Wherediditallgo’s ‘path to enlightenment’ bankruptcy diary

wherediditallgo

Bollinge wrote: »

I don't think you should worry about your interview, whether by telephone or face to face. I think you will be surprised how sympathetic the OR will be.

Easier said than done, but I'm trying my best.

Bollinge wrote: »

It doesn't sound as though you have conned anybody or stashed millions in Zurich.

Oddly enough, I knew someone who did exactly that many years ago (ex manager over 15 years ago), & was eventually caught. Now I'm not sure whether I wish we'd been better friends. :cool:

Bollinge wrote: »

Keep going with the bank charge reclaims, although all the loot will go to the OR.

That's the main reason I'm continuing with it. It's taking a while to go through my figures, but I want the OR to see that I'm willing to hand over whatever money I get back. I don't mind if the OR takes every penny - after all, it was taken from me years ago & I didn't know I was entitled to get it back until this year.

Bollinge wrote: »

It will be interesting to see how much you are expected to repay and over how long. If you do not have any assets, e.g. a house, surely it's trying to get blood out of a stone when you really need a completely fresh start.

I fully expect an IPA for the 3 years. I've committed no crimes, been no more stupid with money than other people, have never had any wealth, didn't owe the banks a penny when I went BR & haven't recently taken on credit that I knew I couldn't repay. With no assets, there's not an awful lot they can take from me except a portion of my salary, & as my health isn't brilliant if they want more than I can genuinely afford, I will give serious thought to giving up full-time work. I don't want to do so, but I'm not going to compromise my health even more by being unable to live a healthy ordinary life.

wherediditallgo

16 April - Scored a minor victory with a bank today. They froze my bank account on 29 March when I was honest/foolish enough to ring them to say I was going BR that day. That meant that from the next morning I wasn't able to look at my account online, so I had no idea of what was still in the account. Then at the weekend I got the letter saying they'd been informed by the OR that I was now BR, & my account had therefore been closed. I rang on Saturday to ask for my March statement plus the one for April to the closure date, & was somewhat annoyed to find that when I gave my account number for the automated service, it didn't recognise it. I eventually managed to escape the menu, & ask a woman for my statements, but was told to ring the Bankruptcy Team on Monday.

So this morning I rang up, only to be told that I would have to pay £5 for the statements because the account was closed. I pointed out that the only reason I hadn't been able to download the statements was because they'd first frozen then closed the account. I therefore couldn't see why I should be charged for statements that I hadn't been able to get myself thanks to their actions. We argued the issue for a good 10 minutes but she wouldn't budge, so I asked for a supervisor to call me back. She did so, & I pointed out to her that (a) the only reason I hadn't downloaded the statents was because the bank had stopped me doing so, & (b) my statements were exactly that - my statements, so even if I wasn't allowed access to them while the account was frozen, I should be able to get them by post or the internet now the account was closed. She apologised, said the member of staff had made a mistake, & said she'd do her best to get the account reactivated for tomorrow so that she could raise the statements & get them out to me.

I know it's only £5, but it's my £5, & I don't see why I should be paying for something that my account entitled me to get free of charge. When I went BR, I didn't owe the banks a penny. That meant I was a good customer right to the very end, & I should be treated accordingly. I should certainly be allowed to get my statements without it costing me a penny.

allofadither

wherediditallgo wrote: »

Not yet. They haven't written to or telephoned me. I've decided that I'm going to take the day off work for that, especially if it's in the morning. Some people have been talking to them for only a few minutes, but others have been talking with them for a couple of hours. :eek: I'm hoping for a telephone interview, partly because I don't want to be going so far & getting stressed out, only to be there for just a few minutes, but mainly because I really don't think I can deal with a face-to-face one. On the other hand, being visibly upset might work in my favour, as I know my posh accent might go against me on the 'phone - it works brilliantly for complaints & getting through to decision-makers, but for some reason people think you should be blamed more when something goes wrong because they think you're better educated. Something tells me I won't be getting a choice in the matter anyway. :cool:

WDIAG, I know I have a telephone interview next week, and at first I thought good, that's what I wanted, for much the same reasons as you have stated. Then I read somewhere that a face to face one can have it's advantages, not least because you can have someone else present, someone who can monitor the proceedings and if that someone has a legal background they can make sure everything is conducted properly as well as giving you moral support.

