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frankie333
Starting Member
United Kingdom
9 Posts |
 Posted - 04 March 2010 : 04:30:04
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hello all again, have decided that BR is the answer for my circumstances and will go ahead when have the fee, unfortunately not before they go up, rats! I have been reading the posts daily and find them all very helpful and informative.
Today I went to the CAB, so that I can truthfully answer yes to the 'I have taken advice' question, but to be honest I didn't find it that helpful in some areas.
I told them my circumstances, which are that my teenage son and I have moved in with my partner nine months ago. He owns his own house, has done for six years and I have been paying a weekly amount by bank transfer to him for half the household expenses. Now that we have moved and I have had to take a drop in income I cannot any longer pay my monthly debt commitments and live. I wanted help from them as to what the OR would reasonably accept re I&E, because no matter how it looks on paper, I still seem to have too much month left at the end of my money.
The CAB asked me what I paid a month in Household expensed, my petrol costs and did I pay for a mobile. She then took these figures away from my imcome and declared that I have £300+ left over each month. I said, well no, because you haven't asked about Car Ins, Tax, School meals, what about Clothing and personal needs etc? She replied that the OR in our area is very strict and would only allow the absolute minimum! My area is Carmarthen, S. Wales, so can anyone comment on this.
Please could someone look at my figures below and comment, I would be grateful.
These are all my half of the outgoings and personal to my son and I.
Housekeeping £225.00
Heating Oil 65.00 (we have spent £1172 in the last 9 months)
Electric 35.00
Phone/Internet 20.00
Council Tax 44.00
Water 17.00
House Ins 9.00
TV Licence 6.00
Pet 10.00
Sky 19.00
TOTAL 450.00
My personal Outgoings:
Motor Ins 22.00
School Meals 50.00
Petrol 120.00
Mobile 30.00
Hair/Personal 20.00
School Expenses 10.00
Xmas Savings 30.00
Car Repairs 44.00 (have receipts)
Car Tax 13.00
Clothing 50.00 (for son and I)
TOTAL 389.00
Income (salary,tax credits/child benefit)
£1010.00
How do they look, what would be allowed or not and am I missing something?
Thanks everyone.
Frankie |
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gettingoutofdebt
forum expert
2418 Posts |
Posted - 04 March 2010 : 06:44:41
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Sky 19.00 - Not allowed unless this includes the Internet and it is used for educational purposes.
School Meals 50.00 - These are normally £2 per day.
Hair/Personal 20.00 - £10 per adult and £5 per child per month.
Xmas Savings 30.00 - Not allowed. Any birthday/xmas savings would need to come out of any left over money.
Car Repairs 44.00 - This is going to be too high. Normally £25 per month for servicing/maintenance is allowed.
Clothing 50.00 - You could up this to about £70 if you wanted.
What about:
Dry cleaning £10 per month if used.
Medical/Dental is worth putting down at £10 per month even if you don't need any treatment at the moment.
UK Domestic Break is sometimes allowed so you could put £50 for this and see what the OR says. |
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RHB
Senior Member
1159 Posts |
Posted - 04 March 2010 : 07:14:58
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| If there is money over, then you will have to pay an IPA in exchange for getting your debts written off. Don't try to massage the figures, put down what you spend & see what happens. As regards the dentist, if you are on tax credits you may well be getting treatment for free anyway? |
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Richard P
Senior Member
United Kingdom
1701 Posts |
Posted - 04 March 2010 : 11:39:42
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| do you pay rent or a mortgage ? |
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Housing
Senior Member
United Kingdom
1399 Posts |
Posted - 04 March 2010 : 11:52:08
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Hi and welcome to the forum,
If the CAB and CCCS have suggested BR and on the basis that you are insolvent then BR is the best route.
You need to say that you have taken advice and you will not be quizzed by the judge on that - in fact, the chances are that you will not even see the judge and if you do it will be for about 2 minutes. They are not there to make any value judgements at all - they simply will (if you see them) ask if you understand what has been done and that you must co-operate with the OR.
