OK, she was very to the point and very well spoken but polite enough throughout the call.
She needed to confirm amounts of debts and who they were with. She confirmed that these consisted of general living expenses and consolidation which we specified on the statement.
The car...my little 4 seater sexy beast on wheels (seriously not!!) which I had valued at £350...I got the valuation from "webuyanycar.com" and went with that. She requested the mileage which I confirmed with her. She then said she had made her own investigations into how much my car was worth and she was in agreement with my estimation. PHEW. The next thing she said is "Your car will be exempt from the bankruptcy. You will receive a certificate of exemption in the post."
With regards to my wife's car worth approx. £1800, she wasn't concerned with this whatsoever. As it was in my wife's name with DVLA, even though I also have use of the vehicle she said she didn't need to consider this.
We had a considerable conversation about how much we have to save for the kids school trips. She wanted to know dates of the trips, locations, costs.
Life insurance was confusing. We have a policy that only pays out on death. She would need to confirm this with our insurance company. Once confirmed that it only pays out on death, we are able to buy the policy back for £50 (payable to the Official Receiver) and continue paying the premiums as usual.
The O.R. wanted confirmation of the type of tenancy I have. She asked a number of questions to check I did not have any assets that would be relevant to the bankruptcy but in fairness I have been honest and my chance to declare anything like this was on the statement which I took to the court.
The O.R. said that she noticed we pay out for pet insurance. Asked how many pets. 2 dogs, 2 cats. She asked the breed of the cats...domestic cats, and the breed of the dogs, 2 Labradors. No more questions on pets.
The official receiver explained to me that I will be discharged from the bankruptcy 12 months from the 20th April 2015. In the meantime she will consider my income and expenditure to see if an Income Payments Agreement (IPA) would be in order. If I have £20+ spare each month I will have to enter into an IPA for up to 3 years which will pay the creditors. The amount will be decided by the Official Receiver and if I disagree with it, this can turn into an order from the court (an Income Payments Order (IPO)). I explained how my hours of work and income can vary and she said that we will deal with that situation as and if it arises. I must keep her informed of any changes. The IPA will not be requested if there is not sufficient disposable income. (No clues given. I suppose this one is just a "wait and see").
With regards to our bank accounts this was the one that was going to affect us on a daily basis. There was nothing up for discussion, she simply told me quite politely what would happen to the accounts.
The joint account I have with my wife which is overdrawn - she is writing to the bank to tell them this needs to be closed.
My sole bank account - will be up to the bank and me to work out if I can continue to bank with them. She will write to the bank to advise them that the funds in this account need to be released to me as I will need this to live on. (I use this account for all my Direct Debits)
Savings account - to be closed.
My joint account which is in credit - she told me to take my name off this account altogether.
So on this basis, I checked with the Official Receiver that I should continue to use my sole account as usual.
The O.R. then said that this is a fresh start and if any creditors make contact with me I need to give them the reference number for the bankruptcy. She would be sending out some forms which I would need to return to her. Any further questions I could look up on the insolvency website or could telephone the office.
Phone call ends...PHEW, wondering if it went well.
She needed to confirm amounts of debts and who they were with. She confirmed that these consisted of general living expenses and consolidation which we specified on the statement.
The car...my little 4 seater sexy beast on wheels (seriously not!!) which I had valued at £350...I got the valuation from "webuyanycar.com" and went with that. She requested the mileage which I confirmed with her. She then said she had made her own investigations into how much my car was worth and she was in agreement with my estimation. PHEW. The next thing she said is "Your car will be exempt from the bankruptcy. You will receive a certificate of exemption in the post."
With regards to my wife's car worth approx. £1800, she wasn't concerned with this whatsoever. As it was in my wife's name with DVLA, even though I also have use of the vehicle she said she didn't need to consider this.
We had a considerable conversation about how much we have to save for the kids school trips. She wanted to know dates of the trips, locations, costs.
Life insurance was confusing. We have a policy that only pays out on death. She would need to confirm this with our insurance company. Once confirmed that it only pays out on death, we are able to buy the policy back for £50 (payable to the Official Receiver) and continue paying the premiums as usual.
The O.R. wanted confirmation of the type of tenancy I have. She asked a number of questions to check I did not have any assets that would be relevant to the bankruptcy but in fairness I have been honest and my chance to declare anything like this was on the statement which I took to the court.
The O.R. said that she noticed we pay out for pet insurance. Asked how many pets. 2 dogs, 2 cats. She asked the breed of the cats...domestic cats, and the breed of the dogs, 2 Labradors. No more questions on pets.
The official receiver explained to me that I will be discharged from the bankruptcy 12 months from the 20th April 2015. In the meantime she will consider my income and expenditure to see if an Income Payments Agreement (IPA) would be in order. If I have £20+ spare each month I will have to enter into an IPA for up to 3 years which will pay the creditors. The amount will be decided by the Official Receiver and if I disagree with it, this can turn into an order from the court (an Income Payments Order (IPO)). I explained how my hours of work and income can vary and she said that we will deal with that situation as and if it arises. I must keep her informed of any changes. The IPA will not be requested if there is not sufficient disposable income. (No clues given. I suppose this one is just a "wait and see").
With regards to our bank accounts this was the one that was going to affect us on a daily basis. There was nothing up for discussion, she simply told me quite politely what would happen to the accounts.
The joint account I have with my wife which is overdrawn - she is writing to the bank to tell them this needs to be closed.
My sole bank account - will be up to the bank and me to work out if I can continue to bank with them. She will write to the bank to advise them that the funds in this account need to be released to me as I will need this to live on. (I use this account for all my Direct Debits)
Savings account - to be closed.
My joint account which is in credit - she told me to take my name off this account altogether.
So on this basis, I checked with the Official Receiver that I should continue to use my sole account as usual.
The O.R. then said that this is a fresh start and if any creditors make contact with me I need to give them the reference number for the bankruptcy. She would be sending out some forms which I would need to return to her. Any further questions I could look up on the insolvency website or could telephone the office.
Phone call ends...PHEW, wondering if it went well.