Feeling Clueless and need a bit of help?

Yeltulip13

Hi all,

I am new to the forum having signed up today but have been a ''Lurker'' for a good few months now.

Firstly I would like to say that this forum has been fantastic in helping me with my decision to go BR, and I took the Bull by the Horns and declared myself BR on the 30th July 2012.

I do feel like a massive weight has been lifted from my shoulders, having been really stupid, and naive with Loans and Credit cards when I was in my teens.

Anyways to cut a very long story short, I have to pay an IPA for 3 years ( till Sept 2015), The OR said to me in my Interview that I am likely to be discharged after a year, as I have no assets apart from my banger of a car that he allowed me to keep, but what I dont understand is this:

If I am going to be potentially discharged after a year, why do I then have to continue to pay an IPA? surely if I have been discharged, then the Creditors are releasing me from the BR so I don't quite understand why I would have to continue to pay.

Also if I am discharged after a year, and I was to get a new job paying more money, would I then have to inform the OR of this? or because I am discharged, would it be no business of the OR's at this time?

I hope I make sense and I would be grateful for your advise

Gimpsdad

The OR has a duty to administer a BR estate, and if you can afford to return something to it, and your creditors, then you have a legal duty to do so. As you, presumably, borrowed the money with the full intention of paying it back, then I cannot see why you are questioning it. You are legally protected, no one mithers you so what is not to like?

You cannot be asked for what you haven't got, it must be affordable. You also have a 3 year timescale to pay and that's it. Further, if things take a turn for the worse and you can afford less, then you will pay less, or even nothing at all.

Perhaps, having taken the bull by the horns and done all your research, you are regretting your decision? If not, then just get on with it and take the medicine for your naivety.

debtinfo

The simple answer is that you have a 3 year IPA because that is what the law allows for. That is the deal you get rid of the debt in return for a 3 year IPA if you are able to afford it. The IPA changes in relation to your surplus so if your income goes up then so likely will the IPA, it also works the other way so if your surplus goes down your IPA also goes down.

The historical reason for the present situation is as follows, The bulk of the orignal laws come from the 1986 Act of Parliment which largly changed the bankruptcy laws. That made the bankrupty period 3 years and the payment period 3 years. In 2004 the Enterprise Act came into force which was an update to the 1986 Act. The idea was to reduce the period of time of the bankruptcy so that bankrupts could get back into jobs and business's quicker (there were more jobs that bankruptcy excluded in those days) and to reduce the stigma of bankruptcy but without reducing the return to creditors or the self financing structure of the insolvency service , so therefore the bankruptcy period was reduced to 1 year (shorter with an early discharge) but the IPA period remained as 3 years

Yeltulip13

Thank you both for your response.

I feel I have made the right decison and, and can draw a line under this and carry on with life.

Having gone BR nearly 3 months ago now, I am still getting nasty letters from one or two creditors, although all the rest have backed off. I even wrote to all my creditors and included a copy of the BR Order that I received from the court.

In particular Tesco Bank are now saying that I have failed to keep up my repayments and they are now going to take further action against me. Is this normal? should I ignore the nasty letters, or write to them again?

I have called them several times to advise that I am BR aswell.

Thanks

Yeltulip13

debtinfo

Collect any letters you have and send them to your OR telling them they are still hassling you. They will find a phone call from the OR more trying than one from you

Yeltulip13

I will do, Thanks