Bankruptcy and maternity pay!

bananawoman83

Hi guys, really could appreciate some advice or help with this.. lots of details but might help give the bigger picture!

I've been with a debt management company for a year now, and currently have debts totalling £18k (£11k of which is student loan). I had my first baby in May, and now in receipt of SMP from my employer, who I've worked for two years. I happen to be in a relationship with the team leader of the the team I work in (he wasn't TL when we got together, by the way!) and he is the father of my little boy. Before I left for maternity leave, my supervisor (one up from my other half, to whom I report) told us that we could no longer work together, and that we should look for other jobs. As I am just a pleb pen-pusher I decided I'd look for a new job, but being heavily pregnant made other managers very reluctant to take me on! I applied for the graduate scheme and after all the aptitude tests and two gruelling interviews, was told thanks but no thanks. My supervisor has also said that I would not be able to come back part time, due to the nature of the job.

To this end, I cannot really go back to work - also, my wages don't even cover the cost of childcare, so I would be left out of pocket going back to work! I have decided to declare myself bankrupt, as it's the only way of getting my debts sorted when I will be claiming JSA etc etc after my SMP finishes.

I have completed my SOA, taken it to the court today, got it all signed and checked, and waiting to go and do it officially sometime in the next couple of weeks.

My question is this - can my employer cease my SMP once they get wind of me going BR? The company I work for is a rather large worldwide bank, and I know for a fact that they do not allow BRs to work for them. So if I declared myself bankrupt, will they continue to pay my SMP or will they just cut me off completely?

Any help greatly appreciated!

Ta x

pink-lint_2

hi there , just read on the insolvetry web site student loans can not be added in to the bankrupcy. something that changed in 2004,

i think you need to contact the cab to see were you stand in your job

sorry i cant really help , pink

tigerfeet2006

Hi and welcome to the board.

As Pink has said your student loan will not be included in your BR.

Who advised you that BR was an option?

TBH not sure about the SMP it might be best to give National Debtline a ring in the morning and check things over with them.

LilyBart

Hi Bananawoman,
I don't know about the SMP either, but reading your account of what happened with your employers - pressure to leave that team, not being hired on other teams because of pregnancy, not being offered flexible hours after the birth of the baby - I think you should also get some advice from an employment law specialist. I think CAB might have people that do this. Failing that, try Community Legal Service Direct (0845 435 4345 or https://www.clsdirect.org.uk). Chances are that since your employer is a bank, they will have been very careful to tweezer their way through UK employment rights. Even so, this looks like discriminatory behaviour to me and it can't harm taking a day or so to check this out. You have a few weeks, right? Do try and talk to a legal advisor and perhaps contact your union rep, if you have one.
best
Lily

MummyHol

I'm not too sure about were you'd stand if you went BR but others have given good advice there. When i was having trouble with my employers while on maternity ACAS were really helpful, especially with regards to making sure my employers were refusing my return part-time legally. Worth giving them a call to see where you stand with your job. (i didn't think an employer could ask you to leave for having a relationship with a colleague but that might just be my last employers policy)

ACAS 08457 474747

LilyBart

I had a solicitor friend whose employers had a strict no-dating policy among colleagues. Needless to say, she ended up married to one of them.

bananawoman83

Hi everyone, thanks so much for all the great advice and help - it is very much appreciated!

Oh yes I forgot to mention that I did already know student loan cannot be included in BR - but on the SOA I had to include it anyway. To answer some of your questions, I really feel bankruptcy is the best option for me, as like I said, I've no intention of returning to work a) because it doesn't pay me to (awful isn't it?), b) they won't be able to accommodate working part-time, c) even if I could work part time on my team, I can't because of my OH, and there are no other part-time jobs in the whole workplace!

Since I don't plan on going back to work, I am left claiming JSA which I believe is £60 odd quid per week, with the ability to work at minimum wage level up to 16 hours without affecting my entitlement. My monthly income will be as follows:

Child benefit: £80
Child tax credits: £80
JSA: £240

This leaves me a grand total of £400 to survive on each month. That doesn't include any council tax or housing benefits but I am assuming the worst that we probably won't qualify, as my partner earns more than the threshold. At the moment I am paying £150 on my DMP, which apparently cannot be lowered because that is the minimum the creditors will accept. At this rate, it will take about 4 years to pay off the debt, however the interest on each account keeps going up and up all the time, so really that money is wasted as the balances aren't getting any lower.

