Payments during bankruptcy

Ph0enix83

Hi all
I went bankrupt in April. I had the call from the OR and submitted all my info. She said they would be in touch to let me know if I needed to make any payments. A few weeks later I got a letter from the HMRC to say that I had been put on a NR tax code for the year. I assumed it was to do with the bankruptcy so emailed to ask. I got a reply to say not to spend anything other than essential living expenses and they would be in touch to tell me what payments I needed to make. I've emailed twice since to ask for updates and had no reply. I've put the tax money aside but I'm getting really worried that they are going to land a huge bill on me as I've no idea whether or not they feel I could afford to make payments in addition to the tax. Has anyone else had an experience like this? Any advice?

TheGardener

You are right to keep the tax money to one side and don't spend that. The NT code simply means that you don't pay PAYE until the end of the financial year. From April 2019 you will pay your tax normally. At some point the OR's agent will contact you to collect it although it doesn't usually take them so long to get round to it.

When you went BR you will have completed a SoA (Statement of accounts) that detailed your income and expenses. What did that look like - did you have a 'surplus' after your normal household expenses? The OR would normally have agreed an IPA with you at the time. If one hasn't been set by now I suspect you wont get one but you 'could' email the OR to confirm this. However, if you haven't had an IPA agreed by the 12 month anniversary of your BR - then its too late for the OR to set one. So it might be worth keeping quiet. Although you have a budget - reasonable living expenses is not the same as essential living expenses. As long as your spending is 'reasonable' there shouldn't be a problem.

Ph0enix83

Thanks TheGardener. There was a small surplus but that was based on me receiving child maintenance from my ex. He's very unreliable with this so there have been several months where I've had to dip into the surplus from previous months to get by. I did ask them to take this into account but didn't get a response. I guess I'll just hang on and if I've heard nothing by April I'll contact them again. But the last time I phoned the woman I spoke to was absolutely horrible so I'm reluctant to deal with her again.

debt_doctor

Hi,

You would do very well to follow every word of the Gardener's advice above.

DD