SOA - Help!!!!

squirrel1984

ive been to CAB today in regards to bankruptcy. She wasnt very helpful to say the least! So I have attached my SOA for advice from you guys.


Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned....................
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1175
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1010
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2185
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 550
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 60 * Both mine and partners
TV Licence.............................. 13.95
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 350
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 25
Car Insurance........................... 38.5
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Car parking............................. 10
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 10
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 15
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 25
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 100
Holiday................................. 50
Emergency fund.......................... 20
Total monthly expenses.................. 1662.45

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 500

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 112000...(0)........0
Total secured & HP debts...... 112000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
hsbc...........................8500......45........0
Wescott........................0.........20.02.....0 *Partners Debt
BPO............................0.........55........0 * Partners Debt
Moorcroft......................0.........102.......0* Partners Debt
bls............................0.........20........0* Partners Debt

I was slightly confused as she said that our WHOLE income and expediture is looked into to decided what disposable income we have, now usually my partner pays the rent and I pay household bills and shopping. I pay Car fees(fuel, tax etc) as the car is mine and he doesnt drive. The lady at CAB implied that the overall excess would be used to repay my debts regardless if it was surplus from my wages or my partners.

I though if i went BR it would be me......my partner will not be happy if they take his surplus money too!!

I currently have 1000 mortgage arrears on a property that i own with my ex, which will soon be repossessed with approx 30k shortfall - hence the reason for BR.

Any comments gratefully received.
Help urgently needed.

JCS1

Rather than putting your partner's income, you need to put his contribution to household expenses, which is normally income less personal outgoings such as debt repayments, etc.

tigerfeet2006

As JCS says. You put all joint household bills ie: rent, utilities, groceries. Your personal expenditure not your OH's. Then you put your full income and your OH's contribution to the joint household bills, you do not include any of his personal bills on there ie: mobile.

Who owns and uses the car? Is the phone, Internet and sky a combined bill?

Pop up another SoA with those sorted. Leave off entertainment.

PippaGirl_2

In the number of cars owned it should say 1.

Mobile phone they are unlikely to allow such a high rate. (I pay £10.25 for unlimited texts, 300 mins and 500mg data)

They may not allow internet expenses if you do not need it for work (obv your partner could pay for it instead)

Your road tax and insurance is very high, is it a posh car?!

Not sure anything is allowed for entertainment, it would come out of your £20 emergency fund that you are allowed.

You are allowed a Holiday fund but afaik this is quite low, less than you have quoted.

You just put down your income and the household expenditure and your partner is expected to pay 50% of the household expenditure, so pay his way. They won't expect any excess of his income to pay into the BR. If he doesn't drive the car and its associated costs can be solely met by you if you need it for work. The OR will assess whether the car will be claimed by them or whether it is exempt.

squirrel1984

Thanks for your comments. I do need internet access for work purposes. New SOA is attached with some amendments! Also my mobile phone is still in contract and also my insurance is cheap! road tax is high 220 per year due to age of car (2000)

Please feel free to make any other suggestion to my new SOA.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1175
Partners monthly contribution........ 550
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1725
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 550
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 100
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 20
Telephone (land line)................... 15
Mobile phone............................ 30
TV Licence.............................. 13.95
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 350
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 100
Road tax................................ 25
Car Insurance........................... 38.5
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Car parking............................. 10
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 20
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 10
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 15
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 25
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 20
Emergency fund.......................... 20
Total monthly expenses.................. 1547.45

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 500

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 112000...(0)........0
Total secured & HP debts...... 112000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
HSBC...........................8500......45........0
Overdraft......................550.......0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........9050......45........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,725
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,547.45
Available for debt repayments........... 177.55
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 45
Amount left after debt repayments....... 132.55
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -112,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -9,050
Net Assets.............................. -120,550



Thanks for your help

tigerfeet2006

I would up groceries to £400. Clothes to £40. Pet to £20. No entertainment. No presents. Holtiday £40. Possibly haircut to £20, I've seen that go through a few times recently.

You will have an IPA to pay but at least it won't be as bad as having debt collectors etc. and if you have a change in circumstance it can easily be altered.

PippaGirl_2

Agree with Tigerfeet. Also your mobile contract was signed/agreed pre-BR and therefore cannot be enforced by the provider so if the OR deems it too much they won't allow you that much money to pay it, so if you choose to keep it you would need to find the money from elsewhere to pay it. If you default on the contract the provider rarely asks for the phone back so you can simply replace the sim with a payg which is much cheaper.

wildheart83

My mobile contract was considerably more and my OR had no problem with it, you can only put it down and if the OR doesn't accept it then you can probably find money from another allowance.

On the grand scheme of things I wouldn't worry about it too much - I explained my car costs being high and the OR was absolutely fine with it.
Good luck x

PippaGirl_2

Oh yes, well worth saying that every OR is different and what one will allow another will not. That doesn't seem fair to me! I think there should be set amounts so everyone knows where they stand. I know someone who wasn't allowed internet and yet he seems to be the only one I've heard of turned down for it.

consultant31

tigerfeet2006 wrote: »

I would up groceries to £400. Clothes to £40. Pet to £20. No entertainment. No presents. Holtiday £40. Possibly haircut to £20, I've seen that go through a few times recently.

You will have an IPA to pay but at least it won't be as bad as having debt collectors etc. and if you have a change in circumstance it can easily be altered.

Since you say 'any comments gratefully received' here are mine:-

£400 a month for groceries for 2 people (or £350 for that matter) is a massive amount. We spend about half of that for the two of us and eat very well.

Personally, I would cut back on the amount put aside for gifts etc and let family and friends know that you are in a bit of a bind and can't spend so much in future - there's no shame in being short of money and I have found that once this is out in the open, half the family heave a great sigh of relief that they can cut back on the stupid amounts we all spend for birthdays and Christmas

Do you really need new clothes every month and what about the satellite/cable tv.....can this be cut down or even out?

IMO there are huge savings to be made on your SOA before considering bankruptcy, which should be a last resort. If you go over to the Old Style board there are loads of money saving hints and tips.

PippaGirl_2

Must admit I spend £350 groceries on 3 of us and I have to pay for delivery which is included in that due to disability. But at the end of the day it will be down to the OR and no-one else.