OR interview from hell

lisahelp

hi,
why do you think the or wants to come back to me in 4 months time about an ipa she said we won't go into it in too much detail today i will contact you again in 4 months time and go through it,i explained to her that i am trying to live within my means and without knowing for 4 months what i will have to pay towards an ipa it is going to be difficult to budget and then re budget again when they set an ipa.
any advice i have also posted my soa.
thanks in advance

rog2

blind-as-a-bat wrote: »

I am aware of that fermi but The guidlines are a basis for the acceptable practices of the OR wich in my view means that is how they should conduct each and every case (wich it is obvious they do not) as i said if they do deviate from this they must be acountable as to the reason why other wise the guide may as well not exsist

If a court has to decide on an IPO the OR would need to justify there discision to the judge to get it passed so the guidlines cannot just be egnored by the OR without good reason

I agree with both you AND Fermi, blind-as.
We have often pointed out the inconsistencies, between ORs, on this forum. None of us like it, but we need to deal with it.
ANY bankrupt, who does not agree with an IPA, or indeed any aspect of their treatment, has the right to question their treatment, at ALL stages, and also has the right to lodge an official complaint;

See: http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/pdfs/ao6howtocomplain.pdf

I think lisa should prepare her I/E in accordance with the Insolvency Service guidelines - and a bit of help from us - and that she should NOT worry, unduly, about the 'four month delay' - she will be better prepared.

fermi

Hi lisa,

Although you can't say for certain, my suspicion is this.:

At the moment your OR probably knows that they might not be able to justify an IPA on your current figures (or is hesitant to do so) which means they are delaying the decision.

Coincidently (or not) for straightforward cases a review of income/expenditure is normally carried out somewhere around the 3-4 month mark to look at whether an IPA can be imposed prior to early discharge.

So as a shot in the dark, it is possible that the OR's assistant is unsure whether they could justify an IPA now so is leaving it until this review.

In the meantime I would continue to budget according to your original SOA and not scrimp in a way that allows them to impose an IPA/IPO 3-4 months down the line.

lisahelp

hi,
Thanks to all of you for replying,i really don't feel as bad now,i felt sick just after the interview.
I think this site could become a life saver for me.
It relly is like being on a rollercoster
thanks again all your advice is appreciated

lisahelp

hi,
if anyone has the time to let me know what they think of my soa,she also said that they would not include my cb in any calculations,
thanks in advance

Richard_S

lisahelp wrote: »

hi,
if anyone has the time to let me know what they think of my soa,she also said that they would not include my cb in any calculations,
thanks in advance

Hi Lisa,

One of the worst things for a human being to deal with is uncertainty, and your O.R has, for whatever thankless reasons, successfully intimidated you and potentially made your life a misery for the next four months. You have to rise above that heartless approach and convince yourself that you will prevail; your budget is reasonable and you don't have sufficient income to pay an IPA.

Fermi is correct in saying that the guidelines are not law, but that ignores the fact that if you refuse to sign the IPA forms the O.R will have to prove before a judge in a court that his treatment of you is fair. That is where those guidelines will be used to define the law in your case. Our judiciary, thank God, are a very liberal and far sighted group of people who are not influenced in the least by some slavering bureaucrat trying to climb the career ladder.

Don't admit defeat and agree to a budget that you're never going to be able to maintain. This is only a temporary setback and with some resolve and determination from you and some support and anecdotal advice from us, I'm sure you'll get the outcome you want. It's not going to be an overnight thing so try and condition yourself for a battle of attrition that could last a couple of months.

From my experience, most of the things I was told at interview never happened; there were no investigations; there was no restrictions or dismissal of our initial budget. It's just the O.R's way of trying to get you to agree to something that you should never be expected to.

Out of interest what gender and age was your O.R; approximately?

Richard

lisahelp

Hi richard,
Thanks for the advice,The OR was a female of around 40-50 years of age,she kind of like belittled me and said that it is obvious that i haven't been living within my means,she made me feel really bad,my only asset is some free shares given to me by my employer,but they are locked in for between 3-5 years they only become mine after this period,and i lose all right to them if i were to leave the company,she said that she can get them even though they are locked in which i find a bit strange as they are not available until after this period.
thanks in advance
lisa

lisahelp

Hi Richard,
do you think we may have had the same OR.
thanks

Richard_S

lisahelp wrote: »

Hi richard,
Thanks for the advice,The OR was a female of around 40-50 years of age,she kind of like belittled me and said that it is obvious that i haven't been living within my means,she made me feel really bad,my only asset is some free shares given to me by my employer,but they are locked in for between 3-5 years they only become mine after this period,and i lose all right to them if i were to leave the company,she said that she can get them even though they are locked in which i find a bit strange as they are not available until after this period.
thanks in advance
lisa

Hi Lisa,

Well to say you haven't been living within your means is a bit like saying if your heart stops beating you'll die. None of us have been living within our means otherwise we'd never have become insolvent; it's the reasons why that need addressing and almost without exception bankruptcy is biggest "wake up" call anybody's ever going to get.

As for belittling you that's obviously her way of asserting her authority; that's fine, I'd imagine you have no problems with that; all you're bothered about is having enough money to put food on the table. The shares are a side issue, if they're a publicly quoted company then maybe she can, if they're a private company shares, then very doubtful.

I really wouldn't be surprised if you never heard another thing until the possibility of an early discharge arose; then you would be required to complete another I&E budget; maybe that's what she means.

Maybe she wants to scare you because she feels as though you'll get off lightly and that's her way of doing it. Maybe she's seriously in debt and envies you your opportunity to become debt free. Maybe it was the moon, the time of the month, the tides, hormones, tooth ache, a sore head, a sore !!!!; maybe she fell out with her partner, maybe she fell out of bed, maybe it was too hot for her last night, or too cold, or too windy; the reasons for her behaviour are potentially endless; the outcomes are not though.

The fact is, she cannot leave you with insufficient funds to provide for your family; she'd maybe like to, but for absolutely certain she can't. Once you realise that I think you'll be more annoyed at her treatment of you than intimidated by her Dickensian approach.

Keep posting and keep believing,

Richard.

lisahelp

Hi Richard,
Thanks for your reply.
I am fine on her having the shares they only acquait to around £600,even less when tax,commission etc is taken into account,they are shares in a large supermarket group,i offered to send her all details on them and she declined my offer,saying she could obtain all information needed,to be really honest she did not sound to clued up on my case as she asked what i had done with all my cards and then realised that i had sent them to her,i hope she was just trying to scare me as i don't have an abundance of spare money even after all of this.
thanks in advance