about to go bankrupt on Thursday and half way through a self funded masters

22bear

Morning all!

I'm petitioning this coming Thursday and filling in my forms this weekend. I'm currently single, employed in a decent paying job so expect to get a sizable IPA. My main creditor is HMRC and a Natwest loan taken out shortly before ill health back in 2008 forced me to stop my self-employed work..I stopped making payments to these creditors towards the end of 2009 when the money I had ran out (leaving a sizable amount still outstanding) and then mental health problems drove me somewhat "underground" and I moved around a good bit domestically until I settled down in a semi-permanent address in 2011 when I finally started working again...I'm now in my own rented flat and had pretty much no contact with my creditors until recently when HMRC caught up with me seeking an earnings attachment which has lead to me petitioning for BK next week

Anyway...from the income from the job I started in 2011, I realised that to get ahead in my future career I needed further qualifications, so I enrolled for a 2 year, self-funded part-time distance learning masters degree to enhance my future career prospects and earning potential with a view to help get promotion, better pay and finally clearing my debt...I successfully completed my first year in 2012 but decided to take a year out of the programme to concentrate on some professional exams I had to take in my current work and I had planned to resume my masters in September this year and complete the final second year, so currently I'm still registered as a student on the programme at the university concerned and of course can evidence all this to the OR

the total fees for the final year are £5000 or just over £400 per month and of course, I'd love to be able to complete it however I fear the OR will not allow me to do so and insist that the money should be part of my IPA from the very start of it...my work knows I'm doing the masters and I've tried to get help from them to assist with funding it but no joy there although I would be in line for a considerable salary increase through promotion when I finish it which would mean I'll be able to pay more into my IPA.

Am I on a hiding to nothing here by asking the OR to allow me the funds to complete the final year? From my preliminary SOA calculations factoring in the university course fees, my current surplus is about £150 a month for an IPA up until the time I finish the masters...if the OR wont allow me to finish my studies and I am forced to withdraw from the course my IPA would then be between £550-600 per month...however since the IPA lasts for 3 years and gets adjusted for increases in salary, if I am allowed to complete my masters and get this promotion after a year (very likely), I would be able to make considerably more payments in the last 2 years of my IPA, perhaps in the region of £1000 per month which taking the whole 3 years into account overall, would mean my creditors would get more payback from me than if I weren't allowed to finish my studies (and of course I would have a good career enhancing qualification to boot!!)...

...to me it sounds like a win-win all round to be allowed to continue with my studies, but I doubt the OR would see it that way..any thoughts?

tigerfeet2006

This is an odd one. I know that several posters in the past that were on OU courses have had the expenses accepted. I think that all you can do is put the expense down and write an explaination of it in section 13 a bit like your post here.

22bear

tigerfeet2006 wrote: »

This is an odd one. I know that several posters in the past that were on OU courses have had the expenses accepted. I think that all you can do is put the expense down and write an explaination of it in section 13 a bit like your post here.

Thanks, tigerfeet, I'll do that...after all, they can only say no I suppose!

iquit

Hi 22bear, sorry to hear about your challenges which are leading you to br. Just want to wish you all the best with filing for br. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you and hopefully you'll get the go ahead for your continued studies.

22bear

iquit wrote: »

Hi 22bear, sorry to hear about your challenges which are leading you to br. Just want to wish you all the best with filing for br. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you and hopefully you'll get the go ahead for your continued studies.

Aww thanks, iquit..that's really nice of you! I'll be posting my experiences as events unfold and no doubt I'll be needing more help and advice along the way, so I'll let you all know how it goes for me