Hi Helhan, I'm glad I can make you smile!!!
I found that BR wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be. I owed £65k to about 6 creditors, and like you, a lot of it was due to consolidation loans and I then used the credit cards to live.
I don't really understand BI, as I don't have a house, although I know that you can make an offer to the OR for a family member or friend to buy the BI - hopefully Scaredkez will be along later as I'm sure she can answer that better than me.
I wasn't given a grilling at court at all. The only person who I didn't like was the security guard and I got the impression he was just a miserable b****r anyway! The BR clerk went through my paperwork, stamped it and took me up to wait for the judge, who I saw in his office, not in a court. I admit I was shaking like a leaf at that point. The judge wasn't scary at all, he read through my BR application, asked me if I had taken professional advice and then signed the petition granting my BR. The main things I can remember are that the chairs in the office were really heavy and I was shaking so much I could hardly move them, and the judge's phone rang while he was talking to me!
Once he had signed the paperwork I had to wait while the clerk typed up the BR order and then I was on my way. I saw the judge at 10.10am and I was back at work by 11.45am - the feeling of relief was (and still is) fantastic.
Some people see or speak to the Official Receiver the same day, but the examiner called me the following day to arrange the telephone interview. That was when everything hit me, and when I put the phone down I sat down and cried - not because it was so terrible, but because I had actually done it and could move on with my life. Even the OR interview wasn't as bad as I thought - she was business like, but efficient.
It was the best thing I could have done in my circumstances. I wouldn't worry too much about the stigma of BR - no-one has come up to me and told me that they have seen my notice in the local paper. Most of my friends know, and they have been really supportive, except one, but hey ho, I knew there would be one, and I'm not surprised at who it is!
I now feel as if I am moving on with my life, and I'm much more relaxed now as I'm not panicking about how I'm going to pay my creditors, or latterly how I was going to make my IVA payment.
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is the present - a gift to make the most of.
View my blog at
http://skippy13.blogs.iva.co.uk/