Advice on bankruptcy please! Very scared!

luvchocolate

I would put everything down, its not worth the risk. always be honest and upfront and life will so much easier xx

fermi

They can check if they wish. Won't normally unless they have a reason though.

tigerfeet2006

and if the mobile phone payments are resonable then they will be allowed ie: not £70 a month each.

Pop your joint SoA up as per Fermi's link and let us look.Just use the one you have with your DMP and the lovely peeps will adjust it for BR.

Kerry511

Ok great will add the one from my dmp and let you guys work your magic :-) will post it tomorrow as on mummy duties lol

Thanks again X

Kerry511

Statement of Affairs & Personal Balance Sheet

Summary

Monthly Budget Summary Amount(£)
Total monthly income 2,537
Monthly expenses (incl. HP & secured loans) 2,535
Available for debt repayments 2
UNsecured debt repayments 0
Amount left after debt repayments 2
Personal Balance Sheet Summary Amount(£)
Total Assets (things you own) 950
Total Secured & HP Debt -0
Total Unsecured Debt -70,000
Net Assets -69,050
Household Information

Number of adults in household 2
Number of children in household 5
Number of cars owned 1
Income, Expense, Debt & Asset Details

Income Amount(£)
Monthly income after tax 0
Partners monthly income 2000
Benefits 537
Other income 0
Total monthly income 2537
Expenses Amount(£)
Mortgage 0
Secured/HP loan payments 0
Rent 700
Council tax 123
Electricity 86
Gas 83
Water Rates 39
Telephone (land line) 0
Mobile phone 60
TV Licence 12
Satellite/Cable TV 0
Internet services 16
Groceries etc. 715
Clothing 190
Petrol/diesel 80
Road tax 26
Car Insurance 95
Car maintenance (including MOT) 27
Car Parking 0
Other travel 0
Childcare/nursery 0
Other child related expenses 83 (two kids in secondary £2.20 per school meals
Each day per child x39 schools weeks) also school trips- education for 4 children.
Medical (prescriptions, dentists. 15
Pet Insurance/Vet bills 0
Buildings Insurance 0
Contents Insurance 26
Life Assurance 0
Other Insurance 19
Presents (birthday, christmas etc.) 0
Haircuts 40
Entertainment 0
Holiday 30
Emergency Fund 70
Total monthly expenses 2535
Secured & HP Debt Description Debt(£) Monthly(£) APR(%)
Mortgage 0 (0) 0
Secured & HP Debt totals 0 - -
Unsecured Debt Description Debt(£) Monthly(£) APR(%)
Mortgage shortfall 42000 0 0
card/loans/catlog/ 28000 0 0
Unsecured Debt totals 70000 0 -
Asset Description Value (£)
Cash 0
House Value (Gross) 0
Shares and bonds 0
Car(s) 950
Other assets (e.g. endowments, jewellery etc) 0
Total Assets 950

Kerry511

I know some figures look high....... But I have 5 children (2 in secondary) and a baby which increases my weekly spend etc........ Is this ok?

Thank you

Kerry511

Also I adjusted my figures as to what it will be in May when I do the br as I will no longer be getting smp and there for tax credits will increase due to drop in income and no longer able to afford my dmp! This is why br was suggested!

Thanks guys xx

Johnsmith2016

I dont know much about SOA as I have not had to do one personally. But I would say i would always over budget in the hope you get it and not under allocate. There are no hard and fast rules, its just recommendations based on averages and everyones lifestyle, health, situation and circumstances different - so if these are the figures you genuinely beleive you use/need then it is what it is. No harm in trying they can only say no.

Like I said I am not very familar with these so best wait for some of the others.
But the things that perhaps look high to me
groceries - 715 - but there are 7 of you = circa £100 pm or £25 a week so prob fine.
Kids meals - shouldnt this come out the groceries bill? I dont have kids so i dont know -'just an observation
Medical - pre pay certificate 3/12 months
Mobiles -'is this £60 for 2 contracts? You are allowed a phone but you can get an unlimited mins/texts and 6gb sim for £12.49.
Clothing - do you spend nearly £200 a month if they ask you prove?
Think you can also have a RAC type breakdown cover.
Not sure the amounts allowed for holidays.
Emergency fund - this based on 7 people £10

Kerry511

Hi johnsmith2016

I will explain a little more

Kids meals I meant for school: two kids in secondary. It is £2.20 per meal per day per child for 39 school weeks per year. So £2.20 x2 per day (5 days a week) for 39 weeks! Plus I pay for school trips (not sure if this is allowed!

