Starting BR Questions???

Debt_muncher_2

Hi All,



I have posted once on here before (yesterday), and explained my financial situation basically i'm 25 and 54K in debt through bad management of money, bad investments and gambling, none of which I'm proud of.

It was suggested that BR would be something worth considering, I have no assests, but it is something I've always dismissed. I kinda feel that I don't want to not pay back what I have borrowed, don't wanna let anyone down. I also have massive concerns about my job, after working hard since I finished my A-Levels I've worked myself into a position where I am doing well, and hopefully have a bright future. I'm earning 30K at the moment but only have about £500 left after paying all my debts.

The reason for the post is because I have some questions which I can't seem to find answers too. I was hoping that somebody out there might have some answers. Anything would be hugely appreciated. So here we go:


1. Is it essential to tell your work that you have gone BR, can they tell through change of Taxcode? And I assume that I would have to change my bank account (would you do that way in advance?)

2. I have a company credit card. I assume this is credit against the company, but my name is on the card and the statement does get sent to my address. Any ideas?

3. Can you travel to other countries when BR - usa etc?

4. I have no problem with excess money being taken off me to pay my creditors, but just wondering how long this will go on for? once you're discharged is that it?

5. I guess having a company car won't be affected?

6. When explaining how I built up such big debts over the last 7 years, i'm embarrased that gambling has contributed to them, but will this be frowned upon enough for a petition to be turned down? :-(


Sorry for the long ramblings

DB

Mips

Congratulations on facing up to your debt

Sorry I can't help with all of that.. and my advice is, bankruptcy is certainly NOT A bed of roses and should most definitely be a last resort.

JCS1

Debt_muncher wrote: »

Hi All,



I have posted once on here before (yesterday), and explained my financial situation basically i'm 25 and 54K in debt through bad management of money, bad investments and gambling, none of which I'm proud of.

It was suggested that BR would be something worth considering, I have no assests, but it is something I've always dismissed. I kinda feel that I don't want to not pay back what I have borrowed, don't wanna let anyone down. I also have massive concerns about my job, after working hard since I finished my A-Levels I've worked myself into a position where I am doing well, and hopefully have a bright future. I'm earning 30K at the moment but only have about £500 left after paying all my debts.

The reason for the post is because I have some questions which I can't seem to find answers too. I was hoping that somebody out there might have some answers. Anything would be hugely appreciated. So here we go:


1. Is it essential to tell your work that you have gone BR, can they tell through change of Taxcode? And I assume that I would have to change my bank account (would you do that way in advance?) You dont need to tell your employer, though they may see notice in local paper. Change of tax code can be for other reasons, and HMRC won't tell them why as none of their business

2. I have a company credit card. I assume this is credit against the company, but my name is on the card and the statement does get sent to my address. Any ideas? Tricky one, you'll need to reduce the limit to £500 unless you tell them you're BR

3. Can you travel to other countries when BR - usa etc? No problems with this at all

4. I have no problem with excess money being taken off me to pay my creditors, but just wondering how long this will go on for? once you're discharged is that it? 36 months

5. I guess having a company car won't be affected? no issue

6. When explaining how I built up such big debts over the last 7 years, i'm embarrased that gambling has contributed to them, but will this be frowned upon enough for a petition to be turned down? :-( May lead to a BRO/BRU - but this is worst case.


Sorry for the long ramblings

DB

Hope this helps.

Debt_muncher_2

Thanks for the answers so far. Just wondering what a BRO/BRU is and what it would mean?

Also with the company credit card, would the £500 still apply although the company are responsible for paying the bill? I'm thinking perhaps best to ring barclays business and ask them, without giving any details.

Thanks

DB

tigerfeet2006

A BRO/U is a Bankruptcy Restriction Order/Undertaking. If some or all of your debts are down to gambling a BRO/U will extend the restrictions of BR for 2-15 years.

From the Bankruptcy Help sticky
Bankruptcy Restriction Undertakings / Orders.

• Bankruptcy Restrictions Orders (IS)
• FAQ - Bankruptcy Restriction Orders / Undertaking ( BRO/BRU ) (IS)

Make sure you read that sticky as there is a lot of information on there.

Barclay Card will not know much about your question I should have thought. Give the Insolvency Helpline a ring and have a chat with them (number in my sig.)

Oh! and welcome to the board

chelseabun_3

Hi again, Debt muncher!

As Tiger says, you're probably best to contact the Insolvency Helpline for answers to your questions re company credit card. There was someone on here not that long ago who asked the same question, but I can't remember who, or what the answer was!:o

Also, have a chat with one or more of the debt charities (if you haven't already, that is!) - contact details in the thread I linked to you yesterday - it's the first sticky on this board.

If you do decide that BR is a serious consideration for you, you may want to put your SOA on here for folks to have a look and see whether we can help. This one's good ... http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

If you're still considering a DMP or private arrangement with your creditors, then you'd need to put your SOA on the main DFW board, as the way SOAs are calculated over there is different to the way they're calculated for BR (so you'd get very different advice on that board compared to this one!)

