continue paying it as I've already been discharged, a point I've made in my reply.

inovermyhead

Hi WDIAG,

This is totally unrelated to your most recent post, but I just wanted to say thanks for your diary. I have spent the last week reading it with interest (especially the early posts) and it helped me put my own affairs into perspective.

It looks to me like you have come so far, and I just wanted to say well done. May only good things come to you.

IOMH xx

wherediditallgo

23 April - I seem to have caused rather a flurry of activity at the OR's office. My original OR, who's never responded to any of my e-mails about the calculations, rang me at work this morning, saying he'd had 4 or 5 e-mails on the subject. He said that he had heard from the RTLU that my income was going to be reduced, & that I wanted details of the figures used to calculate my IPA. He said that all the figures I’d put down had been accepted at the time, but I know that’s not true because I remember him ringing me & saying I couldn’t include my Sky in my outgoings. He said there are no figures in my file other than those I put on my SOA. I repeatedly told him that I couldn’t really talk as I was at work, but he wouldn’t let me go & he told me to just listen then respond if I could. He said that, as my income is dropping, if my outgoings are still the same or higher, I could do one of 2 things:

• Write to the RTLU telling them that my lower income means I can only afford £20 or £30pm, or, and here’s the cruncher,

• Fill in a new IPAQ with all my outgoings, and make sure either that my income is less than a particular sum (he actually stated the amount to aim for) or my outgoings higher than before, which will result in no further IPA payments.

So what do you think of that, guys? I’ve basically been told how to work my figures so as to ensure my IPA is reduced, suspended or cancelled completely! :eek:

I’ve told him that, as I couldn’t talk to him properly today while at work, I’d like him to put what he’s said in an e-mail to me. It’ll be interesting to see if he does.

Now that I've raised the issue of them being unable to prove I signed the IPA & have questioned whether I should continue to pay it, I think they want shot of me asap as they could be in trouble if I was to decide not to pay it any more. Something tells me that someone's standard of filing is going to vastly improve as of now.

NekoZombie

wherediditallgo wrote: »

• Write to the RTLU telling them that my lower income means I can only afford £20 or £30pm, or, and here’s the cruncher,

• Fill in a new IPAQ with all my outgoings, and make sure either that my income is less than a particular sum (he actually stated the amount to aim for) or my outgoings higher than before, which will result in no further IPA payments.

So what do you think of that, guys? I’ve basically been told how to work my figures so as to ensure my IPA is reduced, suspended or cancelled completely! :eek:

I’ve told him that, as I couldn’t talk to him properly today while at work, I’d like him to put what he’s said in an e-mail to me. It’ll be interesting to see if he does.

I don't understand....

has he told you to lie??

wherediditallgo

It would seem so. He told me the actual figure to make sure my income is stated as, & also told me what to do about my outgoings. He also said I had a choice as to whether to fill in the IPAQ or just send a letter to the RTLU telling them I can't afford the IPA any more & offering to pay what I can afford or offering nothing at all. He was very clear that the IPA is just an agreement to pay what you can, so if I can't afford it I can tell them so. He also made it clear they can't expect me to pay what I say I can't afford to pay - I don't know if that's a general rule, or if that's because I'm now discharged so they can't try to get an IPO out of me if I don't comply.

He seemed to be saying to write whatever gets me out of paying the IPA without directly saying that, but saying as good as that. :cool: I've been checking my e-mails ever since to see if he's actually put something in writing about it. He didn't seem bothered about whether I provided any kind of proof of my outgoings or not, but he told me the actual figures to aim for, which was a total shock. Maybe he's leaving the job & doesn't care whether people pay their IPA or not.

dalip

Could it be possible(this is a long shot)that by telling you what to put for your income he knows what amount you were allowed on your total allowances last time?So by telling you what to put now means you will be below the thresh hold for an IPA now.

The reason i say this is my OR allowed me quite a bit for h/k,birthdays ect and i was only £17 over but i had few things that i never claimed for(did not know about this site then)if he had juggled mine around and added the things i forgot,lowered my hk ect i would still have come out with the same IPA.So perhaps these things are worked on income rather than different OR's agreeing to different levels of allowances. Thus he has told you to make sure your income is below ??????.


Does any of that make sense to you.lol

I know what i'm trying to say but it's not going down on paper very well:o