Please could you check the SOA?

FixitM

Husband is bankrupt, I am discharged and we are a family of 2 adults and 3 children:-

Income £1387.09 self employed earnings and £929.63 Child Benefit, Child & Working Tax Credits = £2316.72 per month
Outgoings-

Mortgage £600
Council Tax £106.42
Gas & Electricity £154 (OR has allowed this amount on previous calculation)
Water £53
Telephones, broadband, TV £62 (OR has allowed this on previous calculation)
Housekeeping £619 (OR has allowed this on previous calculation)
Travelling expenses £127
Clothing £150
Tax & NI contributions £170.61
TV Licence £12
Home Insurance £15
School Meals £29
After School clubs/ trips £30
Pet food £40
Hairdressing £28
Lunch whilst at work (out on the road) £70 (OR has previously allowed this)
Emergency Fund £50


Should total £2316.03 per month.

Thank you in advance.

Johnsmith2016

If they will allow those expenses and you avoid the IPA then happy days.

Will depend on the type of OR you get or their mood I suppose, as we see some here getting an IPA for £46 a month and I could easily trim away a few hundred a month there by being frugal etc.
So just be prepared either way, but if like you said it's pre agreed then argue that point if they question it, and hopefully you get this SOA and avoid the IPA. Let us know how you get on, good luck

Johnsmith2016

Despite there being things were I suspect they may cut you back, there are other bits you could put in that are missing
Dental, opticians, any pre pay prescriptions? So maybe add those. And don't sign anything unless your happy and don't sell yourself short I would always say go with more than less and let them knock you down. Key is as long as you can prove it all is genuine, e.g £150 a month on clothes etc. Then you can argue the toss if they disagree.

FixitM

Thank you for your replies. We did a previous one and they cut £44 off what we put for gas and electricity and proposed an IPA of £44 a month. My husband had changed jobs whilst that was going on though, so this is why we're doing a new one. Because we couldn't understand where this £44 was coming from, we asked for a breakdown of the calculation. So although he has shaved bit of some of the amounts we put in, there is a column with 'amount allowed' in, with figures in. So seems we are allowed more for clothing etc. Hopefully as it says we're allowed those things/ amounts, we actually are (I'm assuming they are based on government guidelines per person?) When we have asked questions, he's not been very forthcoming to be honest and it has left us very confused the past couple of months. Been a massive learning curve. We currently have NHS exemption, but expect this may end in April, but won;t know until the tax credit notification comes through. If it does, then we can add those things on if needs be.

Thanks for your help.

FixitM

Oh and with the last one, he didn't even try and knock us down, just told us they wanted an IPA of £44 per month (from what we pay for gas and electricity. It's helpful to know if we're paying over the odds, as otherwise how do we know we need to make cuts| Like we were told by debt specialist at Citizens Advice that the OR would allow a basic cable telly package which included kids channels, as the kids have nothing else (days out, entertainment fund etc), but that was wrong and we're stuck in a contract until October for that.

GazHatesBanks

You can also add holidays @ £70 per month (£20 per adult plus £10 per child) - just in case they query some of the other expenses.

FixitM

Thank you. Yes, I did add a bit in for holidays when I initially did it, and then I realised I'd worked out our monthly tax credits incorrectly, so took it off. If we need to submit again in a couple of months (due to being self employed & slightly fluctuating pay), I will add some in then. The though of having a holiday fund (even if it only paid for a couple of nights in a Premier Inn) seems amazing!

Thank you.