I fear Bankruptcy is my only option

Mr_Bojangles_3

Introduction
I'm a self employed taxi driver working about 55-60 hours per week but still not making enough to get by. I live with my fiancee, and have 2 children from my previous marriage (they live with my ex-wife, but I pay voluntary maintenance for them) and have just found out I'm going to be a dad again:j. My fiancee has a mortgage on the house and it has no equity available. She also has no credit facilities available to her although she can manage to cope with all of her debts/expenditure. We share household bills between us, eg. she pays the gas/electric, I buy the weekly shopping etc.

I know I can reduce/remove the Mobiles, Internet & Lottery (we live in hope ) to free up another £108.49 but that will still leave me just under £200/month to service debts of over £900 per month.

Statement of Affairs

Home Expenses
TV Licence 11.95
Maintenance 125.00
Kids Pocket Money 40.00
Mobiles 67.00
National Insurance 11.80
Income Tax 83.33
Lottery 18.00
Life Insurance 10.80
BT 17.00
Food 390.00
Car Insurance 69.18
Virgin Media (Internet) 23.49
10 year old CCJ 10.00

877.55

Work Expenses
Office Rent 416.67
Fuel 458.33
Car Repairs & Taxi Fees 250.00

1125.00

Total Expenditure 2002.55

Income 2083.33

Balance to pay debts 80.78

Debts

Company - Balance - Monthly Payment

Mint Card 6000.00 75.00*
Overdraft 5000.00 55.00
Lloyds Card 15000.00 300.00
Egg Card 9800.00 120.00*
Egg Loan 10400.00 150.00*
Sky Card 4500.00 46.98*
Amex 10000.00 104.60*
Littlewoods 2000.00 60.00

Totals 62700.00 911.58

The debt payments marked with an * show where I contacted the company involved last year and agreed reduced payments. However with the recession hitting hard now, I can no longer sustain these reduced amounts. I bank with Lloyds and didn't approach them regarding reduced payments with them.

Any help would be appreciated, I'm in a real mess and would like something sorted before the new baby arrives.

chevalier

I am not sure what to suggest but I know that CCCS I think have a special section for self employed people. Are you a one man band in the taxi job? Or are you SE for a firm who you pay the rent to? I am going to PM Taxi73 to come and look at your thread, as she has done wonders getting her debt down, and might be able to see something i missed

good luck
chev

Horace

If there are only two of you at home then you can reduce your shopping bill by half at least. You and your fiancee need to look at the Moneysaving Oldstyle board for tips on meal planning etc so that you can cook from scratch.

Keep a spending diary too so you can see where you are frittering money away.

It would help if you could post an SOA using https://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html - showing us the APRs on your cards and loans. Copy and paste it here.

Can you reduce your kids pocket money too? £40 a month for the two is a lot.

I am confused about your 10 year old CCJ - I thought that debts over 6 years old were statute barred?

Again speak to a debt charity such as CCCS - they will ask you to do a full SOA with APRs etc.

MrsTinks

Can I point out something VERY obvious to me?

After you have paid your work expenses you take home about £900 a month... THIS is why you're struggling hun.
I don't know where in the country you are but that seems a very low salary for a taxi driver. One way or another you need to up this I'm afraid.
You also have nothing down for rent/mortgage so is your fiance paying all of this?
A few things HAVE to go - you already know the lottery has to, the mobiles need to be reduced and the pocket money for the kids needs to go/be reduced.
Do you own your own car that you use for taxi work? if so then you need to move the car insurance down to work expenses and the national insurance and income tax should be coming out of this pot too...

That actually shows your income as less than £800 a month... Either you need to look at how you work or you need to think about a new job... £800 is not going to be enough especially with a new baby on the way.

MrsTinks

Horace wrote: »

I am confused about your 10 year old CCJ - I thought that debts over 6 years old were statute barred?

Statute barred is only if the debt has not been acknowledged for 6 years by way of payment or accepting it in writing. If a CCJ is issued then the clock starts again and it's only relevant if at any point the debtor has stopped paying for a significant period of time. NOT paying a CCJ is what results in bailiffs popping round and being a pain
So in essence if the OP has been paying his CCJ for the last 10 years then the 6 year clock hasn't even started yet...

