Soa single parent very scared!

Purplesunset

Hello

I am finding this all very scary and very stressful. My ex (father of my child) got our flat repossessed it was in negative equity but he was renting it out and keeping the cash for himself but as the mortgage wasn't paid it was taken. He Hasn't seen our son for 2 years nor has ever paid a penny in Maintence.

I have no other debts except now the flat is repossessed we now owe £48,000. But as you know we are each responsible for this debt back, I spoke to step change and they told me basically I would be 78 by the time I pay it back and bankruptcy is the best option.

I am very scared I am a health professional at a hospital, I work shift work and over time so my wage is never the same. I need some advice as I struggle to raise my son on my own and worried this will leave me with no money.

I am going to apply Wednesday next week for bankruptcy and wanted some help from anyone over life with bankruptcy and if all my money will be taken?

This is my breakdown of money -
Household- 1x adult 1x child 2x cats

Income after tax- £1909 ( average can be 2100 if alot of overtime)
Child benefit- 89
Tax credits- 151.66

Rent- 500
Childcare - 705
Council tax- 105
Water- 35
Electricity& gas- 78
Food/ house keeping- 230
Insurance- 11
Mobile/phone/net- 50
Tv-26
Tv licence- 12
Fuel- 180
Life insurance- 11
Car insurance- 19
Car servicing- 25
Road tax- 6
Pet care-35
Medicine -14
Opticians/ dentist- 15
Hairdressing- 16
Clothing-20
Swimming lessons- 30
School trips- 6
Emergency- 15

I know that tv with virgin is a luxury but my contract ends in October does this get cancelled straight away? I spoke to them they said I had to pay rest of the contract.

I know my Childcare is high but as a single parent who works shift work I have to pay baby sitters and childminders to help cover as no family close to help.

Do you think the above is allowed? Or will I be left with nothing and worried I can't pay petrol or Childcare to keep my job.

If anyone can help I would be very grateful.

Thank you x

Mykidsrcool

Hi Purple and welcome to the forum. I am a relative newbie here too and can only say the best things about everyone on here, really made me feel so much better.

To me, and i am not that knowledgeable i would say that your food / housekeeping charges were a little low for yourself and you child. The rest of it seems ok, but can not comment on child care costs.

I am sure one of the more experienced members of the forum will be able to advise better.

Dont me scared, it will all be OK very soon. Well that what i keep being told

egrescrimp

Your housekeeping is a little low, I'd try increase it by another £30 if possible.

The childcare should be fine, with it being so high they may ask you to provide a copy of your last invoice from whoever you pay childcare to.

Can you confirm if the swimming lessons are for the child?

Paying the Virginmedia contract, won't be seen as a necessity and will come under luxury. If the OR doesn't let you keep it, what is owed on the contract would fall into your bankruptcy if you can't afford to keep it. Whatever you do, don't pay the contract up! the OR won't like that. You could account for the TV service by removing it from your SOA though and increasing your clothing to £50 (£25 per person) since your clothing allowance is very small.

I'd increase your hairdressing to £20 (£10 per person).

Noodles78

Purplesunset wrote: »

This is my breakdown of money -
Household- 1x adult 1x child 2x cats

Income after tax- £1909 ( average can be 2100 if alot of overtime)
Child benefit- 89
Tax credits- 151.66

Rent- 500
Childcare - 705 (OR may question this but shouldn't be an issue as long as you can prove the costs?).
Council tax- 105 (High for a single person? Are you getting Single persons discount for this?).
Water- 35
Electricity& gas- 78
Food/ house keeping- 230 (£280-£300)
Insurance- 11
Mobile/phone/net- 50
Tv-26 (up to the OR if they allow this.? Some allow it it seems, some don't. This cost could be covered now in your Food/House Keeping if required).
Tv licence- 12 (This is averaged around the £12.75 mark so change to £13. Every little helps).
Fuel- 180
Life insurance- 11
Car insurance- 19
Car servicing- 25 (Could change to £30 as looking at your petrol consumption you do a lot of miles, therefore more Wear & Tear).
Road tax- 6 (Only £72 a year??)
Pet care-35
Medicine -14
Opticians/ dentist- 15
Hairdressing- 16 (Could change to £20)
Clothing-20 (Could change to £60)
Swimming lessons- 30
School trips- 6
Emergency- 15 (£10 per person the IS allow so this can be £20).

You could also have a Holiday fund of £40 added in there for two of you.
The above is just a view on what myself & others have accounted for in our SOA's. You can tweak these to your needs. At the end of the day you've got to make the figures work within you income.

Purplesunset

Hi thank you everyone, I went to court today and was granted bankruptcy. But my concern was about the three years of being monitored with finances.
And I think I was right to be concerned!! My OR rand me this afternoon and she is horrible!!
She told me she decides what's necessary not me!!! She told me she wanted to see my car, I said to her with out my car I would not be able to get to work (34 miles round trip) my car is a very cheap car to run, hardly any road tax and it has seven years warranty so hardly costs me anything to service or not. It also is probably only worth £2100 and without I can not work. I said this to the horrible OR and she told me it was up to her what she decides and that if I had to I could get an "old banger". But as I pointed out to her the car was bought by my grandfather for me, I have no other access to a car and that a "old banger" would end up costing me more money as it would cost more to run and have a higher chance at breaking down. But as she told me again it was up to her what happens not me!! I also said to her would my son still get swimming lessons which I budgeted for and again she told me it was up to her discretion as he was not school age she didn't think he would!!!

