Is bankruptcy my best option

fishfinger1

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1410
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1200
Benefits................................ 148
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2758
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 600
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 141
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 40
Telephone (land line)................... 18
Mobile phone............................ 85
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 10
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 60
Petrol/diesel........................... 280
Road tax................................ 33
Car Insurance........................... 70
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 70
Car parking............................. 10
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 46
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 30
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 80
Emergency fund.......................... 0
pocket money - School trips............. 30
breakdown cover ........................ 12
tax credit repayment.................... 30
sofa ................................... 27
pet food................................ 20
Total monthly expenses.................. 2305

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

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,758
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,305
Available for debt repayments........... 453
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 453
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 0


ok so heres our SOA please feel free to advise, also here is a list of my current debts:
Barclaycard £5674
Barclaycard £6809
Natwest £2337
Yorkshire bank £1705
Nationwide £2007
Virgin £3776
Halifax overdraft £600


My partners debts:
Argos card £1000
Lloyds £3000
Tesco £2681
Barclaycard £3425
Car finance £167
at present all her debts are in order and being paid correctly mine are the big problem as you can see

fishfinger1

Good Morning. Would anybody be kind enough to have a look at my SOA for me as im wanting to get the ball rolling over this weekend. Thanks

Johnsmith2016

So Take away points
Your debt 22k your partners debt 10k
Are you looking both go bankcrupt or DRO or just you? Or perhaps you go bankcrupt and your partner DRO
Although if your partner has good credit history from always paying like you say, could possibly get some 0% cards and tranfer to them - how long would it take pay off? If your partner can repay 10k within 2/3 years i would advise over dro.
Onto you.
One thing to consider as said before is the inheritance should you be unlucky and it falls within the 12 months. 2nd thing with £1400 income and all your debts wiped you could get a large IPA for 3 years if you choose bankcruptcy. Considering the IPA and inheritance a DRO may be the better option if you can get it under 20k

Mobile phone £85 - is this for both? So £42.50 each? You can get an unlimited sim for £12.49
Other child payments? What
Entertainment -maybe not allow £50/ or anything
Groiceries should be ok, maybe stick a bit more on
Petrol - can you prove usage eg work etc
Emergency fund - put £10 per person including kids
Holiday £80 - prob allowed £20
Sofa - is this finance ? Will it not be included in bankcruptcy?
Presents - may or may not allow something
Haircuts -'how many people are there? May get away with a bit more than £30.
Prescriptions - can get yearly certificate for about £105
I would add dentist and opticians seperate
Should have some type of buildings and contents cover?

fishfinger1

Johnsmith2016 wrote: »

So Take away points
Your debt 22k your partners debt 10k
Are you looking both go bankcrupt or DRO or just you? Or perhaps you go bankcrupt and your partner DRO


Its just me that's looking into bankcruptcy,

Although if your partner has good credit history from always paying like you say, could possibly get some 0% cards and tranfer to them - how long would it take pay off? If your partner can repay 10k within 2/3 years i would advise over dro.


My thought was once I had gone bankcrupt I would maybe have some spare money to help pay off my partners debts.

Onto you.
One thing to consider as said before is the inheritance should you be unlucky and it falls within the 12 months. 2nd thing with £1400 income and all your debts wiped you could get a large IPA for 3 years if you choose bankcruptcy. Considering the IPA and inheritance a DRO may be the better option if you can get it under 20k
If I were to go down the DRO route I wouldn't qualify though would I as im assuming I would have more than £50 let each month?

Mobile phone £85 - is this for both? So £42.50 each? You can get an unlimited sim for £12.49


£85 is for both mobiles 1 of the contracts is up in OCT then will be moving to sim only.
Other child payments? What
2 X Children swimming lessons and Football club
Entertainment -maybe not allow £50/ or anything
Groiceries should be ok, maybe stick a bit more on
Petrol - can you prove usage eg work etc
my partner uses the car for work as shes a homecare worker
Emergency fund - put £10 per person including kids
Holiday £80 - prob allowed £20
Sofa - is this finance ? Will it not be included in bankcruptcy?
my partner pays for the sofa
Presents - may or may not allow something
Haircuts -'how many people are there? May get away with a bit more than £30.
theres 4 of us in total
Prescriptions - can get yearly certificate for about £105
I would add dentist and opticians seperate
Should have some type of buildings and contents cover?