I've even contemplated asking for a face to face one, but cos I'm wuss I probably won't do it. Anyway, whichever type of interview you're presented with I'm sure you'll be OK because you seem very articulate and well able to present your circumstances in a concise and reasonable way.

And well done on sorting out your bank statements.

wherediditallgo

Thanks. I think I might have to work up the courage to ask for a face-to-face one too. It's a very difficult line to tread - say too much & come across as argumentative, or don't say enough to properly explain your case & come across as not taking it sufficiently seriously.

Part of me has been thinking that if they don't bother with the interview & just send me details of the IPA, I'll just go along with the IPA if I can afford it rather than contest it & put myself through a round of arguing. I am very articulate, but that's usually either within circumstances that I'm very knowledgeable about or circumstances where intelligent bluff will allow me to wing it & get by. BR is a minefield of unknowns, full of 'what if they say X' & 'supposing Y happens', plus so much is dependent on the OR who gets assigned to your case anyway.

Bollinge

The most upsetting part of my face to face interview with the Official Receiver was when at the end she asked me if I would complete a P.C. type questionnaire enquiring as to my ethnic background and other far more intrusive questions than in my Statement of Affairs.

I told her I had no truck with such Blairite garbage, and that I was sure she would treat atheists like me as equitably as any Muslim, Jew, Negro, Buddhist or any other fatuous racial or religious stereotype.

She smiled at me in a knowing way as if she was as !!!!ed off to have to ask me to complete the form as I was!

Mike_St_Helens

Bollinge wrote: »

The most upsetting part of my face to face interview with the Official Receiver was when at the end she asked me if I would complete a P.C. type questionnaire enquiring as to my ethnic background and other far more intrusive questions than in my Statement of Affairs.

I told her I had no truck with such Blairite garbage, and that I was sure she would treat atheists like me as equitably as any Muslim, Jew, Negro, Buddhist or any other fatuous racial or religious stereotype.

She smiled at me in a knowing way as if she was as !!!!ed off to have to ask me to complete the form as I was!

What the flook has that got to do with Blair ?

I think its fairl intersting to hear how many Gay, Straight, Black, White, Blue, Jew, JW people are filing for Bankruptcy... The info doesnt mean anything, simply stats.. whats wrong with them... Maybe you have a big brother chip on your shoulder...

Bollinge

I don't think so.

We have seen a dramatic increase in the state interference and control and observation of the lives of its citizens during Bliar's "Presidency", much of it attributed to the "War on Terror".

Who was it who let all the terrorists out of the Maze prison and into the Stormont Castle parliament building in Belfast?

But perhaps we should continue this discussion on a political bulletin board. Not that I am involved in one. I bet I could be controversial there, too!

Mike_St_Helens

Bollinge wrote: »

I don't think so.

We have seen a dramatic increase in the state interference and control and observation of the lives of its citizens during Bliar's "Presidency", much of it attributed to the "War on Terror".

Who was it who let all the terrorists out of the Maze prison and into the Stormont Castle parliament building in Belfast?

But perhaps we should continue this discussion on a political bulletin board. Not that I am involved in one. I bet I could be controversial there, too!

What a load of cr4p.


I agree though.. this needs a thread of its own.

wherediditallgo

Mike_St_Helens wrote: »

What a load of cr4p.


I agree though.. this needs a thread of its own.

I agree too - it certainly doesn't need to be in my diary thread! If I want my diary to be about these issues instead of my 'bankruptcy & living with it', then I'll post them, otherwise I'd appreciate people not using the thread as an outlet for their own agendas that have nothing to do with my bankruptcy. Bollinge, please take note. Thank you.

wherediditallgo

18 April - Got my Electron card today :j:j:j. I got my Co-op statement (zero balance) & the paying-in book yesterday, so now it's just the PIN to come. I've found it awkward not having a debit card, but it's probably saved me money - I've had to use some of the cash I took out just before going BR, but I've had to be careful with it because I knew that once that had gone there'd be nothing left until payday. I've still got direct debits to sort out, but at least I've got some cash left for that.

My travelcard runs out Friday, so that's an expense I could do without, but if I make myself stay at home this weekend I won't have to start the new one until Monday which will give me the extra days at the end to play with if I need them. Now I'm having to watch my expenses, I don't go anywhere by public transport unless the fares are covered by a current travelcard - it's just too expensive. There's nowhere I have to go this weekend that can't wait. I'd better do the food shopping before Friday though.