Tixy

As MrsTine says your income working 55-60hrs a week is very low. Looking at your business costs your office rent seems high, and is very high compared to the income you are generating. Do you really need an office? If you work alone could you not run a taxi firm without a fixed base i.e. from home. This would free up a significant amount for you.

The income tax figure you have included - is this the amount you have estimated for the current year 08/09 and are you putting this into a seperate account ready to be paid in Jan10 or is this arrears from a previous year you are paying on a monthly repayment? If it is the latter you also need to consider how you will pay this years tax bill next year.

taxi73

Hi there MR Bojangles...let'snot totally panic yet.I don't for one minute think that Bankruptcy is your option.I think a DMP is a better option for you.
I know how you feel as the recession has hit us quite badly.
From your post I cannot work out whether you own the taxi (I guess you do) or are renting it from a firm..but if you own it what does the car repairs and taxi fees cover as £250 a month is a lot....it isn't quite clear whether that includes your taxi insurance or if that's in the household bit.
Are you on days or nights?..if you are on days would you be able to make more on nights?
If you own the cab ..have you got another driver on it?..if not can you.
Please can you explain your working position a little better then I can do my best to help you but as it's quite vague.I can't really do much.I will pop back later.

RAS

Also what is the arrangment on the rental? How much notice do you have to give?

Mr_Bojangles_3

For Taxi73
From your post I cannot work out whether you own the taxi (I guess you do) or are renting it from a firm I own the car, I'm a private hire driver.
.but if you own it what does the car repairs and taxi fees cover as £250 a month is a lot this covers licence/test fees and running repairs (fuel pump went which was £1850:eek:, clutch is rattling now, hopefully I'll have better luck with repairs and this can come down abit. Previous tax year the repairs bill was only £1400.

it isn't quite clear whether that includes your taxi insurance I put in the household bit by mistake or if that's in the household bit.
Are you on days or nights? nights (Tues to Sat backshift plus Tues & Thurs Nightshifts..if you are on days would you be able to make more on nights?
If you own the cab ..have you got another driver on it?..if not can you. Not really, need the car for personal use as well and it isn't the most reliable car around
Please can you explain your working position a little better then I can do my best to help you but as it's quite vague.I can't really do much.I will pop back later.

Hope this clears it up a bit, I'm working in South Tyneside and work from the busiest office in the borough. The problem is people only go out on a Saturday night now. Did my nightshift last night and for my 7 hours I took £32 inc. tips. Soul destroying at times:mad:

For those people asking about the office rent.
There are 2 types of taxis;
Hackneys - who work on the streets and you flag down or queue up at a rank.
Private Hire (Mini-cab) - which I am, I pay rent to a taxi firm, and they provide me with the work when somebody phones for a taxi. I must be pre-booked, I am not allowed to stop and pick up people without a pre-booking. The rent is non-negotiable, I could go to a cheaper taxi firm, but they will not be as busy, so my earnings will be less again.

As regards the Income Tax, at my current earnings rate, this is likely to be a lot less than what I've quoted, but it's what I've been putting away each month to be safe.

Cyril

Looking at your business costs your office rent seems high, and is very high compared to the income you are generating. Do you really need an office? If you work alone could you not run a taxi firm without a fixed base i.e. from home. This would free up a significant amount for you. Quote


Exactly my thoughts tbh, no office rental would really help you out. If it were me I would look for a full time job and do the cabs as a eve / weekend extra.

Mr_Bojangles_3

Cyril wrote: »

no office rental would really help you out. If it were me I would look for a full time job and do the cabs as a eve / weekend extra.

If I did cab work as an extra side job, I would still have to rent a radio from an office, still have the same insurance, licence & test fees to pay, so it's not really a solution, but thanks anyway. Unfortunately I also live in the unemployment blackspot for the entire country. As more people lose their jobs here, the more they turn to taxiing as an income and therefore the area becomes swamped with taxis, and the only people making money are the office owners (1 extra driver = £100 per week more) and the local licensing authority (every extra driver = £450 per year in fees).