News today from the Bank of England about a massive cash bailout to help the UK’s fifth largest mortgage lender made me laugh. You see it is our old best frenemies, Northern Rock.
For those in the IVA world we know them as the bank that won’t take payments from debtors and wants to rush to get charging orders instead.

So Northern Rock has a policy of telling people that want to repay via an Individual Voluntary Arrangement to go to hell and at the same time is chauffer driven to the Bank of England to pick up spare cash to help them out.

The Bank of England should have told NR to cut the IVA BS first as a condition of the bailout but then I guess that’s water under the bridge now.

The BBC Reports, "The fact that the Bank of England has been prepared to act as the lender of last resort is an indication that it thinks the problems at Northern Rock are temporary ones," Mr Peston added.

Treasury Select Committee chairman John McFall urged Northern Rock customers not to panic.

"I don't think they should be worried about their current accounts or mortgages," he said.

"The fact that the Bank is willing to act should be reassuring."

The loan would be provided at a penal interest rate, he said, as a recognition that management at the firm were not without blame.”

And Bank of England, if Northern Rock claims they can’t repay the penal interest rate loan as scheduled, refuse payments and go for a charging order. Now that would be poetic justice and you know that Northern Rock would be bitching that was unfair.

More news yesterday about Northern Rock, seems that legal eagles have found some very interesting prior court cases where the judge tossed out charging orders from creditors that were acting unfairly or unreasonably. It seems the judges felt that the rush for the charging order not only placed the debtor in a disadvantageous position but also screwed over the other creditors.  More news on these developments to come soon.

The latest Northern Rock stock info.