Step

TinyPomegranate

I don't know what happened in my absence but I got my answer anyway. Thanks for the advice.

fatbelly

You rent, and own a £500 car.

What was the reason they advised IVA over bankruptcy? not seeing it.

1. In bankruptcy as far as your income goes, it is what it is. If your income drops, the IPA drops. If the IPA drops to zero, it's not a problem. The bankruptcy continues. In an IVA the IVA fails, as many of them do..

2. Expenses are done using the SFS in bankruptcy and those figures look to be at the high end of acceptable. Remember IPAs are 3 years in bankruptcy. An IVA lasts for 5 years.

3. People get unnecessarily nervous about preferential payments. You weren't trying to put one creditor in a better position by your efforts at debt consolidation - it won't be a problem.

You don't need stepchange's help to apply for bankruptcy and if you can pay £680 on a card, you can do this in a couple of days . 

fatbelly

Let us know if you have any problems. It looks like you have all the component bits in place.

sammy32683

Yea I was in a similar situation little over 40k debt, no assets so BR was definitely right for me. 
Also I'm not saying lie but try and make your surplus under 20 as its so close already, unless the drop in work hours wasn't included above. Just as if you get no IPA set up and after a year none is set up then you can't be given one. If you start with an IPA even if it drops the month after you go bankrupt it will stay for 3 years, so even if you pay nothing for 2 years if your income goes up you will have to pay it to the IPA.