Bankrupcy while employed - half pay salary (sickness) and SOA

Anna39

Hi,

New to the boards, had a read and can not find anyone in a situation similar to mine so decided to post a new topic - hopefully someone can help.

I have about 35k debts which i currently pay at 500 per month via DMP with CCCS - this I could just about afford being on full pay with a salary of 38k per month (myself and my 18 yo daughter still at college plus a cat and a dog to support).

From this month (1st October) I am going to be on half pay from my work as i am off sick long term (stress at work - long story, won't be going back to work anytime soon, probably never to this job).

That means there is no way I can meet the 500 per month payments or in fact any payments at all to be honest.

I will contact CCCS to find out about possibility of going bancrupt but I was hoping someone here can give me some advice maybe from a personal experience?

First of all- I can not at the monet afford to pay the fee that is needed to submit the forms.

Secondly - as I am employed (although signed off sick by my GP and not working at the moment but still entiled to half pay for the next 6 months which would be about 1100 per month clear), does going bancrupt mean I will still have to pay something (anything) towards the debts I have? How long for? How much? Percentage of the income?

I will not have the half pay payslip till end of October - how do I deal with this?

Any advice very much appreciated.

Thanks a lot.

PS - I do not own a house or a car or have any savings - I live in a council flat (not sure if this makes any difference)
Debts are credit cards and loans, I am not behind on any bills like rent or council tax etc.

Dorothy56

Hi

Yes definately take advice - CCCS has a bankruptcy department. Most people save for the fees by not paying any of their creditors for a couple of months, though still pay their rent and all their normal bills.

Banruptcy lasts for twelve months, although it is held on your credit file for 6 years.

If you have a surplus of over £99 a month, after they have allowed for all your living expenses (which are more generous than in a DMP) then 50% goes on a repayment to your creditors for 36 months. There is a sliding scale of the % payable depending on how large your surplus is. This can also vary up or down during the term if your circumstances change.

If you do decide bankruptcy is the right option for you the people in here will give you tons of support and advice.

best of luck

Dorothy

Anna39

Thanks a lot Dorothy - did not expect anyone to reply to me so early (I mean late at night).

What I worry about is that my work situation may make everything much more complicated.

As I have mentioned, I am oficially on 38k per year which raoughly translates to about 2300-2400 per month (after tax) plust about 75 per month ChB which I get for my 18 yo daughter who is still at College (last year).

But due to long term sickness (stress at work, signed off by my GP - totally unrelated to my debts) my salary will go down to half (about 1100 per month after tax) from the 1st of this month only showing this on my payslip at the end of the month

Thsi may be seen as a temporary thing although I am going back to my GP at the end of the month and he is more then likely to keep on signing me off as my work situation is not likely to improve (very complicated) so the income would need to be treated on a month to month basis?

I can not resign from work, I am entiled to 6 months on half pay...

My budget (while on half pay)looks something like that:

Salary £1,100.00
ChB £ 75.00
Total Income £1,175.00

Rent £ 314.00
CT £ 97.00
Gas £ 70.00
Electric £ 30.00
TV License £ 12.00
SKY £ 20.00
BT £ 20.00
Mobile £ 50.00
Debts £ -
Total Bills £ 613.00

My Travel £ -
Daughter Travel £ 50.00
Daughter Lunch £ 80.00
Dog Food £ 45.00
Dog Walking £ -
Food/Toiletries etc £ 300.00
Total Other £ 475.00

Balance £ 87.00

I do not have any insurance (apart from pets insurance - not sure how much is that, have to check), I used to have 150 allowance on my DMP for dog walker while I was at work and of course for my own travel and lunch which I have now taken out.

To be honest I am all over the place with this one, maybe someone could have a look at the budget abouve and let me know if this looks ok? There is no allowance for any emergencies (I get 3 perscriptions per month, wear glasses and dentist is not included) or holidays/birthdays - anything at all, not even clothes..

SKY includes the broadband (basic package) and we have 2 mobiles which I could possibly vbring down to 40 per month for the 2 of them?

Oh, did not include cat food/litter

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Thanks a lot

Anna39

Just remembered - I have a new Bank Account that I have opened for my DMP when I had to close my original bank account.

Would I still have to close this new account going BR and open yet another one?

I do need one as my salary goes there and all my bills go out by DD from that account - would the I have get frozen? How long for? What about the salary that goes in there?

philnicandamy

Depends on who the account is with....most banks are not very bankrupt freindly & once hear about your bankruptcy will freeze any accounts you hold...some have been lucky & managed to keep accounts although not many...the only bankrupt freindly banks still at the moment are barclays & the co-op

Anna39

My account is with the Coop - I have opened it while sorting out the DMP.

I do nto understand the freezing acount if I do not owe any money to the bank I h0old my account with?

Thanks

philnicandamy

List it on your paperwork...if the OR shows no interest in it (which he/she should do if its only a basic account no cheque book/OD) they'll usually let you keep that one....."IF" by chance the account is frozen by the co-op the OR can easily arrange your salary to be released and once the co-op know the OR has no interest will keep the account open.....i've only known one occurance of a co-op account being closed after BR so its very very rare

Anna39

It is a basic acount with no cheque book or ovedraft etc - as I have mentioned I opened it with advice of CCCS when they were setting up my DMP for me and I had to close my old accounts.

Thanks

philnicandamy

As I said...I cant say the account will be fine...but i'm 98% certain it will be (i've only known 1 occasion being here where someone lost a co-op account...and I think that was down to a stroppy OR)

Anna39

I did not think anyone was in similar position - can someone advice please?



Thanks

tigerfeet2006

Anna39 wrote: »

Hi,

New to the boards, had a read and can not find anyone in a situation similar to mine so decided to post a new topic - hopefully someone can help.

I have about 35k debts which i currently pay at 500 per month via DMP with CCCS - this I could just about afford being on full pay with a salary of 38k per month (myself and my 18 yo daughter still at college plus a cat and a dog to support).

From this month (1st October) I am going to be on half pay from my work as i am off sick long term (stress at work - long story, won't be going back to work anytime soon, probably never to this job).

That means there is no way I can meet the 500 per month payments or in fact any payments at all to be honest.

I will contact CCCS to find out about possibility of going bancrupt but I was hoping someone here can give me some advice maybe from a personal experience? Good idea. They will talk through all your options with you.

First of all- I can not at the monet afford to pay the fee that is needed to submit the forms. CCCS will tell you to stop paying the DMP and put the money towards the BR fee's.

Secondly - as I am employed (although signed off sick by my GP and not working at the moment but still entiled to half pay for the next 6 months which would be about 1100 per month clear), does going bancrupt mean I will still have to pay something (anything) towards the debts I have? How long for? How much? Percentage of the income?; You need to put your wage at the time of going BR which will be £1100. You then are allowed reasonable living expenses. If there is any surplus over £99 after this then you will pay a % of your surplus to the OR. If you put up your SOA then we will check it over for you. http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

I will not have the half pay payslip till end of October - how do I deal with this? That is fine. By the time you sort yourself out and go BR and get an appointment with the OR it will probably be creeping into November any way. You can add a note about your circumstances on the form any way.

Any advice very much appreciated.

Thanks a lot.

PS - I do not own a house or a car or have any savings - I live in a council flat (not sure if this makes any difference)
Debts are credit cards and loans, I am not behind on any bills like rent or council tax etc.

Keep on paying the priority bills like rent, CT and utilities and stop paying non priority debts like your DMP.

Hope some of that helps