Honestly I am furious!! I have to wait till the 4th June to have our proper interview but I have been left feeling very upset! I will just quit my job if she's going to make my life a living hell, I already have struggled working and raising a child on my own refusing to go on benefits. But if I am going to be punished and the hard earned money taken away from us leaving us worse off and having no life I think I would rather give up!

I didn't cause this debt, even the people dealing with it said its awful considering my ex caused this shortfall on the mortgage and he got away with keeping the rent from our flat and not paying the mortgage for years before they repossessed it.

Can anyone help me or offer me guidance over the horrible OR woman?? Can they take the car even though its not going to help even repay a fraction of the overall debt and cause me to loose my job.


Those of you kind enough to help me the other day I am grateful too, the process of going bankrupt isn't scary but the OR woman and having to deal with her for 3 years I am not looking forward too!!!


Thank you again

X

allybee101

The OR is probably like this with everyone - lays down the law and lets you know that she is in charge. I imagine they deal with people who try to pull the wool over their eyes so they start off being tough. There'll be people they deal with who have their heads in the sand.
When you meet her in person you may find that her bark is worse than her bite . Just be polite and friendly, and I'm sure you'll learn to get on with each other.
I don't think that she'll make you sell your car - a reliable car is better than a heap o' junk, unless you have a pimped up set of flash wheels!
When you meet make sure you have all your paperwork in order - it'll show that you're serious about managing your budget. As you say, you're not responsible for the debt it's more the circumstances that your ex created.
If you're prepared to drop some things like the Sky, swimming lessons then the OR may be more lenient about the car - see what compromises you can make.

egrescrimp

When I went BR and spoke to my case examiner for the first time, I thought she was pretty cold and was dreading my second call togo through my forms. The second call was much more relaxed and I didn't feel bad afterwards

If the examiner does anything you believe is unfair, you can complain. They are there to be fair and support you through the process, not make your life hard.

The chances are you'll be given the chance to purchase the interest in the car, if the examiner says no it doesn't mean you can't take it further up the chain and appeal

You probably also won't speak to this person much after the second interview, if you get an IPA you'll go through someone else to discuss changes in circumstances etc.

tigerfeet2006

Who officially own's the car? Did they give you the money and you put it in the bank? Or did they physically hand the money over for it to the dealer? Who is the receipt made too?

Purplesunset

Hi thank you everyone for replying.

The car was bought outright for £5000 in 2010. My grandpa gave me the money in a Cheque I put it in my account then paid for the car. But as it was only worth £5000 in 2010 and now it's been driven loads I really don't see how £2100 will help towards paying off £48,000 especially when I couldn't buy another car and without one I couldn't work. My car has hardly any road tax, low to fuel and is cheap to device with a 7yr warranty. If I sold it and only got a car for a few hundred pound it would cost me loads in insurance, road tax, petrol and it would be more likely to break and fail mot.

I just don't see how they can take a car that's not worth that much, if it was a posh BMW or something worth a bit of money I would understand but I have basic Kia picanto. It doesn't even have a clock! That's how basic it is! Lol.

Anyone else had there car taken? I am just worrying as I will loose my job if I don't have a car and my family would be furious if they took the car as it was grandpas money.

I don't know what to do!

X

McKneff

Please try to stop worrying so much, its not good for you and its not good for your little one.


Is it really necessary to have swimming lessons, in the grand scheme of things, he can learn in a few years with you, friends or with the school.

PippaGirl_2

Remember even if they suggest an IPA, that is an agreement and you don't need to agree with it. Debtdoctor may possibly help with that?

As for the car, at worst, they should be able to offer you the option of keeping the car if you give them a set amount of money to do so. You can offer £300 maybe? The money cannot come from you, but if there was a family member who might help you out, that is an option to keep the car if they insist that it's value is too high.

My first encounter with the OR was equally horrendous. I wasn't working so he said he wanted my car (it's worth £400) and when I said I needed it due to illness/disability he said I needed proof of that on his desk within 24 hours or he would take it. Fortunately I managed to get an appointment with an emergency GP at my surgery who did an immediate letter which I faxed across and so the car was deemed exempt. But if you gave up work, they may deem your car as unecessary too so worth thinking about.

It's a shame that you hadn't known about car values prior to going BR. The general rule nowadays is car values need to be around £1000 to be kept, with a little leway, often low valuations can be found though if time is taken with local garages etc. which would have helped your case. Do you think you might have over valued the car, due to it's mileage, condition, wear and tear etc? What does webuyanycar offer you?

Don't panic yet, there is hope and all is not lost. You will get through this. Well done for getting this far.