Earnings After Bankruptcy (Help Please)

mikethestuntman · 10 May 2018 at 5:24PM

Hi everyone.

I was discharged from bankruptcy in June 2017 last year and told them in May 2017 I'd be going back to work part time and roughly be earning £300 - £400 a month and I'm also on universal credit as well. The lady told me they wouldn't want any money off me from that amount of earnings but to ring back if I get back into full time work because then they would want to take some of my earnings.

I'm still on universal credit and I'm only doing 9 hours a week plus some overtime if i get it, so some months I earn enough so universal credit doesn't have to make up my wages and another month I'd only get my 9 hours a week and universal credit has to help me out with bridging the gap in my wages. I do security work so sometimes i get a couple of extra shifts in but with it being a zero hour contract I'm not guaranteed any.

Now my questions is I've had a couple of good months where i've managed to get about 60 hours work instead of my usual 40 ish hours, which earns me about £480 or just under as I'm on minimum wage and twice i've taken home £700 ish. Should I be telling the bankruptcy people or am I ok? I thought i'd be ok because even though sometimes I've got the £700 wage, it's not guaranteed and if they started taking a set amount off me each month I know I wouldn't be able to pay it some months as I wouldn't be able to afford it due to the lack off hours I work. So I'm kinda worried I might be in the wrong and if so, what would happen to me.

Any advice would be great appreciated. Thank you.

National_Debtline · 10 May 2018 at 5:37PM

Hi there and welcome to MSE,

In a situation like this, the key issue would be, if an IPA was set up before you were discharged. If no IPA was in place before your discharged then there should be no need to report these changes.

However, if an IPA was set up before your discharge, even if the payments were suspended to zero as you didn't have enough surplus, you would need to report these changes to the OR. They would then assess whether you need to make payments under the IPA.

Laura
@natdebtline

haggis0073 · 10 May 2018 at 5:37PM

Did you ever sign an IPA agreement before you were discharged??

Are you under a BRU/BRO?

If no to above then you can earn what you like after discharge, and you never need to tell them

mikethestuntman · 10 May 2018 at 6:40PM

No i never signed anything before my discharge. The only papers I received was some company called "PRA Group" telling me they have purchased my account and outstanding balance with Barclays bank policy. But i never had to sign anything or send anything off. The other two bits of paper work was from the Bankruptcy people telling me I had been accepted to go bankrupt and they will not be removing my good from the property.

Sorry but i don't know what BRO/BRU is.
I'm not very clued up with it all. They never explained much to me and i'm not exactly clever when it comes to this stuff.

maxmycardagain · 10 May 2018 at 7:55PM

mikethestuntman wrote: »

No i never signed anything before my discharge. The only paper i received was some company telling me they have taken on my debt. Id have to find the letter though to know what it exactly said but i never had to sign anything or send anything off.

Sorry but i don!!!8217;t know what BRO/BRU is.
Im not very clued up with it all. They never explained much to me and im not exactly clever when it comes to this stuff.

basically a BRO/BRU is if they think you might have bent the truth a bit..(or maybe on a 2nd BR within a decade)

not something anyone does

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bankruptcy-restrictions-orders-and-undertakings/bankruptcy-restrictions-orders-and-undertakings

mikethestuntman · 10 May 2018 at 8:28PM

maxmycardagain wrote: »

basically a BRO/BRU is if they think you might have bent the truth a bit..

not something anyone does

OK thanks for telling me. No I was truthful the whole time.:D

bewildered1 · 10 May 2018 at 10:13PM

Just to add a little information if it helps. I haven't gone bankrupt, yet, and almost everything I know about it is from this forum. The info below may not be entirely accurate but I'm sure someone will correct it if I'm wrong.

When you are made bankrupt you are allowed a reasonable amount of money for living expenses. If you have £20 or more above those expenses you may be asked to agree to an Income Payment Agreement (IPA). This means all income above those living expenses will need to be given to the Official Receiver (OR) or their designated collectors. You can be given an IPA at any time during your bankruptcy period, normally 12 months. The IPA will last for 3 years. During this time any changes in income or outgoings need to be reported to the OR.

If by the time you have been discharged you have not been given an IPA then you won't be given one at all and any money you earn from your discharge date onward is yours to do as you wish. You should know if you've been given an IPA as you would have had to sign an agreement.

In a nutshell, if you have an IPA you have to inform the OR about any changes to your finances for 3 years from the date of being made bankrupt. If you don't have an IPA and you've been discharged then no you don't have to tell anyone and you can keep the money.

Hope that makes sense.

mikethestuntman · 10 May 2018 at 11:37PM

bewildered1 wrote: »

Just to add a little information if it helps. I haven't gone bankrupt, yet, and almost everything I know about it is from this forum. The info below may not be entirely accurate but I'm sure someone will correct it if I'm wrong.

When you are made bankrupt you are allowed a reasonable amount of money for living expenses. If you have £20 or more above those expenses you may be asked to agree to an Income Payment Agreement (IPA). This means all income above those living expenses will need to be given to the Official Receiver (OR) or their designated collectors. You can be given an IPA at any time during your bankruptcy period, normally 12 months. The IPA will last for 3 years. During this time any changes in income or outgoings need to be reported to the OR.

If by the time you have been discharged you have not been given an IPA then you won't be given one at all and any money you earn from your discharge date onward is yours to do as you wish. You should know if you've been given an IPA as you would have had to sign an agreement.

In a nutshell, if you have an IPA you have to inform the OR about any changes to your finances for 3 years from the date of being made bankrupt. If you don't have an IPA and you've been discharged then no you don't have to tell anyone and you can keep the money.

Hope that makes sense.

Thanks for the reply.

I've been looking into this IPA / IPO stuff and I never signed anything or spoke to anyone about it. I told them the reason when I went bankrupt, That I had to come out of work due to a slipped disc and being on a zero hour contract I wasn't able to pay my bills. That was the reason for going bankrupt. So the whole time from filing my bankruptcy and to being discharged I was not working and receiving SSP which was only £330 a month and then i went onto ESA. I started back at work on light duties doing 9 hours a week, one month before my discharge In May 2017. I rang and told them that I was going back part time and doing 9 hours a week and she said they wouldn't be taking any money from me as it was to little of a wage. Then In June 2017 I was discharged before my first paycheck. So does this mean I don't owe anyone? Can I gamble? win the lotto? receive money left to me from a will? start back at full time work?

luvchocolate · 11 May 2018 at 9:47AM

If you are discharged with no I.P.A in place then you are free to live your life and earn and spend as you wish.
If you had an I.P.A in place you would be making a set amount each month, if this were the case you would have signed an agreement.

Earnings After Bankruptcy (Help Please)

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