Household Benefits and IPA

BeardedLady

Hi,

I have recently had my bankruptcy approved and had my interview with my OR. All went OK, allowed to keep the car and was told that I would hear about an IPA in due course. When submitting the application I naively omitted to offset my “other household income” (made up of children’s DLA £670, child benefit £270 and wife’s carers allowance £250) but sent a correction via email as per the process outlined.

I have received an IPA through the post with a figure of £860 which I assume is a result of the correction not being taken into account when calculating the surplus (to be honest if I had that left over I wouldn’t be in this position!). I have called multiple times, left messages, emailed but have received no response

Should I continue to chase? Am I right in my understanding that any benefits received but not payable to me are not included in calculating of the surplus?

Thanks in advance

Minkym00

Yes, keep chasing and don’t sign anything. Benefits income is excluded from IPA assessment so unless you specified that it was benefits income then it’ll be included. Explain when you eventually get hold of your contact and asked to be reassessed. Any problems, come back here and advise.

debt_doctor

Hi,

Do you have any earned or pension income?

DD

BeardedLady

Hi Sorry for the slow reply. I had an email back with a new income and Expenditure form to complete. I added an expense to offset against the childrens DLA payments. Am now waiting to see what comes back.


DD - yes, I get paid monthly but this is pretty much entirely eaten up by the family outgoings (rent, food, bills etc)

BeardedLady

Hi All - quick update, had confirmation today following the review of income and expenditure that an IPA would not be necessary.


Thanks for your help - and again apologies for the slow reply.

Singlemumm

sorry for jumping in this post but can I ask why and what benefits income is excluded from IPA assessment?thank you

devon_guy

I was under the impression that if benefits income is your sole income then it is discounted, however if it is part of your household income then it is included. Seems a tad unfair, but that's my understanding of it.