SOA opinions please

Maizy

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kepar

The thing is Maizy you go br separately,. You need to work out the % income of each of you.

Each SOA is filled in for the individual, so say you earn 40% and your OH 60% then on your SOA you put your full income and 60% of your OH's. Then on your OH's he puts his full income and 40% of yours.

It is done like this to see if any or both could be liable for an IPA.

In our case my pension was less than 17% of the household income and was insufficient for me to do an SOA.

Without knowing your income it is hard to assess the SOA, because your income falls well short of your outgoings.

Can I ask what the £134 is? Surely if it is CB it should go in the benefits row.

Maizy

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kepar

You go br separately and if you do have surplus one or maybe both will have to pay an IPA. It is done like this to see who has the excess.

Also as you are planning to move , bills might change as in your next house might not have gas.

You cannot really pt an IPA together until you have a good idea on what you might spend. The fuel might go up as you have further to go to work.

From what you are saying you want to reduce your hours so you just meet your outgoings. Even after you have gone br and had your SOA agreed you can get it changed when and if your circumstances change.

So if I was you I would maximise your income and look to reduce just after br. If you can avoid paying an IPA then after 1 year when discharged you can increase your hours again.

Going br is not the end of the world, but is a game changer. You have to prioritise what is important in your life.
You do not get a tattoo stamped on your forehead, so only those close to you know. To be honest friends and family are more open about their money problems they have, and you will be surprised with what they come out with. Some are only a footstep away themselves from going br and will have a little bit of admiration that you have had the b*lls to do it.

We all beat ourselves up, but nearly 3 years down the line we both agree that we could not have gone on the way we were. Our only mistake was that we should have done it a year earlier.

Regards the sign in the window, after the Mortgage company had finally taken the property back, I had to see an ex neighbour, the only time I have been passed the old house and there was paperwork in the window, black/yellow tape all round the door etc. Just a warning to you.

Maizy

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kepar

I thought if I went BR on my current salary I would automatically get an IPA and then I thought that even if my salary went down, the IPA would reduce or be zero and would still run for 3 years, thus restricting my ability to have surplus funds for 3 years.

That is true, but without knowing all of your outgoings you will not know what you can claim. Now you put your income in I see your problem, and agree that you need to reduce your hours.

Ineedaname

Maizy - the best thing to do is wait until you have the money to go BR and then post up an SOA as it the figures will be on the day of BR. If you've already reduced your hours by then that's the figures you use.

OR interviews are usually up to two weeks after BR date and it could take them another week or two to post out the IPA agreement. During which time your circumstances could change and you could ring up to change the figures...anything could happen.

Regarding income you put on the forms. Total the household income and work out the percentage each of you earns. Then, if you earn 40% of the total income, work out what 40% of the total joint expenditure is and that is the contribution you put down on your OH's SOA and vice versa. You can play with it and put down that you pay all childcare expenses because he runs the car etc. Those would then be expenses that the other does not contribute their income towards. Hope that makes sense.