Groceries is including baby milk, baby food, nappy, wipes and packed lunches for the other two children and dad who are in work and primary school! Etc

I could possibly reduce what we spend on clothing! If I had two however £190 per month is only £27 per month per person......... Kids always need schools uniforms, school shoes, Hubby work shoes as he is a bus driver, baby is growing fast (always replaying clothes that are too small) but I don't have receipts........ Sometimes but from charity shops or online selling sites etc and collect and pay in person to save on delivery! Suppose I could start keeping receipts for uniforms, shoes etc

Medical includes dentist fees and prescription charges (normally put in a pot and use when needed) instead of buying a certificate for prescription charge only as dentist fees can be expensive! So money builds and I take when needed!

Mobile phone includes 4 sims me, Hubby, two eldest kids as need to know where they are and what they are doing on way/from school and when I am not at home......... They are 11 and 13. It sounds silly but I would constantly worry if I couldn't talk to them! And if I couldn't they would not be allowed to go school without me (which would be impossible as I have the little ones to get to primary school) they start school at the same times :-( could maybe look and changing to another provider....... But would want the hassle of we could just be allowed it based on four people!

Breakdown cover is included with car insurance policy! :-)

I was told emergency fund would allow £10 per person per month? Is that right?



I have tried to be as honest as possible! Maybe as baby gets older we may have a little extra money but as of now/May this is what I came up with!

But I could be over spending and not realizing it. So please be honest and realistic guys!

Thank you for advise and prompt reply John! Xxx

Time2GrowUp

Hello,

I have been browsing the forums tonight and your thread led me to sign up in order to reply. Most likely because I can sympathise with parts of your story and hope mine can in some ways assist. (I also need to post about my own dilemmas lol so thank you for helping me to stop procrastinating).

I went bankrupt in June 2014 after speaking to my work, family and step change and deciding it was the best course of action and crucially at what I thought was the best time (at that time). I knew several people who had gone through it recently and spoke to them to hear their experiences plus I did a little research myself (again not enough hindsight). Nothing however prepared me for the hell I endured and still endure mainly because I wasn't savvy with my timing.

Like you I gambled prior to my bankruptcy however mine was very heavy and a substantial factor in the debts etc. I knew this and was expecting it would be highly likely I would have a BRO/BRU but my research said to expect approx. 2 years. I was also naively confident that they may look favourably on the fact that at the time of my bankruptcy I had not gambled for a year and had been attending GA weekly (and still do 2 3/4 years on) unfortunately this had little to no bearing.

Regarding bank statements it all depends on what they opt to do in your individual circumstances. I know people who's bankruptcy experience was a breeze, they only spoke to the OR in the phone for a brief chat and nothing more was done. For me I had a face to face interview (more like an interrogation) which covered everything (they wanted full background story, how the debts came about etc.). The gambling came out and so did a loan I took out approx. 7 months prior to going bankrupt on the advice of my work which paid off a loan in my wife's name to help consolidate and give us breathing space - this is ultimately what has caused me the most grief and still does.

In the end the OR obtained 2 full years worth of statements for every account I had (including loans and CC's) and went through each of them in great detail querying everything. If I had known this I would have looked at postponing my bankruptcy until I had 2 clean years of bank statements (I.e no gambling and two years after I took the loan out).

I ended up with a 5 year BRU and have experienced great stress throughout the whole ordeal which involved 3+ interrogations of sorts.

I don't know if 2 years is the max they can trawl over (although I assume it most likely is bar maybe truly exceptional cases) so the best advice I could ever give someone considering bankruptcy is go get 2 years of statements yourself first to see what they will see and then you are armed to decide if it's the right time to file.

A lot of people get advice regarding whether bankruptcy is the best option for them but rarely do I see people also consider the timing of doing it which can be even more crucial as I sadly found out.

I wish you all the best and if I can help at all let me know.