I do really feel so frustrated because I consider myself a bloody hard worker, I've never shirked in my life and always worked all the hours that god sent to pay the bills, since I was 16. At my current job, we have appraisals all the time for personal goals and for bonus-qualifiers etc, and I have always got the top mark in this since I started, and after all this it feels like a blimmin slap in the face after I worked so hard - doing stuff like introducing new systems and procedures etc, and general procedural improvements bla bla bla. And really, it turns out that they don't really care at the end of the day. They try and promote the ethic that 'the best people get pushed forward', however when managers do get a good worker they want to hang on to them for themselves. In my two years there I am still on less money than others who have worked there longer but do not get the top bracket for appraisals. Grrr! People that ask me questions on how to do stuff, when they have been there twice as long as I have!

I was so gutted when i found I hadn't got on the grad scheme - but they were asking all about my 'leadership style' and so I was completely myself and replied that I was very orientated around staff welfare and the emotive side to man-management... when DUH, they're looking for someone who says 'Oh I can hit targets, definitely.' Stupid me!

You are completely right, there was so much pressure on my part to find something another job. especially being almost about to pop with hormones all over the place and having to handover all my hard work to people who have no idea what they're doing.

I guess at the moment I just feel like 'WHY?' I suppose I am feeling sorry for myself which is daft because I chose this path in life, albeit by default, as I couldn't get a job as a designer (what I'm qualified in) so turned to banking instead!

At least I have my baby boy to make me smile every day - and being a Mum is the only job I've ever had which really is truly rewarding

I will definitely check out all those links and phone numbers you've kindly provided, and I will keep you posted as to how I get on!#

Thanks so much xxxxxx

pink-lint_2

hi

do you live with your partner ? or do you live by yourself with your baby?

just this would make a diffrence with what benefit you could claim. as you say he works.

i dont think you can claim jsa if you live with your partner and they earn over a certain amount

If your partner or civil partner works 24 hours or more a week on average, you can't usually get income-based JSA (contribution-based JSA isn't affected). If they work less than 24 hours, it may affect how much you get.

this is off directgov website.

i think the same applies to housing benefit and council tax benefit

pink

pink-lint_2

www.entitledto.co.uk


this web site will help you find out what benefits your entitled to

pinkx

LilyBart

Hi Bananawoman,
Not surprised you're feeling cheesed off about this. Do call ACAS as MummyHol suggested. After two years continuous employment, there should be some sort of obligation to help you find a different position or more flexible hours within the company after maternity leave. The childcare costs versus income thing is always really tricky in the first few years of motherhood - it gets a little easier once they start school - but leaving the workplace altogether can impact on your earning ability later.
Lily

bananawoman83

Hi everyone,

Just an update but I've been spending a lot fo time researching anf having a mid-mid-life crisis over all these shenanigans.

Ok, so I contacted CLS Direct who were really hrlpful and they told me, as long as I had worked for my employer for over 26 weeks, they are still obliged to pay my SMP even if go BR. Yay!

They then went on to confirm, after taking our income/outcome details etc, that after my SMP finishes, that I'd be entitled to claim contribution-based JSA (as I've paid my NI contributions this year) for 6 months. And because I'm 25 after 6 months the Job Centre will enroll me into this 'New deal' scheme thingy. This means they will give me advice, training etc etc in order to find myself a job that's suitable for me and works around my family life, or to work for myself. So that's pretty cool. Apart from, I would love to know what qualifications they can get me so that I can get a 'decent' job... I already have GCSEs, A-Levels and a degree, and found it difficult to get anything other than shop and bar work then, as I had no experience!

So, I thought long and hard and had mammoth chat with my OH. I've decided definitely not to go back to work, to go ahead with the BR, and who knows, maybe this will be my chance of finally doing something worthwhile with my life, and actually using my degree and not beating myself myself up because I feel it's money down the swanny. Maybe I might end up a designer (my lifelong dream) or teaching design who knows. But I am feeling a lot happier now and settled.

The only thing now is the car... I have a car in my sole name on HP with VW. I only got it in March (before work told me all the woes about me going back), typical, however I've done some research and it looks like so long as I can prove we NEED it, they might not take it away.

I take my OH to work everyday as there is no public bus or company shuttle bus that runs our area to where he works. If I didn't take him, he'd have to walk half an hour-ish. And if it rains that's just not nice. I also have to take my nanny out several times a week as she is getting old and frail and doesn't drive and can't get on buses anymore, besides which she would have to walk half an hour to get to her nearest bus stop. The same goes for my elderly Grandpa, on the other side of the family. My parents live near town a few miles away but this would involve getting two buses to see them, and late at nght is just not safe. Same goes for Oh's parents who live 20 miles away. I could manage on buses I suppose, but didn't really think travelling with a 6month old in a buggy on a bus was deemed that safe these days, if it were to be a daily thing?

Anyone know anything about this sort of thing? The car is a 08 VW Polo 5 door, worth around £9k. We have never missed a payment to the finance company and will definietly be able to afford the repayments until the balloon at the end, when we can trade it in and do the same thing over again with a new model.

Cheers guys xxxxxxx