BR help from a newbie

fergusor

Hi Guys,

I'm wondering if anyone can give some help. I'm going to see the CAB on Friday but wanted some advice beforehand.

I'm currently living on my own after my ex partner recently left and I'm left to pay all the bills. I take home £1830 per month but have massive debts.

Debts are:

Mortgage (in joint names still but me paying it all): £600pm
Secured loan (in joint names but currently paying half): £280pm (my half)
Credit cards (combined total £27,000): £600pm
Car finance: £280pm
Household bills: £250pm
Overdraft of £9000 (a/c in joint names but me paying): £50pm
Another account £500 overdrawn but can't afford to pay this back.

This is all before I try and work in living expenses and I'm currently in arrears on all my credit cards except 2. I'm OK with the mortgage and loan as I've managed to pay them but I don't think I will be able to for much longer.

I just wanted to know whether I have a gppd case for BR and if you think this is the best option. I've been seeing someone new for 9 months now and not told him about any of this and I'm scared if I do he won't want to be with me anymore and I think we're getting close to moving in together... so losing sleep over that and money worries.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Richard.

jo70

Hi and welcome to the forum. All I can say is that next week my OH and I are going BK. We owe about 90k between us. Eventually we couldn't manage to pay our bills, we saw a non-profit debt counsellor who agreed withus that bankruptcy was our only real choice.
Fortunately for us we rent therefore we can't lose our house, but that takes nothing away from you and your troubles.
I suggest you speak to someone quickly-CCCS, CAB ring the National Debtline and speak to one of their advisors.
However the people on this site are wonderful, very helpful and exceptionally informative.
Someone with far more knowledge will be here soon to give you more advice. Just wish you all the very best-and as friends of mine say to me frequently-no-one hangs in this country!

TTFN

Dez-Titute

Hi & welcome Fergi

Can you post your SOA (income and expenditure)but without you unsecured lending

Cheers DEz

skylight

Okay. Firstly if your new squeeze has got serious issues with you dealing with your life and debts, then he's not worth it. You are worth more than cash.

Secondly, if you go BR, then you will lose your home under these circumstances?? Your ex is highly unlikely to buy out your beneficial interest and keep up payments (guess he would have done so already). And all joint debt will fall to your ex.

You are likely to be given an IPA (income payment agreement) where the OR will take 50% of your surplus income to service your debts. This is after all your essentials like rent/housekeeping/bills etc have been taken into consideration.

No-one can decide if BR is best for you. Thats soley for you to decide. Perhaps calling one of the debt charities as well as CAB - like Payplan or CCCS. Get as much info as you can before you make a decision.

Rainbow_Butterfly

Hi & Welcome to the forum. Your best bet is to give one of the debt charities a call; national debtline or CCCS are a good place to start. They will give you free and impartial advice as to what the best course of action is.
In the meantime as Dez says, post your SOA so that we can try and see if there are any savings etc you can make. http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

xx

dalip

Hi just wanted to add my welcome.

Any questions regardless just ask away. All advice so far is spot on. Ring a CHARITY debt line. Then if they reccomend bc we are behind you 100% and will help you through the process.D

fergusor

Here's my SOA :-(

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1830
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1830

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 594
Secured loan repayments................. 280
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 120
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 50
Telephone (land line)................... 12
Mobile phone............................ 45
TV Licence.............................. 10
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 21
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 100
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 45
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 15
Contents insurance...................... 15
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 30
Holiday................................. 100
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1997

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 120000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 16000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 136000

Secured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 112000...(594)......0
Secured Debt.................. 40000....(280)......0
Total secured debts........... 152000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
CC - Halifax...................4000......80........18.9
CC - American Express..........6000......160.......18.9
CC - M&S.......................2000......60........18.9
Overdraft......................9000......150.......12.9
CC - Lloyds....................9500......160.......18.9
CC - Audi......................2750......105.......18.9
Total unsecured debts..........33250.....715.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,830
Expenses (including secured debts)....... 1,997
Available for debt repayments........... -167
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 715
Surplus(deficit if negative)............ -882

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 136,000
Total Secured debt...................... -152,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -33,250
Net Assets.............................. -49,250

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.

fergusor

Just a quick question, what is an IVA? It mentions in a previous post that I'd be liable to pay an IVA of 50% of my spare money... how long would I have to pay this for? I thought going bankrupt writes the debts off and you don't have to worry anymore... am I being nieve here?

dalip

You are getting mixed up with an Income Payments arrangement(IPA). These are sometimes applied for 36 mths if after all houseold bills ect you have any surplus over £99 a mth. Yes all debts are wiped off to a certain extent but if you do have any spare income then it is used firstly to pay the OR fees then any left is distributed to your creditors. D

peachyprice

Hi fergusor,
An IPA is where you pay a percentage of any surplus, after all reasonable living expenses, to the OR. But clearly you have no surplus, so no worries there!

Concerning your house, as it's in negative equity the OR would have no interest in taking it, and if you can afford to you should be allowed to keep it. However, if you can't afford to stay and decide to hand it back to the mortgage company your ex will be liable for the shortfall once it has been repossessed and sold.

skylight

Not an IVA - thats a different payment plan thats really strict over 5 years and they strip you to the bone. An IPA is the amount you have to pay to the OR for 36 months IF you have enough of a surplus after all your outgoings and its 50% of that surplus - not your total income.

So for example if your outgoings mount to £1500 and your net income is £2000, then the surplus is £500 and you pay 50% of that for a maximum of 36 months.