at present we have no insurance

Johnsmith2016

Hi,
Hope you dont think I am being pedantic with my answers to your SOA, I am just trying to judge it as the official receiver would, of course personally I wouldnt have a problem with your outgoings etc. We know from experiences on here generally what they will allow you to include and not include in your SOA, and roughly how much.
Firstly I think you need to speak to step change regarding your best option, I think it is quite tricky, given your income to debt ratio, your income is quite high and debt quite low, relatively speaking, as in £1400 wage could probably pay off a 20k debt within say 3 years. So on paper the judge may not grant you bankcrupty, you have to be unable to pay your debts, or have specific reasons etc. Not saying they will say no, but thats why you need speak to step change, as a debt managment plan, IVA or DRO could actually turn out to be the more suitable option given your circumstances.
Your circumstances are totally different to someone for example losing there business having no income and say 50k debt - obviously in this case they simply cant repay, and cannot repay with a reasoanble time say 5 years so a bankcrupty would prob go through easy in this example. In your case you can repay.

There are no hard and fast rules with what the official reciever will allow in your SOA budget, its a loose guide but everyones circumstances and lifestyles are different so they will allow for this, you bascially are only allowed what you need to cover your basic standard of living, any left over money will go into a 3 year IPA, which in your case could be quite a high one, once you are no longer paying your debts and they are wiped. You want to either avoid the IPA or minimize how much you pay in it of course. You will not be able to use your free money to help your partner pay their debts, any spare money left over after living costs will go into the IPA. I would always be generous with your amounts in the SOA, the official receiver can only knock them down a bit or disallow so no harm in trying, plus dont leave yourself short.

Am I right in saying most of your debts are credit cards? Is your credit file already damaged from late payments etc? If its still good, would getting some 0% credit cards and balance transfering the debts over not reduce your outgoings? I dont know how much your currently paying out on your credit card debt per month, but if they are out of their promotional period the interest rate is likely to be anywere from 18 to 30% so transfering these to a 0% card could cut down your outgoings per month, plus leave you more to throw at your debts and pay it off sooner, plus all your money will go towards paying your debs not on interest.


The official reciever will of course expect your partner to pay their half of the household so if you work out all your outgoings taken away from your wage, the amount your left with would normally go in the IPA. Based on your SOA you have a £453 after debts, wipe these debts and your prob going to left with double that in bankcrupty say £800 which would go in a IPA - for this reason bankcruptcy may not be your best option.

You may find a DMP is peanuts per month compared to what the IPA will be in bankcrupty so that maybe your best option.
You may also find the monthly payments in a IVA for 5 years is much less than a bankcrupty IPA once your debts are wiped all extra money will go in the IPA

Are you actually struggling to survive and get by at the moment and unable to get by? Or do you just want to get rid of the debt? Looks like you have £453 spare a month, which could be even more if you cut back/switched suppliers and did a budget.
Thinking outside the box and out loud, obviously i dont know your circumstances but could your partner with good credit not get a large consolidation loan to cover the majority of your debts? So its one monthly payment that you can afford? Can you hang on in there carrying on making your debt repayments waiting for the inheritance to come through to clear the debts in full ? I am just thinking of other ways of dealing with it.
If your partner could get a loan, perhaps make a final settement offer of 50% to your lenders, telling them the alternative is your going bankcrupt.
You can also do full and final settlement IVA where they might accept a 60% of what you owe to settle the debts. If you give me some more info i will try my best help

tigerfeet2006

Is that your OHs full income or her contribution to the joint household bills?

fishfinger1

Johnsmith2016 wrote: »

Hi,
Hope you dont think I am being pedantic with my answers to your SOA, I am just trying to judge it as the official receiver would, of course personally I wouldnt have a problem with your outgoings etc. We know from experiences on here generally what they will allow you to include and not include in your SOA, and roughly how much.
Firstly I think you need to speak to step change regarding your best option, I think it is quite tricky, given your income to debt ratio, your income is quite high and debt quite low, relatively speaking, as in £1400 wage could probably pay off a 20k debt within say 3 years. So on paper the judge may not grant you bankcrupty, you have to be unable to pay your debts, or have specific reasons etc. Not saying they will say no, but thats why you need speak to step change, as a debt managment plan, IVA or DRO could actually turn out to be the more suitable option given your circumstances.
Your circumstances are totally different to someone for example losing there business having no income and say 50k debt - obviously in this case they simply cant repay, and cannot repay with a reasoanble time say 5 years so a bankcrupty would prob go through easy in this example. In your case you can repay.

