Advice on next steps having been advised to go BR

ToxtethO'Grady · 27 November 2020 at 3:34AM

For his income the OR will usually work out an average based on his wages received in the last year though they can ask for more information. His P60 would be good for that and as its annual it will take in to account any periods of sick pay etc. It depends on his OR and what information they require for his proof of income.

With an IPA they have to set it up during the 12 mnths of his bankruptcy and if he doesn't have any disposable income during that time (£20 or above after living expenses) one shouldn't be set. An IPA can only last for 36 months and can be varied based on changes in circumstances so if he gets SSP his IPA would probably be changed to a Nil payment and then when his wage goes up they change it again. He should notify the OR of any change in cicumstances within 21 days, any changes to income and expenses, so if he is off sick his energy bills might go up so can notify of that.

Without seeing and income and expenditure it would be hard to give guidance on whether he would get one.

With household bills the OR will usually ask for partners income to work out the pro-rata share however his partner is not going bankrupt so doesn't have to give that information. The OR will then split the bills 50/50 which may be better for him depending on who earns the most in his household.

Suseka97 · 27 November 2020 at 10:53AM

That's extremely helpful ToxtethO'Grady, especially with regards to how the OR might view his rather erratic earnings and how they might apportion the household bills. What I need to do is sit down and work this all through on paper and then I'll post an SOA on this thread. He's just this week returned to work, thankfully - but for how long, who knows!

As far as submitting the actual application goes - that's really going to have to wait until the new year I think. I need to be able to sit down with him again; doing this sort of thing over the phone isn't the best. I won't now see him until sometime in January and then I really want to get this sorted once and for all. He's not been paying anything towards his debts since last Sept19 and although I've been keeping his creditors updated (pretty much on a monthly basis) I'm mindful they are not going to wait much longer before they expect some sort of resolution.

Suseka97 · 4 August 2021 at 3:17PM

Okay, I'm think I may now be able to help move this situation along for my family member. He's had a very bad year and so I wasn't able to get him to start the BR process last year, but I'm now living a lot closer and so now more able to assist. All his debts are now defaulted and have been so for the last 12 months or so and all his creditors have his accounts on hold (I've been staying in regular contact with them).

I'm still unsure as to whether a DMP or BR is the right course and so I've just put his I&E details into the SC online debt remedy tool and whilst they recommend a DMP, they also offer BR or IVA as a possible solution. So not really definitive either way.

I understand to get more direct help with this I need to post up his SOA (formatted for MSE) so people can advise, but I'm unsure what information to put in regarding income and outgoings. To explain, he lives with his partner and they obviously share housing costs, she is on an IVA. She'll be okay with him disclosing her income, but she won't be part of his debt solution and has her own personal outgoings.

I've worked out that his income equates to 60% of the total household income, so when filling in info for rent, utilities etc (effectively the shared household bills) should I put the equivalent value e.g 60% of rent, etc and so forth. Then enter the full cost of his personal outgoings such as mobile phone, car insurance, car tax etc. to get a more accurate picture - is this how the OR would look at it?

fatbelly · 6 August 2021 at 9:40AM

Suseka97 said:

Okay, I'm think I may now be able to help move this situation along for my family member. He's had a very bad year and so I wasn't able to get him to start the BR process last year, but I'm now living a lot closer and so now more able to assist. All his debts are now defaulted and have been so for the last 12 months or so and all his creditors have his accounts on hold (I've been staying in regular contact with them).

I'm still unsure as to whether a DMP or BR is the right course and so I've just put his I&E details into the SC online debt remedy tool and whilst they recommend a DMP, they also offer BR or IVA as a possible solution. So not really definitive either way.

I understand to get more direct help with this I need to post up his SOA (formatted for MSE) so people can advise, but I'm unsure what information to put in regarding income and outgoings. To explain, he lives with his partner and they obviously share housing costs, she is on an IVA. She'll be okay with him disclosing her income, but she won't be part of his debt solution and has her own personal outgoings.

I've worked out that his income equates to 60% of the total household income, so when filling in info for rent, utilities etc (effectively the shared household bills) should I put the equivalent value e.g 60% of rent, etc and so forth. Then enter the full cost of his personal outgoings such as mobile phone, car insurance, car tax etc. to get a more accurate picture - is this how the OR would look at it?

Yes that is the way the OR would look at it - try an soa with those figures but remind us that the expenses are 60% of the joint ones. As he's the major earner it's good that she is OK to disclose her income as otherwise it would be a 50/50 split on the expenses.

Stepchange are governed by FCA requirements which are oddly unhelpful and mean that all strategies have to be mentioned/discussed so it's hard to see the wood from the trees, so to speak. It does sound like a dmp is their preferred solution from what you say. We'll be able to give better guidance when we see an soa.

Suseka97 · 6 August 2021 at 11:54AM

Great thanks @fatbelly.

I'm just checking on some details so that I have the up to date costs of their utility bills and rent etc., then I'll post the SOA in the next day or so, apportioning the joint priority bills to match his contribution.

In the meantime can anyone advise what information the OR will ask for in terms of evidencing income and bills. Do they want copies of x number of months of bank statements as well?