IPA help/ guidance please 2 March 2022 at 12:04PM in Bankruptcy & living with it 2 replies 228 views

Themotherofcats

I apologise for the very long post but I have no idea what to do here, so any advice will be gladly welcomed. I filed  for bankruptcy in September of last year and I received telephone call yesterday telling me as my circumstances have changed I have recently started a new job I would not need to complete an IPA. 

I had emailed them in November asking what happens with my new job and the tax code etc and no one ever got back to me so I thought nothing more of it. 

During  yesterday's call, I was told that this time, my income and expenditure would include all the household income. However when I have asked my partner for his income and expenses he refuses to give them to me. We have an unusual arrangement whereby although we live in the same property we live  on different sides of the house and have two phone lines.  I have no idea what he earns and we split the utilities and rent as any other housemates would. He has no idea of my financial situation as it is none of his business really. How do I go about explaining this to the OR, if he won’t give me what they have asked? 

Since starting the new job my wages have increased but so have my expenses since filing. The gas bill has doubled as it’s off grid and as the agreement was up for renewal, the rates were increased in line with costs apparently. Council tax will go up. Electricity has gone up as has my fuel as I  now drive a 44 mile round trip rather than the 16 mile. My car which was a 2002 model was unfit to drive those distances and too expensive to repair so I now have an extra £130 a month expense for a car that I didn’t have before either. The finance is not in my name as understandably I couldn’t get credit. 

Whilst currently it’s means I have higher  expense which the increase in wages covers, in the long run I will ultimately be better off possibly, just not for a couple of years until I reach the threshold of my pay grade. In addition, I am on a probation period until August and they have asked for information details of the  payroll department and I’m really concerned that providing the information could put this job in jeopardy. 

Am I panicking unnecessarily or rightly so? I’ve had no sleep at all panicking about everything 

Minkym00

You are probably panicking unnecessarily. The OR knows that the cost of living is increasing for everyone due to utilities rising, so it will be expected. The cost of your car is not excessive either. 

The reason they ask for the payroll is because, if you don’t pay what they deem your IPA should be, they could ask for an attachment of earnings order. That’s all it’s for, no need to read anything more into it. They won’t contact your employer as a matter of course. 

Themotherofcats

Minkym00 said:

You are probably panicking unnecessarily. The OR knows that the cost of living is increasing for everyone due to utilities rising, so it will be expected. The cost of your car is not excessive either. 

The reason they ask for the payroll is because, if you don’t pay what they deem your IPA should be, they could ask for an attachment of earnings order. That’s all it’s for, no need to read anything more into it. They won’t contact your employer as a matter of course. 

Thank you for taking the time to read through my long post and reply, I’m really grateful for the help 🙂