Here is a list of my expenditure, comparing my IVA allowances to my IPA allowances in bankruptcy.

IVA:
Income £1284 per month + £560 from partner.
Rent / Mortgage - £556 (I don’t pay the mortgage, just a contribution)
Buildings / Contents Insurance - £8
Council Tax - £110 (I only pay half of this)
Gas - £40 (don’t have any)
Electricity - £40 (actually £25 per month)
Home telephone - £40 (this is paid by my partner)
Mobile phone - £50 (actually £35)
Medical expenses - £35
Food, toiletries, cleaning products - £300
Clothing - £40
TV Licence - £11 (I pay half)
Vehicle petrol - £120 (overestimated)
Vehicle insurance - £20 (underestimated)
Vehicle road tax - £15 (overestimated)

With that wonderful thing called hindsight I should never have signed the above income and expenditure form as it is so inaccurate.  I spoke to my case manager and was advised not to worry as the total figures added up.  What I didn’t pick up on is that they had included some of my partner’s salary to cover the mortgage.  This effectively meant that I was £200 per short per month - I pay my partner £200 per month, but as the mortgage was £556, and they had added £560 to my income there was nothing spare.

Now for my IPA allowances:
Income £1284 per month
Rent / Mortgage - £200
Food / Housekeeping - £350
Electricity - £25
Water - £8
Telephone - £35
Travel / Petrol - £100
Clothing - £40
Council tax - £50
TV Licence - £6
Opticians - £10
Dentist - £10
Prescriptions - £10
Holidays - £20
Car expenses - £100
Hairdressing - £10

Although some of the outgoings in my IPA are lower, others are higher and I’m much better off.  Due to the £200 difference in the mortgage I was trying to buy food and groceries for 2 of us on £200 per month, which wasn’t easy - I don’t eat dairy products and dairy free food is more expensive.

If you are considering an IVA or BR, please make sure that your income and expenditure is accurate.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 13th, 2007 at 1:53 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.