Mobile, broadband etc.

pex_2

I just read that somebody come back from OR interview and wrote that he 'was allowed to keep his mobile'. Do they take your mobile and broadband contracts, as well as BT line contract. I pay mine by direct debit and am ok with payments, don't owe any money. Is it better not to mention broadband in SOA at all?

Also I am doing my SOA and not sure what is the best thing to write in 'what was the debt for?' for credit cards.

Thanks.

wherediditallgo

It depends on how your SOA adds up. Whether you get an IPA imposed depends on whether you have at least £100 surplus money between your income & outgoings, so if your SOA is going to put you well over the £100 barrier then it's not going to make a lot of difference to you as you'll get an IPA anyway. What you've got to demonstrate is that you've cut out all the things you want & have only got expenses for the things you need. If you can justify the broadband for instance because of study (the OR queried mine, but I could justify it because of study & because my line rental is included in the cost) or because the cost is shared between a few people or because it's the cheapest one you can get, you're more likely to get to keep it than if you've got the most expensive package around.

As for your mobile contract, I didn't even mention mine. You're only required to list creditors, so if you don't owe them any money you can leave them off. You must bear in mind though that the OR will look at your figures & decide whether everything can be allowed for or not, & if they give you an IPA you may decide for yourself that you can't afford to keep those things any longer, as they'll have to be paid for out of whatever money is left over.

Against 'what was the debt for', you can either put down whatever specific purchase it relates to, or put something like 'day-to-day living', paying off other debts etc. Just make sure that whatever you put doesn't clash with other things you've written on your SOA - saying you've used the credit card to pay the car insurance won't look good if you've said elsewhere that your OH or company pay for that.

rog2

I would say that it is best to mention your Broadband, on your SOA, as an 'inclsive figure for telephone - give more detail if asked.
I mentioned my Broadband, and mobile, and these were not questioned.

pex_2

Thank you for your replies. The reason I asked is that, since I am currently unemployed and on JSA, OR could say that I should not have broadband and mobile.
Also I am not sure with SOA how to fill in 'outgoings', since it differs depending if you are employed or not. For example: what to put in 'travelling to and from work' since when I had job it was around 90 per month, and when out of job is around 30 p/m. I suppose OR needs figures for when I am employed to work out my IPA.

rog2

pex wrote: »

Thank you for your replies. The reason I asked is that, since I am currently unemployed and on JSA, OR could say that I should not have broadband and mobile.
I suppose OR needs figures for when I am employed to work out my IPA.

You will be able to prove that you need broadband in order to look for work.
You will be most unlikely to receive an IPA if you are on JSA. The SOA should reflect your CURRENT situation, i.e. unemployed. If you find work, then you must inform the OR within 21 days, and will, most likely, need to submit a new SOA which reflects your position at that time.

Conor_3

rog2 wrote: »

You will be able to prove that you need broadband in order to look for work.

That's not hard. My town doesn't have a job centre anymore and the nearest one is a 30 mile / £7 in fares round trip. If you want to look for a job, you have to do it online or keep bothering the Job Line people all day.

rog2

Conor wrote: »

That's not hard. My town doesn't have a job centre anymore and the nearest one is a 30 mile / £7 in fares round trip. If you want to look for a job, you have to do it online or keep bothering the Job Line people all day.

It was a part of that totally meaningless 'contract' which they made me sign, that I should check their website 3 times a week. I had a 3 mile walk, each way, to the JobCentre, or a £4 bus fare (2 buses a day, for 3 days of the week :mad: ).

AlanD_3

From what I can tell it isn't a case of being "allowed" to keep them (although if you are on a contract mobile that may be the case) but more whether or not you can afford to keep them on whatever your surplus income is that the OR allows you. That said if you can make them necessary expenses then so much the better!