Three days after the Judge made the bankruptcy order, I received notification that the Official Receiver intends to interview me by telephone. From what I have read I envisaged a pleasant and polite person who will want to know the reasons for my debt and past behaviour, full details of my current position and someone who wants to make sure that the statement of affairs form I completed is accurate.
To be perfectly honest I didn’t know what outcome to expect. Questions were whirling around in my head such as:
- Would I have an income payments agreement put forward to me?
- Would I have a bankruptcy restrictions undertaking put forward to me?
- Would I have to attend a second interview?
The interview was exactly as I envisaged. I spoke to a young man who was very professional and polite. He walked me through my statement of affairs form and asked a series of questions. He established how I accumulated debt with various creditors and looked at the expenditure I detailed on the form. It lasted about one hour.
As I had prepared I was able to answer all his questions in full. I was informed that I could not include Internet as an expense and that I could have an allowance for medical prescriptions. Further to this I was told that I should be able to keep my car, as I need it for travelling to and from work. Obviously if the car was worth a lot of money I may have been asked to sell and buy a cheaper car.
The interview was also an opportunity to ask questions. I was worried about my car, as it is quite old, and questioned what action I would need to take if I need a new one. Quite simply if I have disposable income they would give me a monthly allowance to purchase a cheap car. My income and expenditure would then be recalculated with that allowance included. Any Income Payments Agreement would then be recalculated.
The interview, just like the court appointment, was nothing to worry about. The key has been taking advice and preparing so that I was 100% sure of what I was doing and I could answer all questions honestly and in full. At least then I have done all I can and the rest is out of my hands. I can go through bankruptcy and come out the other end with my head up high.
Piggy,
It is interesting looking over your blog but you don’t really say much about your financial circumstances leading into bankruptcy. Especially I am interested to know if you had any debts causing a deficiency over income, i.e., if you were insolvent or not. Also, if you were at all reckless (as many are) in your spending leading into bankruptcy. As you got your discharge early presumably you did not do much wrong and were a victim of business circumstances. Nevertheless, please provide more detail. That is, if you are still updating the website comments.
Hi Anonymous. Please feel free to read other posts in this blog. You will find all of the information that you are looking for. Also look out for new posts. In the next couple of months I shall be describing how bankruptcy has affected my life 2-3 years on! Thank-you for showing an interest in my blog.
at last, a website for bankrupts! It is such a lonely and shameful experience, I wish we had found this site earlier. My husband and I are only three years away from retirement and have lost everything we worked for, home etc due to a business venture that went pear shaped. The worst part of all was the interview with the female examiner who informed me gleefully that I wasn’t allowed money for xmas and birthday presents for my children and grandchildren and who then put a line through it with great flourish! I wept.
Hi Piggy,
I was declared banckrupt yesterday and I spoke to the Official Receiver this morning. The whole experience has been totally surreal, I say this because I was expecting to be told today that someone would come round to my house even though I did list my assests, I’m not sure if it’s because I live with parents and was honest with them that my only assests were my car and my laptop both of which were on Hire Purchase but the official receiver told me to call both companys and explain about the bankruptcy. The official receiver then told me she would only be intouch again if she needed anymore info. This has left me wondering whether to still expect someone to come round or if that is it. If anyone reading this has had the same experience can you please let me know the outcome.