There are no hard and fast rules with what the official reciever will allow in your SOA budget, its a loose guide but everyones circumstances and lifestyles are different so they will allow for this, you bascially are only allowed what you need to cover your basic standard of living, any left over money will go into a 3 year IPA, which in your case could be quite a high one, once you are no longer paying your debts and they are wiped. You want to either avoid the IPA or minimize how much you pay in it of course. You will not be able to use your free money to help your partner pay their debts, any spare money left over after living costs will go into the IPA. I would always be generous with your amounts in the SOA, the official receiver can only knock them down a bit or disallow so no harm in trying, plus dont leave yourself short.

Am I right in saying most of your debts are credit cards? Is your credit file already damaged from late payments etc? If its still good, would getting some 0% credit cards and balance transfering the debts over not reduce your outgoings? I dont know how much your currently paying out on your credit card debt per month, but if they are out of their promotional period the interest rate is likely to be anywere from 18 to 30% so transfering these to a 0% card could cut down your outgoings per month, plus leave you more to throw at your debts and pay it off sooner, plus all your money will go towards paying your debs not on interest.


The official reciever will of course expect your partner to pay their half of the household so if you work out all your outgoings taken away from your wage, the amount your left with would normally go in the IPA. Based on your SOA you have a £453 after debts, wipe these debts and your prob going to left with double that in bankcrupty say £800 which would go in a IPA - for this reason bankcruptcy may not be your best option.

You may find a DMP is peanuts per month compared to what the IPA will be in bankcrupty so that maybe your best option.
You may also find the monthly payments in a IVA for 5 years is much less than a bankcrupty IPA once your debts are wiped all extra money will go in the IPA

Are you actually struggling to survive and get by at the moment and unable to get by? Or do you just want to get rid of the debt? Looks like you have £453 spare a month, which could be even more if you cut back/switched suppliers and did a budget.
Thinking outside the box and out loud, obviously i dont know your circumstances but could your partner with good credit not get a large consolidation loan to cover the majority of your debts? So its one monthly payment that you can afford? Can you hang on in there carrying on making your debt repayments waiting for the inheritance to come through to clear the debts in full ? I am just thinking of other ways of dealing with it.
If your partner could get a loan, perhaps make a final settement offer of 50% to your lenders, telling them the alternative is your going bankcrupt.
You can also do full and final settlement IVA where they might accept a 60% of what you owe to settle the debts. If you give me some more info i will try my best help

No not at all I appreciate your input. We don't actually have £453 left every month as the car finance also goes out which is £167.
All the debt is credit cards which until Nov last year I was about making minimum payments but it got to a point where I was constantly having to shift money from my partners account to mine just so I could cover my payments. Having read the debt free forum I took it upon myself to stop making the payments to make it through Christmas and also get the car repaired up until now ive still not made a payment to any of them and have just been defaulted by Natwest. I really have got myself into a pickle.

This is what goes out of my account each month
Rent £600
Gas/elec £90
Mobiles £85
Council tax £141
Gas/elec arrears to old supplier £111 for next 6 months
If I were to make my cc minimum payments they amount to approx £450

Basically everything else on the SOA that I haven't just listed above goes out of my partners account including her own debt repayments. Sorry if I'm confusing matters. I will give stepchange a call tomorrow see if they can clarify things for me. If I thought I could do a Dmp for say 6/7 years I would but I just don't think I have the excess money to get it done in that time

fishfinger1

tigerfeet2006 wrote: »

Is that your OHs full income or her contribution to the joint household bills?

Her full income is approx £1200 per month but it varies slightly as she's not on a set hours contract

tigerfeet2006

OK then you need to just put her contribution to the joint household income not her full income.

Her mobile payment shouldn't be on the SoA. She also has her own debts etc. that need to be paid. Your mobile and transport are an individual expense to you.

How many children do you have? How old?

How many cars and who bought them? Are those expenses for morethan 1 car?

The_Walking_Debt

I think speaking to someone at Step Change is a priority. I was absolutely terrified when I called them in February...shaking like a leaf an unable to speak above a whisper. But the people I spoke to were so supportive, helpful and non judgemental. I think the fact you are facing this now is a good thing, getting your life in order so you can face the future. The years' take their toll on you, your relationships and peace of mind, with debt. Get to grips with it now and your whole life will change for the better.

Well done on posting and getting to grips with this.