New Car & Bankruptcy

[Notveryhappy]

My Aunt bought me a car for £1300. I'm in the process of going bankrupt. What will happen to my car.

Thanks

[Kathyan]

As you own the car, you may have to sell it. If you need it for work, however, they may let you keep it.

[josaphine32]

I went bankrupt in 2002, I also had a car and yes they can take it away from you, my mum bought me mine a few months earlier, I had a phone call to say that they were collecting my car and explained to them that my mum bought it for me, I had to prove that the car was not for my own personal use and it was used for transporting my mum around as she did not drive, They wanted copies of my mums bank statements to prove that she purchased the car (mine was just a cash withdrawal as it was a private seller) and i had to write to them stateing that my mum was a non driver and i needed to take her shopping, to work, and other places.
even though the car was in my name it was technically hers but had to have it signed in my name for insurace purposes.

[josaphine32]

They can also take, tv's, dvd, dishwasher and personal belongings, etc, They have to by law leave you with essential needs such as fridges, freezers, table and chairs, They did not come to my home then but i don't know if it has changed since then, I moved most things up to my mums for a few months to be on the safe side,

[themas]

1. Did your aunt give you the car as a gift, or did she buy it and allow you to use it, but retain ownership herself? Please note the DVLA record is not a record of ownership - only of the keeper of the car. If it is still your aunt's car then it goes down on your bankruptcy form as a car not owned by you but used by you. They cannot then take it, but may enquire into the facts of the situation to satisfy themselves that your entries on the form are truthful.

2. If it is your car, what will happen depends partly on its value and partly on what you need to use it for. If it was bought from a dealer for £1300 then its present sale value should be quite a bit less and it is rather unlikely (although not certain) that they would be interested in taking it. Remember that it will cost them several hundred £ to collect it, store it & auction it so what they would get would be a lot less than its auction value. You have to put a value for it on the form - use the correct sale value from Parkers online price guide.

3. What josaphine says is not correct. I suspect she is thinking of bailiffs. Bankruptcy officials very rarely inspect homes and would only be interested in taking domestic items if they are of considerable value (e.g. if you bought a £2000 large plasma screen TV shortly before going bankrupt they would be interested, but definitely not for any run of the mill TV).