End of my tether

tigerfeet2006

Hull_Tiger wrote: »

Hi,
Hoping for a bit of advice.
My IVA failed earlier this year and the failure notices only went out in October. I'm now starting to get hassle from creditors and think I'll need to go bankrupt soon. Dryden Fairfax are being particularly painful ringing 6 or 7 times a day, up to 21:00 and refusing to accept a token payment until I can save the bankruptcy fee.
I've been to see the local CAB who weren't particularly helpful. I got the feeling she didn't really know what she was doing. She gave the following SoA for bankruptcy but it seems unduly harsh. Any feedback would be extremely appreciated.
I'm married with children aged 3 and 18 months.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information

Number of adults in household...........................2
Number of children in household.........................2
Number of cars owned....................................0
Monthly Income Details
Details
Monthly income after tax................................£ 1,220.00
Partners monthly income after tax.......................£ -assuming your OH is a stay at home mum and has no income.
Tax Credits............................................£ 420.17
Child Benefit..........................................£ 134.80
Other income...........................................£ -
Total monthly income....................................£ 1,774.97
Monthly Expense Details
Details
Mortgage................................................£ -
Secured/HP loan repayments..............................£ -
Rent....................................................£ 304.00
Management charge (leasehold property)..................£ -
Council tax.............................................£ 90.00
Electricity.............................................£ 45.00
Gas.....................................................£ 50.00
Oil.....................................................£ -
Water rates.............................................£ 28.90
Telephone (land line)...................................£ 15.00 This is low. Do you not have any phone charges?
Mobile phone............................................Not allowed A lot of OR's will allow a modest amount for mobiles so if you do have them put them down.
TV Licence..............................................£ 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV......................................£ -
Internet Services.......................................Not allowed Some OR's will allow a basic amount so it is always worth putting some down.
Groceries etc...........................................£ 257.00 CCCS guideline £500
Clothing................................................£ 40.00 CCCS guideline £90
Petrol/diesel...........................................£ -
Road tax................................................£ -
Car Insurance...........................................£ -
Car maintenance (including MOT).........................£ -
Car parking.............................................£ -
Other travel............................................Not allowed Apparently I'll be expected to walk / bike to work If you have no car/motorbike then do you bus/train to work? how far is it? If it is not walkable then you need to put your transport costs in.
Childcare/nursery.......................................£ -
Other child related expenses............................Not allowed £40ish for clubs/swimming/gymnastics etc.
Medical (prescriptions, dentistetc)....................£ 10.00 £30
Pet insurance/vet bills.................................Not allowed Do you have pets? if so then you should have pet insurance and you should put a little by for injections/routine stuff, paying the excess when you claim £25
Buildings insurance.....................................£ -
Contents insurance......................................£ 26.00
Life assurance.........................................Not allowed see note below.
Other insurance.........................................£ -
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)......................£ -
Haircuts................................................£ 30.00
Entertainment...........................................£ -
Holiday.................................................Not allowed £70/80
Emergency fund..........................................Not allowed £40
Total monthly expenses..................................£ 908.02

Assets
Cash....................................................£ -
House value (Gross).....................................£ -
Shares and bonds........................................£ -
Car(s)..................................................£ -
Other assets............................................£ -
Total Assets............................................£ -
No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Debts

Description
All debt................................................£ 48,000.00
Total unsecured debts...................................£ 48,000.00
Monthly Budget Summary
Summary
Total monthly income....................................£ 1,774.97
Expenses (including HP & secured debts).................£ 908.02
Available for debt repayments...........................£ 866.95
Monthly Unsecured debt repayments.......................£ -
Amount left after debt repayments.......................£ 866.95
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Summary
Total assets (things you own)...........................£ -
Total HP & Secured debt.................................£ -
Total Unsecured debt....................................-£ 48,000.00
Net Assets..............................................-£ 48,000.00

Hope that is helpful. Nothing is set in stone regarding OR's guidelines and what they will except but that is what you should roughly be presenting. Do you have any other expenses that don't show up on the list? Proffesional stuff?

Life insurance is a funny one. If you have a policy at the the moment then you have to decide whether it is a good one or not and if you do let it lapse whether you can get a good one after discharge. If you keep it on then if you die the OR can have a claim on it, even after your discharge. You can buy the OR's interest in it and if you die while BR then the OR will get some money from it but if you die after discharge then the money goes to your family. If you let it lapse and get one after your discharge then your family gets the money. That's just the basics obviously.

If I were you I would also get in touch with one of the other advisors and have a chat with them.

• National Debtline - Website: National Debtline Telephone: 0808 808 4000
• Citizens Advice Bureau - Website: Citizens Advice or visit your local CAB centre (find nearest)
• StepChange (formerly CCCS) - Website: StepChange Telephone: 0800 138 1111

Others:

• Business Debtline
  - Website: Business Debtline Telephone: 0800 197 6026
• Christians Against Poverty
• PayPlan
• TaxAid - Help with tax debts.

Hull_Tiger

Hi, Many thanks for all your replaies.

debt_doctor wrote:

Hi,

Thats a strange experience you had at Hull CAB. I have visited Hull CAB, can you remember which office it was?

DD

It was the Charlotte St. branch. I think she may hae been filling for someone (?) and was being overly cautious. Don't get me wrong, they were very helpful and maybe trying not to build false hope that the bankruptcy route would be a breeze. She recommended trying the IVA route again as the budget is less stringent but Grant Thornton, who administered my previous IVA, didn't view it as an option as TIX have voting for 52% of my debt and wouldn't look at it favourably having had one fail already.

debt_doctor wrote:

Is that Chevin Housing Association?