Keep asking questions, and very best wishes to you! CBx;)

Debt_muncher_2

Thank you,

Is a BRO likely? I certainly haven't incurred all my debts from gambling, but there are a few thousand which would be put down to that?

Will the OR go through all past accounts statements looking for gambling payements? Not because I would have anything to hide, just want to know if I need to explain every detail of where all the money has gone!

Cheers

DB

chelseabun_3

The OR and Judge do look more sternly on debt incurred through gambling, but they certainly don't refuse to make you BR because of it. There are threads on here from folks who have gone BR who had gambling debts - try doing a search for BR and gambling (or something like that!) and see what their experiences were.

The main thing they would want to know is whether you have sorted the gambling problem, and that you are determined never to get into that situation again. You might end up with a BRO, but how long that would be for would be dependent on your individual circumstances and the Judge on the day! Again, folks' experiences are different but long BROs (over about 4 years) seem to be very rare and tend to be given in cases where serious fraud or other crimes have been committed.

At the OR interview the OR will ask you how the debts were incurred, and may want you to go into quite a lot of detail. He is likely to want lots of detail about the gambling, again to make sure you really aren't going to continue gambling after BR. It doesn't matter if you can't remember every detail of what the whole debt was spent on, but some folks here have had quite tough OR interviews, while others have had quite nice ones! HTH CBx

Debt_muncher_2

Hi All,

I have completed my SOA as best I can, its not to the exact penny, but its pretty close.

I was hoping somebody would be kind enough to review my situation and give there opinion of what kind of state I am in?

My partners children are not mine, but I pay a considerable amount towards their upbring can this go down as a justified expense?

Also the lack of car expenses is due to me having a company car (I only pay for breakdown cover)

Any feedback would be hugely appreciated

DM

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1780
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 90
Total monthly income.................... 1870
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 25
Rent.................................... 400
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 60
Electricity............................. 30
Gas..................................... 30
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 10
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 43
Internet Services....................... 17
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 60
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 10
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 200
Holiday................................. 60
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1280

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

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 0........(25).......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 0.........-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
egg loan.......................9400......216.......7.9
lloyds tsb.....................17600.....456.......18
tesco loan.....................12500.....376.......9.7
virgin cred....................5400......25........0
tesco cred.....................700.......30........18
lloyds cred....................2200......43........0
egg credit.....................5400......143.......18
Total unsecured debts..........53200.....1289......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,870
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,280
Available for debt repayments........... 590
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,289
Amount short for making debt repayments. -699
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -53,200
Net Assets.............................. -53,200
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.

tigerfeet2006

Debt_muncher wrote: »

Hi All,

I have completed my SOA as best I can, its not to the exact penny, but its pretty close.

I was hoping somebody would be kind enough to review my situation and give there opinion of what kind of state I am in?

My partners children are not mine, but I pay a considerable amount towards their upbring can this go down as a justified expense?

Also the lack of car expenses is due to me having a company car (I only pay for breakdown cover)

Any feedback would be hugely appreciated

DM

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1780
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0 Does she have no income?
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 90 What is this?
Total monthly income.................... 1870
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured loan repayments................. 0
Hire Purchase (HP) repayments........... 25 what is this?
Rent.................................... 400
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 60
Electricity............................. 30 Is this really this low?
Gas..................................... 30ditto
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 0 Do you have a land line?
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 10 £12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 43 Not allowed on your SoA. Must come out of surplus.
Internet Services....................... 17 ditto unless needed for work.
Groceries etc. ......................... 200£500
Clothing................................ 60 £100
Petrol/diesel........................... 50
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 10
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0£5 per child per week.
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 15 £20
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0 Any pets
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0 You need to get this. Make sure it has accidental damage.
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10 some allow, some don't so leave and see.
Haircuts................................ 10 £10 per adult, £5 per child
Entertainment........................... 200 Not allowed.
Holiday................................. 60
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1280

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

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 0........(0)........0
Hire Purchase (HP) debt ...... 0........(25).......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 0.........-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
egg loan.......................9400......216.......7.9
lloyds tsb.....................17600.....456.......18
tesco loan.....................12500.....376.......9.7
virgin cred....................5400......25........0
tesco cred.....................700.......30........18
lloyds cred....................2200......43........0
egg credit.....................5400......143.......18
Total unsecured debts..........53200.....1289......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,870
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,280
Available for debt repayments........... 590
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,289
Amount short for making debt repayments. -699
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -53,200
Net Assets.............................. -53,200
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission.

Hope that helps.

peachyprice

If your GF works you have to put what she contributes to the household bills, have you put down the whole of the household bills or just your half?

The OR won't care that they're not your children, they live in your household and need to be provided for.

You can also put down school dinners if they are at that age, and up the clothing and groceries as Tigerfeet suggests.

HTH