IPA Income/Expenditure Review

earlofwessex

Hi All,

Went bankrupt June 2022 and due to retraining in another sector haven't been working since April 2022 - I've only had UC payments and no IPA.

Having secured a job in the new sector starting January 2023, I'll now have more income and will therefore be asked to do an income/expenditure assessment.

I'll only be working 4 days a week but I have been offered a bit more than anticipated (around £28k), so I would be grateful if anyone could review my income/expenditure figures below and advise if these are likely to be acceptable to the OR or whether any may need adjustment? (hoping to avoid the requirement for an IPA seeing as though I only have 6 months left until discharge!). I'm particularly interested on thoughts on:

- Rent level (one bedroom city center apartment, could this reasonably be stretched to £1000 or is £900 already on the high end? Has anyone else as a single person had a similar rent amount approved?)
- Monthly budget for food
- Whether an allowance for holidays and entertainment/hobbies is usually acceptable or if this would be removed?

I don't live with anyone else or have any children/dependents, all figures provided are monthly.

I'd also be interested to know if the OR will ask for any proof of any figures provided - I'm due to move in January so will be able to provide a new tenancy agreement, but things like electricity/gas I won't be able to straight away (will they accept an estimated figure within reason for example?)

Many thanks in advance.

Income

Wages = £1,775


Expenditure

Rent = £900
Council tax = £130
Food & toiletries = £300
Electricity = £150 (estimated)
Water = £40
TV licence = £12
Clothing & footwear = £40
Mobile = £30
Broadband = £30
Travel (non-car) = £80
Hairdressing = £15
Dentist = £5
Opticians = £5
Prescriptions = £8
Holidays = £15
Sports/entertainment/hobbies = £20

Total = £1,780

luvchocolate

Put something in for contents insurance 

JCS1

How have you calculated your net pay figure?

earlofwessex

JCS1 said:

How have you calculated your net pay figure?

Yes the £1,775 is my net pay

earlofwessex

JCS1 said:

How have you calculated your net pay figure?

Apologies, misread your comment. I've used an online calculator which takes into account a student loan plan 1 & 2 deduction plus a 5% deduction for pension contribution. Does it look off to you?

SusieT

I would suggest that you adjust the budget to add contents insurance, and reduce the groceries as you are currently budgeting for more outgoings than income which is unlikely to look good.

earlofwessex

SusieT said:

I would suggest that you adjust the budget to add contents insurance, and reduce the groceries as you are currently budgeting for more outgoings than income which is unlikely to look good.

Ok thank you. I'll add in contents insurance at say £10 then and reduce the food to bring it out to a zero balance. 

I've previously seen that it's better to over-budget slightly incase they want to make some deductions - is there not a risk of this if they argue a certain amount and it leaves £20+ in the budget for a subsequent IPA?

JCS1

earlofwessex said:

JCS1 said:

How have you calculated your net pay figure?

Apologies, misread your comment. I've used an online calculator which takes into account a student loan plan 1 & 2 deduction plus a 5% deduction for pension contribution. Does it look off to you?

No,but.... if you start in January you may pay very little tax as you won't have much taxable income for the current tax year. I think that net figure will only apply from April

earlofwessex

JCS1 said:

earlofwessex said:

JCS1 said:

How have you calculated your net pay figure?

Apologies, misread your comment. I've used an online calculator which takes into account a student loan plan 1 & 2 deduction plus a 5% deduction for pension contribution. Does it look off to you?

No,but.... if you start in January you may pay very little tax as you won't have much taxable income for the current tax year. I think that net figure will only apply from April

I hadn't considered that, thanks for the heads up.

ManyWays

Your rent is what you are actually paying. You can't stretch it but should tell the OR if you expect it to increase soon.

Your council tax, broadband and mobile bills may go up in April. Electricity is likely to go up about 20%