an honest an accurate account of my BR

molly1412

I always said that once i was discharged that i would share our story to help those in similar situation so here goes..............

due to a change in circumstances (short story - illness which effected our childcare and meant i could no longer work) we had no option other than to look at BR this is never something i thought would happen to us, we never missed a payment in our lives and although always paid or cc or bills in time we were clearly living beyond our means as the minuet something changes we were unable to service our debts. i guess we never really thought like everyone that this would happen to us but looking back our spending was reckless because we earned high wages we spent high and put everything on cc or refinanced and as our credit rate was so good (right up until BR) then we were constanlty offered more credit - viscious circle as i am sure you all know.

we went to get advice fully expecting to be told there was a solution like IVA or another option but becuase of the huge negative equity in our property and that our wages would be reduced drastically we were informed the only option for us would be bankruptcy - wow we were shocked but thanks to this forum and reading everything we could we decided that it was the best option.

i was dreading court and it was actually a pleasant experience as the clerk was so lovely and understanding and that day i felt a weight had been lifted as i was so embarrassed by our situation. we then had a call straight away from OR which took around 45 mins they asked us questions as to what lead to BR and our current circumstances but no other questions that i was expecting like why we had spent so much on cards (obviosuly we did not think we were going to go BR so our spending remained the same) but none of these questions they also did not set up an IPA as OH wages fluctuated due to overtime and bonus but they said they would reassess before AD.

as the year has gone on there have been good days and bad, some days i woke up worried and im ashamed about everything then other days i really do forget and life was normal but really its not half as bad as i expected.

we did not hear anything all year from the OR even though we did inform them of a few changes. the year has gone so fast and we have learned so much we are now really cautious and careful with money and think twice about what we need to buy and this process has put things into perspective as to what is important in life.

i cannot thank this forum enough and sorry for the long post but i remember a year ago and being a wreck thinking that it was the worst thing in the world when actually its been a learning process and i am so glad we went down this route as we now have no debt, we dont feel the need to get credit, and we have learned some valuable lessons.

if anyone needs any advice or support please PM me whilst i am still no expert but i can offer advice as to what our experience was like

thanks again x

Janey51

This is so helpful for me.

flossie58_2

Hi this is very positive glad you have come through this. Did you have a property, if so did you have to sell the property? my husband and i are thinking of BR but not sure as really dont want to loose our house, any advice please.

molly1412

Hi,
Yes we did have a house but it was rented our prior to BR and it's was in massive negative equity so we rented prior to going BR.

We just gave our tenants notice then stopped paying the mortgage inc in our BR and waited for them to repossess.

I believe if there equity they will reassess or someone can buy beneficial interest but if in neg after 3 years then you will get to keep I'm sure someone could clarify this as we I'd not go down this route - all the best and feel free to ask me any other questions

Lizardwoman1

Hi I found your post very reassuring as I am waiting for my IVA to be formally terminated so I can make myself bankrupt. Do you know what is acceptable as expenditure for a Bankruptcy Petition as what is included on my IVA some of it is apparently not allowed in BR.

Many thanks

molly1412

I was surprised how much we were allowed on our soa and actually the or upped some of our figures. We were allowed 10 per person for emergency and another 10 each for holidays. So our monthly allowances were generous and easy to stick to. I know all or are different but we were told to go high incase they lower when they didn't at all.

They need to try and make as manageable as possible to stop people getting in difficulty again.

I'm glad people are finding the post reassuring, there always great advice with the technicalities of BR but my own opinion of when I was facing it was to get an honest & accurate experience so I hope this helps.

I wish you all the best of luck as I know it's daunting but the year will be over before you know & if like me you will have learned a very valuable lesson (and sleep well again!!) x

sniggings

Lizardwoman1 wrote: »

Hi I found your post very reassuring as I am waiting for my IVA to be formally terminated so I can make myself bankrupt. Do you know what is acceptable as expenditure for a Bankruptcy Petition as what is included on my IVA some of it is apparently not allowed in BR.

Many thanks

a lot find BR is a little more forgiving on what is allowed.

sniggings

Good post Molly, yeah you are right a lot of us are (or were in our cases) only one pay packet away from BR, people don't realise that sometimes, credit is a way of life for some, all it can take is a broken leg, an illness etc and they too will be in the same boat.