Don't ask BLN's administrators questions - ask them here!

Historically I'd say no, and the provisions made for tax purposes have invariably been on the low side.  But the administration changes things somewhat.  BLN have estimated realisations for the purpose of the administration, and it's no secret that those estimates are kept under constant review by both BLN and Kroll.  Kroll need realistic estimates because they are being paid out of the recoveries.   This being so, BLN should be better placed to give you some kind of value today than they will have been in the past.

One thing you can be sure of is the value won't turn out to be right.  One thing to ask yourself is do you want it to err on the high side or the low side?  You might prefer a high value so that you can maximise the tax free lump sum. 

Some further thoughts, not necessarily helpful:

1.  The valuation should probably be net of the administrators' 25% retention.  If the retention turns out to be too much any excess will be returned to lenders on a basis to be determined.  I have no inside info on this, and could not share it if I did, but I'd be surprised if any excess was large. 

2.  For some loans future recoveries, if any, may come from legal claims/litigation. I think it would be very difficult indeed for BLN or Kroll to ascribe a value to claims without disclosing information that could be prejudicial to the prospects thereof.

If Oddy eventually pays out, does all of the interest count towards the anual allowance for the year in which it was received, or can you write it off against previous years allowances.

Nice to be looking optimistically! You can offset the interest against all P2P losses in that year and I expect losses to be greater than interest for TC generally in most years to come. You can also carry losses forward for four years (I think it is). You could also write off extra TC loans yourself in the year Ody repays if you have a good reason to, which might not be difficult to justify, depending when/if Ody repays.

Can some kind person help me to understand my tax reports, I can norma;;y cope but not this time, and I have asked and their answer isn't helping

By PM if you like

HMRC requires statements for the tax year to be sent out by the end of June.  Last year I got mine 25/6.  The year before that it was 30/6.

shimself   I know you are (or were) an expat.  Have you perhaps managed to get BLN/TC to do yours to a different timetable? 

Be that as it may, assuming the form of your statement is the same as mine, there have historically been 3 figures:

(A)  Gross Interest from your portfolio - cash interest received in the year

(B)  Principal Write Off – Made during the year - amounts written off in the year

(C)  Irrecoverable Principal as at [year end date] - their view of the CUMULATIVE provisions required against loans not yet written off.  These have historically been pretty light IMO.  Most significantly, BLN/TC have never advised any provisions on the NG book.

Items (B) and (C) are supported by a list of the loans to which they relate.

I have historically claimed a deduction for both write-offs and provisions. The deduction arising in the year on this basis (excluding any adjustments - see below) is:
B + C - C₀
where C₀ is the Irrecoverable Principal provisions advised in the previous year.

The deduction for UK taxpayers can be offset against p2p interest only: first against interest on the platform and then against interest on other platforms (if and only if they are Article 36H compliant).  If in any year there is insufficient p2p interest to absorb the deduction the excess can be carried forward for up to 4 years, on a FIFO basis.

Some further notes:

You don't have to use BLN/TC's figures for provisions, but should be prepared to justify any adjustments.  I have accepted BLN/TC's provisions in most cases, but have made an additional general provision against my NG loans.  This additional provision has been going up each year as the prognosis gets ever more gloomy.  If you adjust TC's figures you will need to keep track of your adjustment(s) also.

I do not know how this year's statements will deal with the administrators' retention.  I hope the gross interest figure reported to us will be limited to what we have received, net of the retention, but I don't know.  Retained principal will clearly not, for the time being, be written off.  I rather doubt that it will be treated as irrecoverable principal either, but we shall see.

Hmmm.  There's no need for them to provide the info outside of their normal timetable (not least because you have many months to do your tax return*) and I'd be sceptical of any figures so provided.  Historically, provisions have been reviewed by BLN/TC during May and June as part of the process leading up to the issue of the tax statements.  Unless things are different this year they won't have finished the process yet.

_{*Deadline 31/10 for manual returns, extended to 31/1 for online returns.}