| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Crockett |
Posted - 30 December 2008 : 15:57:06
What happens to your utilities when you go bankrupt. I currently pay £35 per month direct debit for gas and electric, £30 water rates, £21 Sky TV, £18 Talk Talk landline with free broadband and have a monthly contract with Orange. I also pay my TV licence by monthly direct debit and things like home and contents insurance and pet insurance. Will I be able to retain these as monthly direct debits and will they be taken into account when calculating my disposable income? I have no arrears or missed payments with any of them.
Grateful for any advice from people who have been through the experience. |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Crockett |
Posted - 04 January 2009 : 21:08:02
Thanks John your advice has been much appreciated. |
| John |
Posted - 04 January 2009 : 20:58:18
Hi
the list above, with my comments added, comes to £1095. Add to that £30 for clothing plus a further £60 in total for vehicle costs, assuming the vehicle is made exempt by the OR, your total expenditure would then be £1185 leaving a monthly disposable income figure of £573 of which approx £405 would be payable to the IPA leaving £168 for your own use.
www.Bankruptcyhelp.org.uk
0800 078 9367 |
| Crockett |
Posted - 04 January 2009 : 19:42:10
Hi John,
The £160 for travel costs does include petrol for the month. Having to catch the bus to the train station each day would add loads on to my already quite long journey to and from work. At the moment I drive to the station and have to catch two trains then walk to get to work. The journey takes approx an hour to and hour and a quarter each way every day. If I had to catch the bus that would add on at least half hour each way. My Father lives about half an hour away in the car and is not at all well, in fact just a couple of months ago was in intensive care. i am the only person responsible for him so have to be able to get to him at very short notice, would these be valid reasons for me keeping the car? If so what would be reasonaable for maintenance etc. Tax is currently £180 per year.
Is dog insurance an allowable expenditure?
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| John |
Posted - 04 January 2009 : 19:26:01
Hi
from the figures shown there is little doubt that you will be required to contribute to an IPA each month and at the level of monthly DI you will likely have after all essential expenditures are claimed suggests that you will probably pay 70% of your monthly DI and retain the balance 30% for your own use.
www.Bankruptcyhelp.org.uk
0800 078 9367 |
| John |
Posted - 04 January 2009 : 19:19:47
Hi there are no published IPA figures as far as I know. And even if there are each OR's office seems to make their own interpretation of the "guide lines".
Mortgage £548
Housekeeping £230 - A TOUCH HIGH BUT GIVE IT A TRY
Gas and Electric £35 each
Water Rates £30 I don't have a meter
Orange never more than £25
talktalk with free broadband never more than £25
Home insurance £15
Contents insurance £6
Car Insurance £22
Dog insurance £32 for both dogs
TV licence £12
Council Tax £60
Sky £21 i don't have a roof top aerial as very little reception where I live and no freeview till 2010 so no Sky no TV not a major problem but a bit of a pain.
YOU CANNOT CLAIM FOR SKY AND YOUR TOTAL MONTHLY PHONE RELATED SPEND IS ALREADY AT THE MAX SO TO CLAIM THIS AS AN EXPENDITURE IS POINTLESS BUT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO CONTINUE TO PAY FOR SKY FROM YOUR OWN SHARE OF THE MONTHLY DISPOSABLE THAT THE OR ALLOWS YOU TO KEEP.
Travel costs for work £160 public transport and I use car to get to train station and back and on odd days to attend meetings, visit parents and friends.
I have a very old polo worth £350 would I be allowed money for mainenance and tax per month?
AS LONG AS THE OR DEEMS IT NECESARY FOR YOU TO KEEP THE CAR THEN ALL VEHICLE RELATED COSTS ARE CLAIMABLE SUCH AS FUEL (ADD TO TRAVEL COSTS) INSURANCE ; TAX ; MOT ; REPAIR ; MAINTENANCE & SERVICING. THE QUESTION IS HOW DIFFICULT WOULD IT BE FOR YOU TO GET TO AND FRO BETWEEN HOME AND THE STATION AND HOW MUCH WOULD YOU BE HINDERED RE THE MEETINGS IF THE CAR WERE NOT ALLOWED.
THE OR WOULD NOT NORMALLY TAKE VISITS TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS INTO ACCOUNT.
IT'S NOT THE VALUE OF THE CAR WHICH COULD BE AN ISSUE FOR YOU BUT THE MONTHLY COST. IF THE CAR WERE CLAIMED BY THE OR THIS COULD WELL REDUCE COSTS WHICH MAY REALISE ENOUGH MONTHLY DI FOR YOU TO PAY INTO AN IPA.
Any other things I'm allowed to include such as hairdressing etc and any idea what would be reasonable?
£10 FOR HAIRDRESSING IS OK AS IS A FURTHER £10 FOR DRY CLEANING.
My take home pay each month is £1758.
www.Bankruptcyhelp.org.uk
0800 078 9367 |
| Crockett |
Posted - 04 January 2009 : 19:05:06
Hi John,
Thanks for the reply. Where do you find IPA figures. I am a single person no kids - unless you count the dogs!! My current expenditure is listed below and I'm wondering what would be allowed.
