Have just realised the sheer recklessness of it...

Cinderbrook

Rather than go out in the sunshine today, I have mostly been writing my statement about why I am filing for bankruptcy on the online application form. It reads like a catalogue of disasters: mistakes, bad luck and sheer recklessness. A large part of my debt has been caused by circumstances outside of my control ie criminal damage. Once I made the decision to go bankrupt I felt a lot better generally but writing this has made me dread going before the judge and interview with the OR or IP. It is a strange situation to be in because I appear to be quite a capable sort of person to the outside world but this diabolical mess would surprise many people I know. But still my court appearance is in a week and I am counting the days. Have got a feeling that the worse is yet to come really and three years of limited funds because of the IPA will be no fun either. Will report back on how this plot unfolds next week. As always many thanks for the information that I get here, far better than any bankruptcy advice service (MyVesta £200 springs to mind!).
Cinders

renegadefm

Cinderbrook wrote: »

Rather than go out in the sunshine today, I have mostly been writing my statement about why I am filing for bankruptcy on the online application form. It reads like a catalogue of disasters: mistakes, bad luck and sheer recklessness. A large part of my debt has been caused by circumstances outside of my control ie criminal damage. Once I made the decision to go bankrupt I felt a lot better generally but writing this has made me dread going before the judge and interview with the OR or IP. It is a strange situation to be in because I appear to be quite a capable sort of person to the outside world but this diabolical mess would surprise many people I know. But still my court appearance is in a week and I am counting the days. Have got a feeling that the worse is yet to come really and three years of limited funds because of the IPA will be no fun either. Will report back on how this plot unfolds next week. As always many thanks for the information that I get here, far better than any bankruptcy advice service (MyVesta £200 springs to mind!).
Cinders

To be honest with you going in front of the judge was the easy part for me, it was just a kind of interview where they check your paperwork in an office type room, not court, and you wait outside for in my case 45 minutes, and your called to go back in the room to collect the paperwork in my case from the same woman I handed it to during the interview, it almost felt strange to me, like almost too painless to be true.

But then when I got home and the OR rang me and I came on places like this, it all starts to unfold to you, like for instance in my case the following day I was literally running around my local town to see what bank account I could open as all my ones before going BR dropped me like a lead balloon, and I panicked cause I couldn't access my wages which coincedentally was payed into one of the banks which shut me down that same day, so I ended up having to kinda of beg to my OR to ring the bank, and the OR ends up having to give the bank persmission to release the money to me.

It does feel kinda weird, like during bankruptcy your money isn't your own, so although your debts are cleared, its kinda in my case anyway feels far from over, well the hassel anyway.

But I suppose its far better than having the debt hanging over your head cause in my case about 70% of my wages each week was paying the debts off, well in the end it became unbearable, which is why I went down the BR route.

Its not that bad really, I'm not trying to put you off because at the end of the day, if you can stand the hassel of having to lose your current bank accounts and any savings accounts, and end up with a simple cash card account from Barclays or Coop, its far better than being in debt.

I guess I'm just bitter towards life at the moment, cause in my case its debts which have just gradually crept up and up over about 17 years, and not from a foolish lifestyle or anything, just from a lack of funds coming into the houshold plain and simple as that really, so I kinda resent having to go BR, but I had no choice in the end.

Like in the old days it was a very shameful practice, but its a very different era now, infact its hard to escape being in debt, or at least it was in my early days of marriage etc.

I must admit I have learned the hard way in life that I should have gone without a lot of things perhaps even though I don't concider I have lived a lavish lifestyle, but at least I wouldn't have owed a penny if I'd done what my parents era would have done, and that was so they keep telling me is if I couldn't afford something I should have gone without plain and simple, sounds easy I said to myself, but in reality it isn't that easy, cause in my case when I first got married all I had was a £200 overdraft, and it very slowely and gradually crept up and up, infact it was so gradual that I hardly noticed anything was wrong, cause you tend to become immune to having to pay a debt, and end up not noticing how big its growing before you can do anything about it, like in my case I only had £115 left of my wages each week from £309 the rest was paying my debts off, thats when I thought hang on here, I'm sinking fast, I had a definite feeling of the room I was in was filling up with water and I was standing on all the things I could find just to have my mouth close to the ceiling to be able to breath, so BR is a massive way to pull the plug, lets put it this way.

dalip

Cinder I don't think there are many people on here where bc is a clear case of recklessness ect. I think many like you(and I) have a build up of disasters where the ultimate end is bc. Not a happy conclusion but a conclusion never the less.Good luck nxt wk we are routing for you.X

fermi

I must admit renegadefm, that I'm still amazed at how poorly you were advised. They may have helped you fill out the forms OK, but they should have taken the time to explain all the rest to you properly.

