2nd day of Bancruptcy

Robflh

Hi Peter Pan

Someone posted this on another thread.

31.2.25 Exempt vehicles of excess value

Where an exempt vehicle appears to have a significant value, the official receiver, when acting as trustee, may claim it for the estate if he/she considers that the realisable value of the vehicle exceeds the cost of a reasonable replacement

The vehicle must be claimed by notice in writing no later than 42 days after it came to the knowledge of the trustee (in the case of the official receiver, on his/her becoming trustee) Any notice after this time can only be made with the leave of the court. The official receiver should not normally take any steps to claim an exempt vehicle unless the potential net realisation to the estate is at least £500 after taking into account any costs of sale and of a replacement vehicle . A third party contribution equivalent to the net value of the car to the estate may be accepted to avoid the seizure, sale and replacement of the vehicle.

The official receiver will need to consider the nature of the bankrupt’s business in assessing whether a vehicle has excess value since in the past the courts have concluded that a bankrupt could retain a high value vehicle because he/she operated a business which provided chauffeur driven vehicles.

Assuming you can prove you need a car. If the car is worth £3,000, the OR would make £1,000 from the sale of the car minus any other cost you incurred when buying the replacement car. If those costs came to £200, the OR would only make £800 but if friends and family gave your OR £301 the OR would not be making at least £500 and you could keep the car. I think. Talk to your OR about the car and if you think they will go for it, haggle over the £301.

The replacement car can be more then £2000 but as already pointed out you would have to make a good case for it.

For consistency between official receiver's offices a guideline maximum figure of £2,000 has been introduced. While official receivers may exceptionally exceed this figure depending on the purpose for which the vehicle is used, it should be adhered to as frequently as possible.