Advice with the OR phone interview

AircraftHandler

Hi there declared BR on Monday and the OR phoned me that monday to take a few bits from me and book in for my interview.

Does anyone have any advice on how to handle myself with the OR as i know they will be trying bullish tactics to get the most out of me?

Any help would be great.

Regards

DevCoder

Be honest.

It's the OR's job to ensure the most amount is made available to the creditors, this is part of the balancing (slightly) of a BR.

If everything was just forgotten about at the drop of a hat then everyone would just go BR. The system is there to ensure that BR remains a considered last resort.

So ye,s be honest, thats the best policy with them.

LoveLifeAgain

I agree, be honest. Just listen carefully to the questions and answer honestly and you will be alright.

tigerfeet2006

They won't be using bullish tactics. They are there to do a job and that is to understand how you got into that situation. They won't judge you.

Answer the questions you can, if you don't know something then just say you don't know. Sit comfortably with a glass of water or similar to drink. When there are pauses don't try and fill the silences with waffle as the OR is writing things down. Just take little sips of your drink and wait till the next question.

Make a list of questions you have for the OR and make sure you have the list and a pen just incase other questions occur to you during interview.

Just answer the question asked. I know that seems a daft thing to say but concentrate on the question and the details the OR needs to know and don't start to waffle. Short, sharp and to the point.

Try and make sure you will have no distractions during the interview and if you need a break at any point just let the OR know you are struggling and need a break and he can ring you back.

It is not the Spanish Inquisition.

owlet

Completely echo Tigerfeet's post. It will be fine.

elljay

Don't really know what bullish means but like others have found, mine was perfectly nice, unjudgemental, sympathetic and straightforward. She just worked her way through the 6.28 forms so you would need to have yours in front of you as she said, now we'll go to section 4, now page 7 etc etc. She basically just wanted to confirm with me that nothing has changed since I filled them in, to doublecheck the facts and also then to go through my income and expenditure. In several cases she increased the allowance I had put down, as well as hid an expense that wasn't covered in the SOA by increasing another section. I felt I was given very generous allowances.

Incidentally the OR wasn't writing while I spoke, she was typing. There were no unnatural gaps, it was just a straightforward perfectly friendly factfinding phone interview. As has been said, it's a good idea to have questions written down as I was nervous (unnecessarily!) and would've forgotten things I wanted to know, but I was able to ask or have things clarified as we went along too. It's structured but flexible. They're not trying to catch you out and I suspect they're well trained or experienced enough to tell when someone is trying to pull the wool over their eyes and of course they can always see your payslips, tax records, bank statements etc to check what you've said so no point in being anything other than honest and straightforward with them.

When is it? Good luck and let us know how it goes, it's so useful on here to hear of other people's experiences as it does seem to vary a bit from OR to OR.

AircraftHandler

Hi there it's on Tuesday so I've printed off my forms and my pay statements for them. I'm just worried that when it comes to my income and expenditure they're going to try and trip me up and take money I don't have. I've worked out that with the National Debtline that I have £186 a month of disposable income to go towards the BR so hopefully they will take that as gospel as it was done officially.

My wife's income is going to become involved also but none of these debts are hers as they were from a previous relationship. She only gets paid £400 a month and suffered a breakdown last year and was off work and only got a job recently as a way of rehabilitating herself and the money she gets is her own to help her get better by going out socialising, buying clothes and travelling home to see her family as we both no longer live near our families.

Hopefully my OR will understand these problems as the stress we're suffering through this is slowly dragging us down.

egrescrimp

AircraftHandler wrote: »

Hi there it's on Tuesday so I've printed off my forms and my pay statements for them. I'm just worried that when it comes to my income and expenditure they're going to try and trip me up and take money I don't have. I've worked out that with the National Debtline that I have £186 a month of disposable income to go towards the BR so hopefully they will take that as gospel as it was done officially.

My wife's income is going to become involved also but none of these debts are hers as they were from a previous relationship. She only gets paid £400 a month and suffered a breakdown last year and was off work and only got a job recently as a way of rehabilitating herself and the money she gets is her own to help her get better by going out socialising, buying clothes and travelling home to see her family as we both no longer live near our families.

Hopefully my OR will understand these problems as the stress we're suffering through this is slowly dragging us down.

Just remember that your wife only has to contribute what is left after she's paid her own commitments, if her £400 per month covers her commitments then there isn't anything the OR can do or say It's her money, not yours please remember that

You don't have to give a break down of her outgoings as it's none of the OR's business, just let them know whats left after shes paid her stuff

AircraftHandler

I actually support her and pay for her counselling but haven't disclosed that in my income and expenditure.

elljay

AircraftHandler wrote: »

Hi there it's on Tuesday so I've printed off my forms and my pay statements for them. I'm just worried that when it comes to my income and expenditure they're going to try and trip me up and take money I don't have. I've worked out that with the National Debtline that I have £186 a month of disposable income to go towards the BR so hopefully they will take that as gospel as it was done officially.

My wife's income is going to become involved also but none of these debts are hers as they were from a previous relationship. She only gets paid £400 a month and suffered a breakdown last year and was off work and only got a job recently as a way of rehabilitating herself and the money she gets is her own to help her get better by going out socialising, buying clothes and travelling home to see her family as we both no longer live near our families.

Hopefully my OR will understand these problems as the stress we're suffering through this is slowly dragging us down.

The OR will be understanding but their duty is to be fair all round and as has been said today elsewhere, they're not your new best friend, however understanding they appear. They do have to take your surplus to repay the creditors. However, they may well calculate it differently from Nat Debtline, which is an advisory charity (albeit excellent), not an official legal body, only the ORs office is that. As mentioned, in my case the allowances were greater than discussions with Stepchange gave me, in someone else's case they might be less. It's all flexible and to be agreed, so if you don't agree with an amount she suggests, then discuss why you don't. If you're reasonable then the chances are they can be too - please don't think they're trying to trip you up, they're not tricksters, they just have to find the best deal all round.. If you don't feel you can discuss this at interview, then ask to be sent the figures for each bit of the SOA and you can then have a think and get back to her. It's not set in stone on the day or anything if you want to query it. Mine were sent as a spreadsheet which was brilliant as I could easily incorporate it into my own budget sheet.

Once agreed you are sent something to sign to say you'll pay. However if your circumstances change (up or down) then it can be varied. If your pay increases don't forget you only have 21 days to let them know.

I think you'll find that worrying about it is worse than the actual event, once the interview and IPA was agreed, I really felt I was motoring onwards and able to plan for the future. In my case, I sat down and worked out my budget for the coming year. I knew where I was and could plan, and even save, which was something I hadn't been able to do for a while. It sounds as though you're well prepared with your paperwork - just remember to leave the catflap undone. I had to interrupt the interview as the cat was locked out in the rain and was making an unholy racket trying to get in. The examiner was amused - they're only human!

AircraftHandler

I spoke with Stepchange and they had my disposable income as £700 pounds after going through everything which was impossible as I don't think I've ever had that kind of money to spend on myself ever.

It will help to compare my income and expenditure with my national debtline one when I go through everything with the OR?