DD

Yes, it is.

tigerfeet2006 wrote:

**snip** Life insurance is a funny one. If you have a policy at the the moment then you have to decide whether it is a good one or not and if you do let it lapse whether you can get a good one after discharge. If you keep it on then if you die the OR can have a claim on it, even after your discharge. You can buy the OR's interest in it and if you die while BR then the OR will get some money from it but if you die after discharge then the money goes to your family. If you let it lapse and get one after your discharge then your family gets the money. That's just the basics obviously.

Partner has no income as she stays at home with children. Nursery fees in the area are bigger than her earning potential and jobs are sparse in Hull
Phone: Landline is usually around £45 / quarter.
Mobile Phone: We both currently have a phone at £25 / month but CAB said mobiles wouldn't be allowed.
Internet: Again I was told Internet is not usually allowed. It's currently £21 / month.
Transport: I currently get the bus at £10 / week. It's about an hours walk to work and I work shifts. I originally specified £60 / month as wife would also need bus fares from time to time.
Pets: We have a Westie but he can't be insured due to an accident he had when he was a puppy. Was told dog food comes out of shopping budget.
Life Insurance: We have a joint policy that pays out £50k in the event of either of us dying, Currently £8.74 / month. I ould need to look at this further.

Thank you all again for your input.

joolsybools

See Beat My Debt living expenses guide - these are aparently CCCS guidelines

Direct link to PDF http://cms.dataserve.com/Documents/054905d01333438db422b774879a72cd.pdf

Link to page (document on RHS)
http://www.beatmydebt.com/consumer-debt-solutions/living-expenses-guide.htm

joolsybools

N.B. Not recommending that site as an option to go through just for the budget info.

Bella_Smythe

can i just ask?.

Max CCCS guidelines for food & Toiletries is £505, Clothes & Footwear £83, add travel at whatever it costs you, Hairdressing £32, Emergencies £45 and holidays/sports & entertainment £46[/QUOTE]

does these guidelines depend on size of family. i have a student husband and one adult child living at home? also ive noticed a lot of the 'budgets' include cigarettes and alcohol - if you put any amount in these will they just tell you to stop? same will cable tv, will they just tell you to cancel? i pay £22 for basic sky package but as we almost never go out it does help the evenings!!

sort_me_own_yard_out

I will be referring to this once I know what my housing benefit will be if I get some and can use it is as a guide as to the max figures allowed. obviously it is not a going to be copied £ for £ but it is reassuring to know that what I would say is reasonable costs for groceries and clothing are just that resonable costs.

I hope it helps as the SOA that CAB have done for you is not possiable to live like that long term.

http://mymoney.nedcab.org.uk/moneyadvice/bankruptcypoc.asp

National_Debtline

Bella_Smythe wrote: »

does these guidelines depend on size of family. i have a student husband and one adult child living at home? also ive noticed a lot of the 'budgets' include cigarettes and alcohol - if you put any amount in these will they just tell you to stop? same will cable tv, will they just tell you to cancel? i pay £22 for basic sky package but as we almost never go out it does help the evenings!!

Hello there.

The guideline figures will vary depending on the amount of people within the household. Cigarettes and alcohol would usually be included within the overall housekeeping figure when we complete a financial statement with our clients.

A reasonable sky/cable package is fine - £22 wouldn't be queried. What's important would be the overall figure for 'other' spending which also includes hobbies etc.

Hope that makes sense!

David @ NDL.

Hull_Tiger

Thanks for the input, everyone.
Just a few more questions if anyone can help:
(a) How often are IPA payments reviewed?
(b) In the PDF above, it states £33 / month for meals at work. Is that something an OR would allow?
(c) How is irregular overtime taken into account?
Basically I work every other Saturday. However it can be anything from 2-5 hours each week. Also it can be more often if I'm covering my opposite number's holidays or less if I'm on holiday. At least two months last year I didn't get any overtime.
Thanks again.

Abbie1977

..............I just want to say that Bankruptcy is the best thing I have ever done.............my OR didnt pay much notice to my SOA though I know some ORs do ask for monthly payments if your outgoings are too much less than what's coming in - mine just about balanced as I recall. I was allowed to keep my car as I have kids and I needed it for work despite being off on mat leave at the time of my BR and I even told them I was not going back to work (any time soon!!!!)..............just to add also, I was allowed £2.50 per day for my lunches and also £6 per week for my child to do music lessons. Also.............everyone talks about "going to see a CAB advisor" as though they are the oracle of all knowledge............but sadly...........they are not because I used to be an advisor at a CAB and for every good advisor there is a bad one. I was told by a lady at the CAB before my BR that I would be wiped off my ex-partner's mortgage when I went BR.............but I now find that I am not and I will be liable for any negative equity in the future as i am still an owner of the property...........it was frankly stupid of me to believe that my name would simply be wiped off my mortgage! Of course the advisor put nothing in writing to me to confirm her advice - as is normal practice. So everyone also be wary of "expert" advice and perhaps get a 2nd and 3rd opinion with these important issues just to be absolutely sure!! xx

luvchocolate

Hi if you get regular overtime I would average it out over a year and put that figure on your soa, you have to imform them of any changes to your income with 21 days, I do not have an ipa so some times you have to fill in another soa after 6 months and sometimes just before discharge, I say sometimes because this can vary with or's.
The office in Hull and the examiner I saw were fine very helpful. but my trustee is over the water which is a pain.
take care here if needed x

I was also dissapointed with cab and went through stepchange