bankruptcy SOA

minniemouse4

Hi! I'm a newbie lurker!!!
Done a SOA and I was hoping someone could look at it for me and see what they think.
Its a big decision to bankrupt but after 4 years of trying to live with it' we have no choice but to go bankrupt. Husband lost his job a year ago, (after 17 years) and I've started employment 1 month ago (fixed term for 1 year)


benefits are tax credits and child benefit for 3 young children per month, mobile phone are for 2 people, not just mine!

Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 755
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 940
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1695
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 440
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 90
Electricity............................. 100
Gas..................................... 100
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 26
Telephone (land line)................... 20
Mobile phone............................ 40
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20
Internet Services....................... 20
Groceries etc. ......................... 450
Clothing................................ 60
Petrol/diesel........................... 80
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 30
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 20
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 20
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 10
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 10
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 16
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 20
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 20
Haircuts................................ 40
Entertainment........................... 10
Holiday................................. 20
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1684

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 600
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 600

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
mortgage shortfall.............45000.....10........0
welcome........................13000.....5.........0
other..........................7000......5.........0
Total unsecured debts..........65000.....20........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,695
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,684
Available for debt repayments........... 11
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 20
Amount short for making debt repayments. -9
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 600
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -65,000
Net Assets.............................. -64,400

HappyMJ

Your rent and council tax is very low suggesting a small property yet your gas and electricity charges are extremely high suggesting you live in a large property with zero insulation or have arrears. You need to be able to justify those figures by presenting a bill. The amount you include on your SOA does not include arrears as they are included in the bankruptcy so it's just the ongoing charges that you'll be paying.

You can put a higher figure for Medical. It includes prescriptions which are limited to the cost of a prepayment certificate, a simple dental check every 6 months plus whatever work is needed as and when if you've got good teeth just include the lowest charge if you regularly get work done include the second level of charges, an eye test every 2 years for each adult.

You can put £20 per person per month for holidays.

You shouldn't put anything for Entertainment.

Your mobile contracts will be terminated by the bankruptcy so you can choose a SIM only PAYG plan so £40 for 2 mobiles is too high.

You've also got very rounded figures for a lot of things. A landline is £17 per month so put that. You can't get a pay monthly mobile with unlimited calls so you'll require an unlimited call pack on your landline you could include one at £5 per month. Therefore £22 per month.

You've got internet services at £20 per month. Even BT doesn't charge that much. They charge £13 per month on top of the £17 a month line rental. Just saying be careful you need bills to prove these figures you can't just pluck figures out of the air.

You've got TV services at £20 per month. Sky is allowed as you can get internet services for free included in the basic entertainment pack which is a very similar cost of internet alone with BT. Therefore you can't have both.

You've got other travel at £20 per month. What does that cover?

minniemouse4

also.....I will need a new bank account!!! which one is best? co-op basic or Barclays basic? shall I get one now or after bankruptcy?

HappyMJ

minniemouse4 wrote: »

also.....I will need a new bank account!!! which one is best? co-op basic or Barclays basic? shall I get one now or after bankruptcy?

Either. If you've got debts with both you'll have to look elsewhere. You can get one now just keep the account empty all the time. If your partner is not going BR then any credits you get you can transfer the credit to your partners account and allow your partner to pay the bills from their account.

minniemouse4

council tax is the lowest band. Rent is local council rates. Gas and electric are prepayment meters and we owe money on them and our property is old so we cant have the wall insulation. In the winter months our gas usage per week can be 40-50 a week. (our statements prove this) The 20 travel when I am on early shifts and have to make my own way to work either by bus or taxi as my husband needs the car to get the children to school etc. I've tried to break down our virgin media package to fit the sections like landline, internet etc. Ill have to look up a bill online and put the actual figures.
I will also look at getting sky rather than virgin if they are better.
we have pre payment certificates for prescriptions, or our combined prescription bills would be about £75 a month!
My eldest child I starting high school. Uniform and trips are so expensive. Do you think I need more for clothing? I haven't finished getting uniform yet (2 are at school) and I bet it will cost 100 easily wit shoes, pe kits, bag, stationery, coats etc.

