What are the O.R. playing at?!?!?

Joeyboy1977

I have recently gone through the telephone interview with no problems. They sent out more forms for me to complete, asking for the same details which are on my original bankrupcy petition (which they now hold). I have sent this back to them as they have requested, only to be called today asking how much my wife gets paid (a question which is not on the forms!). When I questioned why they needed to know this, I was informed that the question on the form (How much do others in the household pay towards the bills?) I was sent was wrong!!! We have refused to give this information as it was not on any forms. This debt is only in my name and I'm not dragging my wife into this any further.

dojoman

Joeyboy1977 wrote: »

I have recently gone through the telephone interview with no problems. They sent out more forms for me to complete, asking for the same details which are on my original bankrupcy petition (which they now hold). I have sent this back to them as they have requested, only to be called today asking how much my wife gets paid (a question which is not on the forms!). When I questioned why they needed to know this, I was informed that the question on the form (How much do others in the household pay towards the bills?) I was sent was wrong!!! We have refused to give this information as it was not on any forms. This debt is only in my name and I'm not dragging my wife into this any further.

You cannot refuse to give this information, it is on form 6.28 in section 6. See below.


6.7 How much do other members of your
household contribute each month to
the household expenses?

If you do not cooperate with the OR you are heading for a shed load of trouble,

(sorry to the OP for hijacking the thread)

fermi

http://www.insolvencydirect.bis.gov.uk/freedomofinformation/technical/TechnicalManual/Ch25-36/Chapter31/part7/part3/part_3.htm#31.7.71

31.7.71 Income received from spouse/civil partner/partner

It is reasonable to expect that within the household of the bankrupt and his/her family, the income received by a working spouse/civil partner/partner (all referred to as "partner" for the remainder of this section) or a partner who receives income from other independent means, will be used to contribute to the household expenditure in some way, for example by purchasing food, clothing for him/herself and any children, etc. The bankrupt may genuinely not know his/her partner’s income and/or the partner may not be willing to disclose it to the official receiver as they are not personally subject to the proceedings. Legal advice has been received that it is not a proper use of section 366 URL="http://www.insolvencydirect.bis.gov.uk/freedomofinformation/technical/TechnicalManual/Ch25-36/Chapter31/part7/part3/part_3notes.htm#5"]note 5[/URL to have a partner privately examined for the purpose of obtaining details of his/her income to establish whether an IPA/IPO may be obtained.

31.7.72 Ascertaining partner’s income where bankrupt does not co-operate

Where resistance to the disclosure of the partner's income is encountered, in the absence of any information to the contrary, it is appropriate for the official receiver to assume that the working partner pays for 50% of all household expenditure. This will enable an income payments calculation to be completed to ascertain whether there is any surplus, and the bankrupt’s share of that surplus, against which an IPA/IPO can be sought. It is likely that an assumption of this nature will provoke a response from the bankrupt and/or their partner and if the required information concerning the exact amount of the partner’s income is then received, the official receiver may re-calculate the income and expenditure of the bankrupt taking in to account this new information.

Ineedaname

I think the OP is saying the OR wants to know how much the wife gets paid in full, not just the contribution as on the forms and in the guidance. Hopefully Dojo and Fermi's responses will help the OP successfully argue the point.

dojoman

Ineedaname wrote: »

I think the OP is saying the OR wants to know how much the wife gets paid in full, not just the contribution as on the forms and in the guidance. Hopefully Dojo and Fermi's responses will help the OP successfully argue the point.

The OR would not want to know what the wife gets paid in full but their contribution to the household expenses. I think this was explained in posts 2 and 3.

fermi

dojoman wrote: »

The OR would not want to know what the wife gets paid in full but their contribution to the household expenses. I think this was explained in posts 2 and 3.

Not always.

Quite often the OR will go on to ask for details of the full income. Basically to check that the shared household expenses are shared on a fair pro rata basis.

The OR just cannot force a partner to disclose that info if they are unwilling.

dojoman

fermi wrote: »

Not always.

Quite often the OR will go on to ask for details of the full income. Basically to check that the shared household expenses are shared on a fair pro rata basis.

The OR just cannot force a partner to disclose that info if they are unwilling.

Thanks fermi, I stand corrected:o (once again):o

debtinfo

They have a right to ask, she has a right not to tell them if she doesnt want to, the OR then has a right to simply chop the outgoings in half and leave her to pay that half

stuart30

So if the OP"s other half pays nothing too house hold bills then her money is safe yes..?

gtanny

stuart30 wrote: »

So if the OP"s other half pays nothing too house hold bills then her money is safe yes..?

her money is safe anyway its not her BR or her debt (any joint debt will now be 100% hers though)

basically from what ive read - if she is unemployed and has no income then it would be easier to declare this and they will not questions if the OP is claiming 100% of all costs

but

if she is earning a conciderably more then the OP the OR may question why they dont pro rata the outgoings between them equally, if this is the case it may be worth her refusing to disclose the information but the OR may work on her paying 50% of the costs meaning the OP will have more money available to pay any IPA

my wife isnt working so i didnt have this problem but i did everything the OR asked and have recived a letter saying they have no plans for an IPA and are pettioning for early release (this was about a month ago though and ive not had any confirmation yet)

anyway hope everything works out ok

tigerfeet2006

But the OR will assume she pays 50 per cent of the household bills and can adjust the OP's contribution to reflect that and that may mean the OP has to pay more into anIPA thus meaning they have even less money between them if the OH's wages don't cover half the bills.