I am due in Court on 20th July. I have been trying to find out what expenditure I am allowed but cannot find the link on the web for the figures.
I am married with 4 children all in full time education. My husband is currently unemployed.
My rent is £950 per month and Council Tax £226, Gas £80 and electric £120 per month my water is £65. I know these all seem high but they are genuine figures.
Can anyone please tell me where I can find out if these are likely to be acceptable or not and what kind of figure am I likely to be allowed for Housekeeping/food? I also have 2 dogs!
Another question - I pay mobile phone contracts for my 2 teenagers. I need them to have phones so they can keep in contact and I need to be able to get hold of them and feel they need them from a safety point of view. Is the OR likely to agree with this?
If the OR thinks the gas/elec/water is too high then you can always provide recent bills as proof.
I think the max for pets is £20 regardless of type or number.
Depending upon the amount you pay for mobile phone for your children you will either need to include this in the total phone allowance or you may have to get them a PAYG phone for emergencies. You can always put the figures down on the SOA and see what the OR says.
I have looked at this website but nowhere is it very clear. Particularly being a family of 6. Is there nowhere where it would state...as a family of 6 we expect your food/cleaning expenditure to be £... each month. Your clothing allowance £...?
How much do you think I can allow for Dentist?
Can I also claim for car maintenance/servicing? Obviously this is done on an adhoc basis but needs doing regardless?
Help please. So stressed am not sleeping with all this worry.
For housekeeping 2 adults/kids is £504 and 2 adults/no kids is £387 so that means you should be able to claim an extra £120 or so for 2 adults/4 kids i.e. £625.
Clothing should be about £200 or so.
The dentist will only be for you unless your children aren't in education so about £10 per month is the norm.
I suppose it depends on the age/condition of the car. £25 per month is £300 per year. MoT is just over £50 so that leaves about £250 for servicing and parts, which is roughly what I spend.