Mortgage £548
Housekeeping £230
Gas and Electric £35 each
Water Rates £30 I don't have a meter
Orange never more than £25
talktalk with free broadband never more than £25
Home insurance £15
Contents insurance £6
Car Insurance £22
Dog insurance £32 for both dogs
TV licence £12
Council Tax £60
Sky £21 i don't have a roof top aerial as very little reception where I live and no freeview till 2010 so no Sky no TV not a major problem but a bit of a pain.
Travel costs for work £160 public transport and I use car to get to train station and back and on odd days to attend meetings, visit parents and friends.
I have a very old polo worth £350 would I be allowed money for mainenance and tax per month?
Any other things I'm allowed to include such as hairdressing etc and any idea what would be reasonable?
My take home pay each month is £1758.
Any advice gratefully appreciated.
As a single person would
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| John |
Posted - 04 January 2009 : 18:45:59
Hi
yes the OR will see the DD payments to Orange on your SoA. As Paul said, you are entitled to approx £58 per month as legitimate expenditure for phones. So if your land line was actually costing £28 per month, your mobile £30 per month and you listed £58 as your phone expenditure per month this is fine.
Utility bills are considered by the OR to be priority debts and, as such, you are able to continue to pay them as normal even in bankruptcy.
The OR would not be contacting your utility suppliers.
Being BR does not normally affect your ability to acquire insurance be it home or car cover. The only difficulty you may have, although most providers allow those in bankruptcy to continue with it, is that if you want to pay the annual premium on a monthly basis then that's a credit arrangement.
Cover should not be a problem.
www.Bankruptcyhelp.org.uk
0800 078 9367 |
| Crockett |
Posted - 04 January 2009 : 16:24:27
Hi,
Further to the posts above I've a few further queries. Whilst the SoA does only state telephone costs and doesn't specify whether this is mobile or landline, won't the OR see Orange direct debits on my bank statements and contact them anyway? They are not one of my creditors all payments are completely up to date. Similar situation with Swalec all my gas and electric payments are up to date, I pay by monthly direct debit. They would not be listed as a creditor but will be on my bank statemnets, so will OR contact them? Does that mean they will cut me off or make me go on pre payment meters?
Just seen on another post you have to declare on home insurance applications that you are BR does this cause problems abotaining cover? Do you have to for car insurance as well/ |
| Reviva UK |
Posted - 30 December 2008 : 17:53:20
Hi
you need the statement of affairs 6.28 ( 32 pages )and the bankruptcy petition 6.27 ( 2 pages)
The court will be the county court for your area and will be the same one as for the IVA
Paul Johns
Assisted Bankruptcy Specialists
Reviva UK
Real People ..... Real Debt Solutions
www.revivauk.com |
| Crockett |
Posted - 30 December 2008 : 17:43:32
Thanks Paul your advice is really appreciated. I've looked on the Insolvency Service website and the list of forms is endless, which ones would I need to fill in and how would I find out my local court. Would it be the same as the one for my IVA? |
| Reviva UK |
Posted - 30 December 2008 : 17:38:46
My suggestion would be that where it says Telephone on the SOA this would include home & mobile.
The current view is that £55 - 58 per month is acceptable for a phone bill.
It doesn't say mobile or landline - just phone - so lump it all together
Paul Johns
Assisted Bankruptcy Specialists
Reviva UK
Real People ..... Real Debt Solutions
www.revivauk.com |
| Crockett |
Posted - 30 December 2008 : 17:14:52
Thanks for that. My mobile bills are usually no more than £20 per month so that should be fine. Would that mean just omitting from my SoA. |
| Reviva UK |
Posted - 30 December 2008 : 16:51:50
Hi Crockett
If you phone Orange they will definately cancel your agreement - probably instantly.
In Br you are not allowed to take out credit of £500 or more without first advising them of your position.
The £500 would not refer to the yearly contract but the monthly amount. So if you are desperate to keep the account going then carry on paying the payments, and meet these from any disposable income.
You would not be doing anything wrong here.
Paul Johns
Assisted Bankruptcy Specialists
Reviva UK
Real People ..... Real Debt Solutions
www.revivauk.com |
| Crockett |
Posted - 30 December 2008 : 16:33:21
Hi,
Thanks for the reply. My Mother kindly brought my gas and electric accounts up to date at the start of november so there should be no arrears but it's kind of one of those situations where you have to balance your usage over the whole of the year so should be ok.
In terms of my broadband I don't actually pay anything for that only for my landline rental and calls, are these allowable.
Also does anyone know the probability of Orange allowing me to carry on with my contract, I have been with them for many, many years, never missed a payment etc...
Would Sky cancel my contract when they are informed of my bankruptcy? |
| Needafriend |
Posted - 30 December 2008 : 16:06:12
Hi Crockett
The utilities you list should remain, things like broadband, sky tv and mobiles may be kept but they would have to come out of your disposable income per month.
If you have a mobile phone contract then it would be down to your provider as to whether they allow you to keep the contract once they know your bankrupt.
ALl other utilities would stay as long as your not in debt with them (Arrears) and keep on paying them.
Jo
x
Wishing you all a Happy Debt & Worry Free 2009
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http://debtfreejo.blogs.bankruptcyhelp.org.uk/
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