And Cinderbrook, as for other "bankruptcy advice services" I only realised the other day that another big and very good BR related forum has the name of the one you mentioned in your post as a rude word in their forums swear word filter. :rotfl::rotfl: Says it all really.:rolleyes:

And as Dalip says, I'm sure that your road to BR was no worse than a lot of us here.

renegadefm

fermi wrote: »

I must admit renegadefm, that I'm still amazed at how poorly you were advised. They may have helped you fill out the forms OK, but they should have taken the time to explain all the rest to you properly.

And Cinderbrook, as for other "bankruptcy advice services" I only realised the other day that another big and very good BR related forum has the name of the one you mentioned in your post as a rude word in their forums swear word filter. :rotfl::rotfl: Says it all really.:rolleyes:

And as Dalip says, I'm sure that your road to BR was no worse than a lot of us here.

I agree mate, I never realised how badly I was informed or advised until it unfolded before my very eyes after the OR rang me, but I suppose I should pinch myself and wake up to the fact its still hassel I can live with compared to what I was going through with all my debts, put it this way if all I got to worry about is losing a few bank accounts and having to open a basic one just to have somewhere to manage my direct debits and wages from life ain't that bad after all;)

dodecanese

Hi Cinders
like you, when I wrote it all down in black and white then read it back I thought "how on earth have I ended up here". I think there were certain things that caused a catalyst for my bankruptcy, I dont feel I was deliberately reckless- but I look back at some of the things I spent on and I truly cringe. Some of my decisions have been SO bad.

I did cringe during my OR interview interview(glad it was telephone so he couldnt see my beetroot red face)- even though he was really nice I just felt like such an idiot. Thing is though- its probably nothing they havnt heard before, my OR didnt sound shocked or aghast- he probably heard a very similar story from several other bankrupts.
Good luck for next week, Im sure you will be fine.

Cinderbrook

Grateful thanks all of you, I'm just feeling a bit flat about it all today having written it down and seen how it represents my life for the past few years.
Many thanks for taking the time and effort to respond.
Best wishes,
Cinders,

renegadefm

Cinderbrook wrote: »

Grateful thanks all of you, I'm just feeling a bit flat about it all today having written it down and seen how it represents my life for the past few years.
Many thanks for taking the time and effort to respond.
Best wishes,
Cinders,

I take it you mean for the next few years Cinders not past as you have written?

But you might be lucky and not have to pay any IPA fees for 3 years, it depends on how you budget your expences and fill out the form which you will end up presenting to the court, but it is important to be as honest as you possibly can.

I know I am new to this to be giving advice but I'm sure if I'm wrong someone wil correct my comment;)

Richard_S

Cinderbrook wrote: »

Grateful thanks all of you, I'm just feeling a bit flat about it all today having written it down and seen how it represents my life for the past few years.
Many thanks for taking the time and effort to respond.
Best wishes,
Cinders,

Hi Cinders,

It is a very sobering prospect when you see it all laid before you in black and white, and then having to describe how it happened. I never really let it bother me that much; I just convinced myself that is was something I was doing for a friend and then it just didn't seem in the least personal.

It very soon gets forgotten when you have to carry on with your life and forget the problems and mistakes of the past.

Richard

renegadefm

Richard_S wrote: »

Hi Cinders,

It is a very sobering prospect when you see it all laid before you in black and white, and then having to describe how it happened. I never really let it bother me that much; I just convinced myself that is was something I was doing for a friend and then it just didn't seem in the least personal.

It very soon gets forgotten when you have to carry on with your life and forget the problems and mistakes of the past.

Richard

Yeah I don't want to brag or seem arogant here, I do feel sorry for you Cinders, but the tremendous pressure I been under for the last 17 years trying to be strong and fight these debts, but only realising in recent months my defeat has not been a joke.

You see my problem or how I see it is its been a lifetime of debts very slowely which piled up, but not on expencive cars, or lifestyle in anyway, just living in general above my means I suppose, but only slightly, and before I knew it I had a debt of about 38 thousand hanging over me which has been growing since 17 years ago roughly.

But my point is don't feel guilty my friend because how I try and look at it is we come into this world without a penny to out name, and we will be burried or cremated without a penny aswell, so try and not let money make you so depressed during the living years, life isn't so bad when theres a system to fall back on like BR.

And I've worked hard all my life since school, but I don't feel guilty in anyway as I concider I've payed enough back to the state one way or another via the interest I have been steadily paying over 17 years, put it this way its gone from my pocket whether I liked it or not, so don;t worry.

dodecanese

Just to add, as well as all the bad feelings with bankruptcy, I do feel it really is "second chance". I feel total and absolute relief- not because Im no longer being chased by creditors, but because Im no longer in the awful, grinding debt trap Ive been in for years.

I never want to go there again- I have the utmost respect for people in debt plans, I wanted to do that myself- but according to CCCS (and myself, deep down)- I was too far down the bankruptcy road for it to be viable- which was a shock in itself. If someone had have told me Id be bankrupt by now back in December I would'nt have believed it.
Its a harsh lesson, but a good leveller, and one I fully intend to learn from.