The OR will not make any judgements - they will investigate and ask questions to establish how the debt came about and, of course, they are there in the interest of your creditors. But again, these days due to the sheer volume, you may not even see the inside of the ORs building - telephone interviews are the norm at the moment
Good luck and post back as you need to - always someone to assist on this site
Richard
"There are no problems - only solutions" |
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frankie333
Starting Member
United Kingdom
9 Posts |
Posted - 04 March 2010 : 15:06:42
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Thank you for all your replies, appreciate it.
Richard P - I don't pay rent or any of the mortgage, its my partners house and has been for six years, he takes care of that.
Gettingoutofdebt - Understand about the sky, but that is what my partner has had since he bought the house, the area we live in has very poor signal. My son and I both watch the telly so I will pay half the monthly fee to him even if the OR disallows it. Which will be a shame because it will appear then that i have more disponsible income than i actually have. The same with school meals, my son has just started secondary and I give him £2.50 a day, (a roast dinner there cost £2.30) hence my £50pm figure. If the OR knocks it back, again it will not do my figures any good, although in this instance i could explain to my son about cutting back.
Yes we do get free dental treatment so i haven't included it.
Is there an allowance for household maintenance at all, I couldn't see it on the OR spreadsheet. I'm asking this because i had to buy a new shower riser rail the other day, my partner doesn't have any more money than me and it seems harsh to expect him to cover every household purchase when I don't pay towards the mortgage.
Thanks
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Jane.l
Average Member
511 Posts |
Posted - 04 March 2010 : 15:11:23
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Tricky area but if you are paying for house maintenance, heres hoping the OR will not start saying you may have developed a beneficial interest in the house
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gettingoutofdebt
forum expert
2418 Posts |
Posted - 04 March 2010 : 15:20:33
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Most people in a similar situation (i.e. living with someone who has their own mortgage) would pay some type of rent or contribute to the mortgage, which would cover any maintenance. If you had been doing this for the last 6 years then the OR 'could' say that you have a BI in the property so this is a bit tricky.
Does the Sky include Internet access? If so you could just list this as Telephone/Internet and say that your son uses the Internet for education purposes. It's normally cheaper to get a bundle TV/telephone/Internet package than each item separately so the OR is normally OK with this. |
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frankie333
Starting Member
United Kingdom
9 Posts |
Posted - 04 March 2010 : 15:52:01
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| I've only been living with him for 9 months, so I don't think the OR would see that i have any BI in the house. Should I start paying him rent to cover maintenance? I've less money in reality than on paper because i have been buying things for the house, pillows,duvets, curtains so on. He's a bloke who has been living on his own for six years and the house definately needed a womans touch. I haven't been getting him to buy these things because as i've said he pays the mortgage. |
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frankie333
Starting Member
United Kingdom
9 Posts |
Posted - 04 March 2010 : 15:54:07
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sorry, to answer your question, sky is just that, the internet is another provider which i will put down as my son uses it for school.
thanks
Frankie |
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gettingoutofdebt
forum expert
2418 Posts |
Posted - 04 March 2010 : 17:50:14
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quote:
He's a bloke who has been living on his own for six years and the house definitely needed a woman's touch.
Why to women always say this? Don't you realise that us men are happy without curtains, etc. provided there is beer in the fridge 
If you pay towards the house and buying things for the house then you should put this down on your I&E. The OR is unlikely to accept 'House Maintenance' as a outgoing but will accept 'Rent' so you should put down whatever you roughly pay for maintenance as rent.
If the OR asks if you have been paying this for the complete time you have been at the property then you can just say that you have only just had any money to cover this now that you no longer pay your creditors. |
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frankie333
Starting Member
United Kingdom
9 Posts |
Posted - 04 March 2010 : 18:25:34
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Men! Bet you would love the kitchen then, circa early eighties, the flowery wallpaper, the curtains that are too small or too big. He's a so and so, just moved in,worked, slept and watched telly, nothing much in the fridge either!
Anyway, back to serious matters. I do think now that putting my maintenance spending down as rent is reasonable. Nobody can live anywhere without paying board, rent or a mortgage. |
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have decided that BR is the answer