HappyMJ

minniemouse4 wrote: »

council tax is the lowest band. Rent is local council rates. Gas and electric are prepayment meters and we owe money on them and our property is old so we cant have the wall insulation. In the winter months our gas usage per week can be 40-50 a week. (our statements prove this) The 20 travel when I am on early shifts and have to make my own way to work either by bus or taxi as my husband needs the car to get the children to school etc. I've tried to break down our virgin media package to fit the sections like landline, internet etc. Ill have to look up a bill online and put the actual figures.
I will also look at getting sky rather than virgin if they are better.
we have pre payment certificates for prescriptions, or our combined prescription bills would be about £75 a month!
My eldest child I starting high school. Uniform and trips are so expensive. Do you think I need more for clothing? I haven't finished getting uniform yet (2 are at school) and I bet it will cost 100 easily wit shoes, pe kits, bag, stationery, coats etc.

The gas and electricity arrears will be part of the bankruptcy so you can't include them. You need to get annual usage figures from your records or supplier then figure out the monthly cost. How much gas and electricity do you use in kWh, what supplier are you with, what tariff are you on and what region do you live. If you use the site UKPower you can figure it out yourself if you have readings exactly 12 months apart. https://www.ukpower.co.uk/tools/smart_meter_calculator

Don't worry about breaking down the Virgin bill into categories just put the whole figure on one of the entries such as TV and explain it and enter zero for the other figures.

Prepayment certificates are £104 a year. £208 for both of you so you can increase the figure.

The £100 for school clothes needs to be divided by 12 so your monthly estimate of £60 is fair.

owlet

Electric and gas are very very high - is this per month? Are you repaying a debt with these too?? If so, the debt will be in your bankruptcy & you include just the current usage in your soa.

You won't lose your mobile contract if it's not in arrears, just keep paying. However you may need to show a need for it for the OR to agree.

You probably need something in car parking, unless you really spend nothing, which would be most unusual.

Medical seems low, remember this includes dental & optician, unless you are covered on benefits.

Forget presents & entertainment but put 40 in emergency fund instead.

As Happy says my your figures need to be exact, not rounded.

Before bankruptcy you can apply to either co-op or barclays. If barclays are a creditor go to co-op. Get all income diverted to your new account before you go bankrupt.

Have you had professional advice from one of the free debt charities? The judge will want to be assured that you have.

Edit: Cross posted !

owlet

HappyMJ wrote: »

Prepayment certificates are £104 a year. £208 for both of you so you can increase the figure.

And add on some more for dentist & if applicable, optician.

owlet

If you re do your soa with the new figures, we can see how it looks

HappyMJ

owlet wrote: »

And add on some more for dentist & if applicable, optician.

Correct yes thank you Dental charges are £18.80 every 6 months 2 adults so therefore £75.20 a year divide by 12 makes around £6 a month. Eye tests every 2 years cost £25 multiplied by 2 and divided by 24 months is an extra £2 per month. The £208 divided by 12 is £17...add all the figures together and you've got £25 per month add £1 for inflation makes £26 a month a fair figure. If you actually wear glasses you can divide the cost of them over 24 months too.

Children luckily get all that for free.

minniemouse4

Thankyou all. I will get out my gas and electric statements and divide the annual figure by 12 to get a monthly exact spend and re do the SOA later on today.


I've had huge amounts of advice from the CAB, it my husband that doesn't want to go bankrupt but we really have no choice with the amount of money owed and the loss of his job. Mine is only a 12 month term contract so god knows what is going to happen next year! At least this side of the money problems will hopefully be sorted. I will go and open a basic bank account next week, where my wages go in and the direct debits come out!!


I want to get rid of the house phone too. We never use it, only our mobiles but it came in the package with virgin! The only time it rings is if its someone chasing us for money!