SOA Help Please

Whitetornado

Hi, I have done our SOA as currently in an IVA and are seriosly considering bankruptcy as we sruggle to make the payments. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks


Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 956
Partners monthly income after tax....... 450
Benefits................................ 80
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1486
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 312
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 95
Electricity............................. 58
Gas..................................... 60
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 40
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 40
Petrol/diesel........................... 60
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 23
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 200
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 8
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 50
Emergency fund.......................... 0
school activities....................... 10
dry cleaning............................ 10
Total monthly expenses.................. 1453

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1000

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
IVA............................0.........275.......0
Total unsecured debts..........0.........275.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,486
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,453
Available for debt repayments........... 33
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 275
Amount short for making debt repayments. -242
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 1,000
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

Ames

Your groceries and clothing could be cut, and you can't really afford a holiday so there's no point saving for one. Other than that I can't see any savings. Who recommended an IVA? They're usually only for people with assets to protect as they're only one step away from bankruptcy.

You need to remember that you'll have to live on a bankruptcy SOA for a year, but I'm not sure how strict they are.

Whitetornado

Hi, Thanks for your reply. Our IVA is with McCambridge Duffy. We have no assets or mortgage and after coming across this site a few months ago and reading other posts it seems maybe we are struggling and are on the wrong track.

Ames

Thought so, I didn't think a free company would have suggested it, but the people who arrange it make a lot of money from IVA's, so commercial firms tend to push them. The adverts on telly drive me mad!

If you've no assets, and you don't mind your credit rating being wrecked for a few years, then maybe br is the best option. But post on the BR board just to make sure that your SOA wont be even worse under BR.

talana

I'm not going to comment on the IVA/no IVA/bankruptcy issue, and I'm just going to take your SOA at face value. You say you're struggling to meet payments at the moment, but there's certainly scope for you to cut back by £242 so that you can.

As Ames said, you have to accept that you can't afford a holiday right now, so put that £50 to better use.
Your grocery bill is huge, you could cut that to £250 without much effort.
Cut out the clothing bill temporarily, just wear what you have.

There's £240 per month of immediate savings, which gives you breathing space.
Then look around for better deals on gas and elec., plus a little bit of extra income (however modest). Bankruptcy is not the only possible solution here!

dancingfairy

Have you tried contacting one of the free charity based organisations to see what they suggest? I'm not sure how easy it is to get out of an IVA or whether you can claim for misselling but speak to one of the free companies.
df