IPA & AD - So so close and yet so far???

aero1

Hi
I really cant get my head around the IPA so please help!
My ex went bankrupt 8th Oct 2010. No IPA had been set up when he moved in with me. He duly notified OR of new address, sent back unsigned an ipa for £200 a month and requested new income and expenditure form or whatever. Heard nothing. Contacted them again and eventually got a letter saying address changed, would be in touch.
Has heard nothing else til Sat when he got a letter saying oops, we notice you havent signed an IPA for £200, sign and send back asap.

There is no way on this earth he/we can pay £200 a month. Like everyone else, we are really struggling each month. Little monkey also forgot to include the HP on his car - £130!

Does we submit straightaway a new income and expenditure or do we (and please don't bombard me with hate mail for this) string it out in the hope that we reach AD first and just write back saying sorry I cant sign this? (I keep saying we but its just him that has gone bankrupt).

As regards the income and expenditure (this is the part I dont quite understand) what part do I play in the figures??

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

dojoman

He needs to contact his OR as soon as possible, otherwise there is a slim chance the OR will take the case via the courts and enforce an IPO.

fermi

aero1 wrote: »

He duly notified OR of new address, sent back unsigned an ipa for £200 a month and requested new income and expenditure form or whatever.

Basically just do that again.

Not your fault that they didn't get the message the first time.

Add that because your circumstances have changed you are not prepared to agree to the IPA as it stands, and require that is is recalculated based on your new I&E.

aero1

Thank you both for your prompt responses - Dojoman Thanks, we do intend to reply within the 7 days the letter said, as to try and ignore it would be massively stupid I know Court is the last thing anyone needs!

fermi wrote: »

Basically just do that again.

Not your fault that they didn't get the message the first time.

Add that because your circumstances have changed you are not prepared to agree to the IPA as it stands, and require that is is recalculated based on your new I&E.

Fermi, brilliant thank you, thats what we will do. Actually wrote twice, emailed and left a voicemail for a callback so its not like he didnt try.

But just to confirm, when he writes back should he have a new I & E enclosed?

Cheers !

fermi

aero1 wrote: »

But just to confirm, when he writes back should he have a new I & E enclosed?

I would. It at least shows that you are trying your best to cooperate.

If the OR doesn't read your letters or emails properly, then they are making their own problems.

Ineedaname

At least you have kept a record of attempted contact with the OR so you can produce this to prove you have tried to cooperate.

Good luck.

aero1

Thats what I thought too
So, as I am eagerly picking your brains - what part do I play in the income & expenditure?
Is it ALL my income/CHB/Child maint from ex and also ALL my debts/personal spendings?
Or do I deduct what I need from my income and show the remainder as my contribution? Do I get limited on how much I can spend on my hair for example, though I am not the bankrupt ? Dont worry, I spend very little on it but you know what I mean..

This really is the part that confuses me...

Thanks again!

fermi

Depends if you are willing to disclose you whole income or not?

If you are not bothered, then just put that. If you don't want to disclose it, then don't and put just what you contribute to shared household expenses. Make it clear which you have put.

They normally want to know what your whole income is so that they can calculate fairly. i.e. if your partner brings in 30% of the household income then they expect them to pay 30% of joint expenses/bills.

If you don't disclose your whole income, they might be forced to assume a 50:50 split.

Either way, the expenses that go on the forms are just the joint shared household ones, plus your partners personal ones.

Your personal spending on yourself is none of the OR's concern.

Ineedaname

So if you do include your entire income, make sure you also include a line for your "personal expenditure" which 'uses up' anything leftover after your contribution towards household expenses has been deducted. That way, the surplus showing on the SOA is purely your partner's and does not include money you have allocated for use elsewhere.

kepar

INAN, the OP is better to give full income, that way the OR can work out correctly what is to paid in case of an IPA.
The OR will work out the percentages, so there is no need for anyone else to.

Op do not forget benefits and get listed in every case, it is not your income, it is a household income.

Ineedaname

I didn't say the OP shouldn't include full income, just that they should account for all their income as they are not BR and no surplus should show from partner's income.

Yes, the OR 'should' calculate everything according to the rules. But they're after every penny they can get right now so better to be safe and not give the OR chance to see a high surplus when there actually isn't one.

Remember, not so long ago a member posted they and their partner had both gone BR. They filled out both SOAs the same, full incomes and expenditure. They each received an IPA letter for the full surplus, totalling double the actual surplus available for them both!

So that's why I usually recommend only putting down contribution towards household expenditure, it seems a lot of ORs will accept that and not require full income details.

In my own case, my OR saw money in an account and thought they could take it, even though I'd explained on my BR forms that the money wasn't mine but social services money paid to me for a specific use.

ORs are only human and if they think there's a surplus they can easily forget to check exactly where that surplus comes from.