| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Matt1981 |
Posted - 04 February 2010 : 15:47:13
Hi
I need a little advice. I am married and have 3 children, and about 80k of debt.
Last year I decided to apply for BR. I had been paying into a debt management plan for over a year and things were not getting any easier.
Since last Nov I have not made any payments into the DMP and have been trying to save for the BR fees. I now have the money to apply for BR and was going to do it at the end of this month.
I have today found out my claim for Disability living allowance was successful on appeal which means that my Housing benefit payments have been increased as well as my wife being entitled to Careers allowance. All of this gives us roughly an excess income of £600. Which sources of income do I need to put on the BR forms? Do all of the below benefits get taken into consideration when the OR is looking at an IPO?
Housing benefit
Child Benefit
Disability living allowance
Careers Allowance
Child tax credit
Working Tax Credit
The excess is mostly from the DLA and Careers and because our Housing benefit has increased.
I have started to think that maybe an IVA would be the best option, what do you think?
Any help would be great
Matt
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| 8 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Blackie |
Posted - 05 February 2010 : 13:55:29
This is a very difficult one. The Carers Allowance is paid to your wife and does not necessarily need to be included as a contribution to the household income especially as she is not subject to the bankruptcy. As mentioned to you before, it is your personal bankruptcy and other people in your family should not be having to make any contribution. Personally, although others may disagree, I would leave it out. I do not like to tempt fate!
Kind regards
John Blackdder |
| Matt1981 |
Posted - 05 February 2010 : 10:19:58
Hi
Thanks John. At the moment the carers allowance my wife gets is not used in the houshold income as this is a new income. We was going to put this away for such things as birthdays and christmas and maybe a holiday fund for next year. If this is the case should I still include it on my I & E but state that it covers the above or leave it off as these are extras that are not always allowed by the OR?
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| Blackie |
Posted - 05 February 2010 : 09:18:44
Hi Matt
Apologies, I did not make it very clear. Whilst the Official Receiver can not take money from other family member's incomes to pay your debts, you would be well advised to put the income from the carers allowance and child benefits as contributions from other family members towards the household income as per your Income and Expenditure on the bankruptcy forms. However you must counteract this by including the wife and children's expenditures.
Further to Melanie's reply above, with these benefits and allowances, you would have to pay the full court fees of £510 and claim back £150 based on gross annual income with 3 chilldren. Also Croydon County Court has bankruptcy jurisdiction over Bromley and their telephone number is 0208 410 4770.
All the best
John Blackadder
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| Housing |
Posted - 04 February 2010 : 23:33:57
If you have a London post code, i.e. SE etc, it is likely to be the High Court that will deal with your BR petition.
They are contactable by phone on:
Telephone: 020 7947 6863 / 6448 / 8211
The fee for the petition at the High Court is £522.00 not £510.00 as it outside London
Hope this assists, Richard
"Life is generally something that happens elsewhere" (Alan Bennett - author and one of my best heroes!!) |
| Housing |
Posted - 04 February 2010 : 23:19:24
Hi
I do not think that Bromley County Court has jurisdiction for bankruptcy
The general switchboard is 020 8290 9620 - suggest that you call the switchboard and give them your post code and they should be able to direct you
Good luck, Richard
"Life is generally something that happens elsewhere" (Alan Bennett - author and one of my best heroes!!) |
| Matt1981 |
Posted - 04 February 2010 : 18:39:26
Thank you for your replies.
I am in Bromley, the number for the court would be great Melanie.
So if my name is not on the benefit I should not put this down as income? Is this lying though as this still forms part of the household income? This would just be the child benefit and carers allowance.
It looks like BR is still my best option from your replies. |
| Blackie |
Posted - 04 February 2010 : 16:27:54
Good afternoon Matt
The allowances and benefits that are yours need to be included in your Income and Expenditure and are taken into consideration. I assume that your wife is not becoming bankrupt and therefore her Carers Allowance can be excluded as can the benefits for the children unless they are in your name.
However a couple of things should be borne in mind. First in a bankruptcy scenario, the Official Receiver can only take up to 70% of any excess or disposable income. In an IVA your creditors would expect 100%. On the level of debt which you have mentioned, I think that if you did enter an IVA you would be looking at making payments of between £600 and £650 per month for 5 years. If you made yourself bankrupt, on disposable income of £600 per month, the Official Receiver would expect you to pay £420 per month for three years or until your circumstances change.
I hope this helps and if you do have any further queries, please feel free to come back to the forum
All the best
John Blackadder |
| Melanie.n |
Posted - 04 February 2010 : 16:14:39
You may find it difficult to apply for an IVA based on benefits - benefits should not be used to pay creditors.
The majority of your benefits listed would not be taken into account by the OR for calulation of your income expenditure. Apply for the bankruptcy pack from your local County Court (if you let me know which town you live in i will provide the tel number) within the pack is a list of all relevant benefits which enable you to apply for bankruptcy at the reduced rate of £360
I would also recommend you make an appointment with your local Citizens Advice Bureau who due to your income status can provide a voucher to cover the whole of the bankruptcy fee.
Hope this helps
Melanie
Melanie Nicholas
29 years insolvency experience - 23 of which in the Insolvency Service
- Insolvency Manager
Jones Giles
email me at melanienicholas@jonesgiles.co.uk
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