Car is an asset

ALANNALA

Today I had my face-to-face meeting with the Official Receiver and anything and everything was covered lasting all 3 hours of it. The OR went through each page of the SOA and appeared satisfied with my answers. The only drawback, and it was a bit of a blow for me, was my car.. he says it is an asset which will go towards the IPA which will be set up and he gave me 2 options to think about giving me just 2 weeks..one was to agree with him that agents will take the car and sell it and give the maximum of £1000 back to me to buy another, or to get someone to offer to pay the difference between the £1000 and what the car is worth on the market.. my car is in the valuation region of about £3000 so I said to him what type of person will just give £2000 away (apart from family) and see nothing for their generosity..since I don’t have any family it means that I am in a difficult situation, he said it is the way it goes if I want to keep my car... so my question to readers is has anybody been accepted to keep their car if someone has offered a minimal and totally nominal token amount nowhere near the value of the car and also, had that offer been accepted by the OR... Your replies would be very welcome

TheGardener

I haven't been in the position you describe but it does seem pretty common that if a car is valued much above the £1000, that they are sold as assets and you don't get to keep it. Is there a particular reason you need a car with a much higher value? There does seem to be a great deal of variation about what OR's will and will not allow when it comes to cars and I suppose all you can do is make the offer and see what happens.

fermi

From OR's guidance.

9) What if the vehicle is an exempt asset but has value?
(Amended September 2011)
As a reasonable vehicle can be obtained for an amount in the region of £1,000 this is the amount that the official receiver uses as a benchmark when considering the cost of a reasonable replacement vehicle. Where a vehicle is exempt but there may be a benefit to the estate in realising the vehicle and replacing it with a cheaper alternative under section 308 of the Insolvency Act 1986 the official receiver should consider doing so.
An exempt vehicle should only be taken on the basis of providing a replacement if there will be a net realisation of a minimum of £500 to the estate after taking into account the cost of an agent’s fees and a replacement vehicle. When considering what would constitute a suitable replacement vehicle the factors that should be taken into consideration are the type of journeys that the bankrupt makes and the frequency and purpose of those journeys. A third party contribution equivalent to the estimated net value to the estate may be accepted to avoid seizure, sale and replacement.
Depending on the circumstances of each individual case the payment to purchase the replacement vehicle may be made to the bankrupt directly or to the vendor of the vehicle. It is recognised that a bankrupt may be able to obtain a better deal to purchase a vehicle by negotiating a private sale or attending a car auction and in such circumstances immediate access to cash is required. If an allowance from the proceeds of sale is made directly to the bankrupt then the official receiver should request evidence of the purchase of the vehicle within 21 days. See CHM part – Exempt Property
Where an exempt vehicle has a cherished/personalised registration mark, the value of this should be considered before deciding whether the vehicle is of excess value. For more information on dealing with exempt vehicles with cherished/personalised registration marks see Technical Manual Chapter 31.2 – Motor Vehicles, paragraphs 31.2.25 & 31.2.25A

dojoman

I was in the same position but my car was worth more, the OR sent an agent round who valued the car, they then told me the amount it would take to keep it, this was about £500 less than what the car had been valued at, i tried to make him a lower offer but he would not move at all.

longtermplanner

ALANNALA wrote: »

so my question to readers is has anybody been accepted to keep their car if someone has offered a minimal and totally nominal token amount nowhere near the value of the car and also, had that offer been accepted by the OR... Your replies would be very welcome

I am afraid what the OR has proposed is standard procedure.

I am not sure why you thought you would be allowed to keep a car worth 3k.

ALANNALA

Dojoman: I presume your car was taken, but tell me please..what was the value of your car and how long after the agent called to valued the car and give details on how much it would be to keep it, that they actually took it away ?

dojoman

ALANNALA wrote: »

Dojoman: I presume your car was taken, but tell me please..what was the value of your car and how long after the agent called to valued the car and give details on how much it would be to keep it, that they actually took it away ?

Luckily for me my son purchased the BI in the car for me and I was allowed to keep it. The car was valued at 4300 but when I went BR the allowance for a car was 2000, so my son actually had to pay 1750 to allow me to keep it.