My fourth (and final) attempt

After I finally escaped and got home, I rang the banks and gave them my new details and then I went looking for someone to get this damn bankruptcy happening. I went to the ITSA website and looked for someone to manage it for me. I had no idea how I would pay but I just wasn’t up to dealing with it. It was a bit difficult to locate the Registered Debt Agreement Administrators on the site and I probably should have gone with a Registered Trustee instead but I’m glad things worked out the way they did.

Most Registered Debt Agreement Administrators will manage full bankruptcy for you but usually their core business is in providing a complete budget management solution. This means that you have an extensive consultation process to create a livable budget and your income is sent directly to them. They pay all your bills and allocate a living allowance to you, they also ensure that you put some of your money away as savings. I highly recommend this style of administration for anyone who is not yet bankrupt but struggling to meet their debt repayments. In fact, I cannot stress enough that, if you still have the option of avoiding bankruptcy but you can see trouble on the horizon – get thee to an administrator. Even if you need to obtain a Part IX Debt Agreement or eventually do end up going bankrupt, the sooner you can subscribe to a system like this, the easier the transition will be and the quicker your overall recovery.

For me, it was too late. I needed to go bankrupt – fast! Which is why I should have gone straight to the Trustee, with my home made bankruptcy papers (see previous post). The Administrator I chose followed their usual procedure of assessing my financial situation over a period of three months to make sure that bankruptcy was the right option. Those guarantees weren’t going anywhere so it was a moot point but I wasn’t too concerned at first. I was under the impression that they would manage the situation with the banks until the bankruptcy was official but that was not the case. After two months of constant harassment from the bank (read a typical phone conversation here), with one bank extracting my precious pocket money directly from my account, I ended up losing the plot on the phone one day. I insisted that they waive the procedure and fast-track my bankruptcy.

What I didn’t know: Once you have made the decision to file any type of bankruptcy, be sure to move any funds away from the banks with which you have outstanding debts. Up until the point you are officially bankrupt, the bank has the right to access your account and take funds. I found this out the hard way whilst attempting to pay my physiotherapy bill using EFTPOS.

So, after a small delay, I achieved bankruptcy on 17 May 2010. I actually celebrated. I emailed my family and close friends to give them the news, they responded with congratulatory messages, although the irony was not lost on any of us. I rang all the banks, armed with my bankruptcy number, bid them good bye and good luck and then I got in my Dad’s car, went for a drive and had a really good cry.