Think I'm in trouble

Richard_S

Hi sweeper,

“They want to basically know why I was borrowing more money all the time whilst knowing that I couldn't pay it back”.

This quote is taken from your first post and is probably key to you avoiding a BRU/BRO, presumably you had every intention of repaying the loans, your partner was training for a new career that would have significantly increased your earnings and you were expecting your health problems to improve allowing you to return to work. It is important that you stress your reliance on credit was only viewed as a temporary situation and one that you had no reason to believe would result in you being unable to repay your debts.

It sounds as though you have been completely honest with the O.R and that will certainly go in your favour; it’s when people try and hide things or get caught out telling untruths that the O.R really “goes for the jugular”.

Your other concern is the loan you paid off on your Father’s car. They would normally expect the repayment to the O.R of a debt like that but chances are the car is now worth very little and if it was a gesture in lieu of payment for the services your Father was providing, then the O.R may well be more understanding.

Another thing in your favour is that you fell into the trap that so many of us have, and that’s the point of no return when you have to keep borrowing to service existing debt. That in itself won’t be held against you and neither will the purchase of everyday non-luxury items for your home such as washer, vacuum cleaner etc. High price audio or visual systems are different though, but it doesn’t seem as though you spent any money on items like that.

By the time you’ve included debt repayment on cards and overdrafts, the money you paid to your father and everyday living expenses you shouldn’t be too far off accounting for most of the money. You need to stress the negative effect on your finances that your health problems have had and combined with your partner only working part-time through the period that your debts were incurred you start to have a reasonable explanation of why ultimately, bankruptcy was the only option.

I wouldn’t dwell too much on the threat of a BRU/BRO, it will only serve to cause you so much concern that you’re unable to focus on the important issues, such as working on a reasoned explanation of your financial problems and coming up with an expenditure estimate to support that explanation.

If the whole thing starts to “get you down” or you run out of answers then post again and share the problem around.

Best regards,

Richard

wherediditallgo

Sweeper, I know it's hard but try not to worry. The reason the BRO has been threatened is because they can't see the answers to those questions in your paperwork. Once you give the explanation, I think you'll be OK. The main thing is to tell the truth.

Your health is an important factor. I also have health problems which at times has included treatment for depression. Looking back on it, I think some of the decisions I made came about because of my ill health. When I wasn't feeling well, I didn't want the hassle of arguing about something or didn't have the energy (mentally or physically) to look for a better deal, so I took whatever was on offer instead of doing more research. I've acknowledged that in my SOA, so hopefully the OR will realise that it won't be happening again.

sweeper12

Hiya

I sent off my explanations about 6 weeks ago and still have no idea if they are planning to BRU/BRO me. Would it take them a long time to get all the info they need or might I have convinced them that what I did was not deliberate ? It would be nice to know what they are doing as it's making me a bit jittery

NekoZombie

Maybe call them. It took over a month for them to consider my appeal to my IPA, which they eventually accepted.

sweeper12

Hiya

I still don't know about whether I will get a possible BRO/BRU. The OR has been working on it now for 4 months so I thought I would ring my case supervisor to ask how it was going. She told me they were STILL doing some checks on it and that I would probably hear more in a month or two. I'm really fed up as it's always on my mind. I have no idea what I have done to warrant this amount of attention to detail on my BR - apart from stick my head in the sand. I just wish they would tell me one way or another as I'm supposed to have my discharge in January................

wherediditallgo

It is horrible having to wait, isn't it? Unfortunately, they don't take the stress this causes into account. The only thing I can say is, no news is good news - I know it sounds trite, but on the positive side it means that they haven't found anything so far to say a BRO/BRU is necessary, & the longer it takes them the better off you'll be because once you're discharged, they can't impose one anyway. I suspect they've got a backlog of cases to look at, so I'd just let them get on with it - January's less than 4 months away, so you may well be discharged with no decision being made. I wouldn't contact them again about it - just live your life as if one has been imposed, then if it happens you won't be so shocked & if it doesn't, it will be a welcome relief.

sweeper12

Hiya

I think it's me getting stressed up. I'm sure the case worker said something about a report being prepared which immediately made me think that they were preparing one for court. I guess you're right about the fact they haven't found anything at the moment and probably right about a backlog. I won't call them again and the only reason I did is because my post sometimes goes astray and I had visions of it going to somebody elses house.

Sweeper

wherediditallgo

I used to worry about post going astray too, in the lead-up to going BR. When one of my former neighbours got my credit card bill, & returned it to me opened with the comment that "You're not going to have a nice evening - your bill's huge, especially with the arrears" (:mad:), I replied "Pay it then, if you're that bothered".

There have been a few instances of people getting mail from the OR that wasn't meant for them, but it rarely happens. If they send you something, it will get to you, hopefully not until after your discharge date.

sweeper12

Know what you mean there - I've had my neighbours CC bills through my door in the past so I tend to try to read their faces when we're chatting to look for any signs that they might know about my debts and BR - paranoia has rocked up a few times :rolleyes:

I was getting a bit obssessed about the BRO thing, probably cos I just want to put it all behind me but I can't change things so I'll have to be patient. I will post the outcome when or if I hear anything.

Sweeper

Richard_S

Hi Sweeper,

We had a very long and arduous meeting with the O.R and when it had finished he told us that there were a number of issues that he wasn't happy about and we'd be required to come back in at some point and be interviewed again by a "specialist" investigator.:eek: :eek:

I was convinced right up to the day we were discharged that we'd be hit with a BRO but we heard absolutely nothing from the O.R from the day of the interview to the day of our discharge.

There were large transfers of money between ourselves and our Ltd Co and it was impossible for me to remember the reasons behind all of them.

I often wondered why the O.R said what he did; sadism.

Regards

Richard