I often see posts from people on the forum asking if they can go through an IVA without their partner knowing, and while I can understand that it’s not the easiest subject to talk about (”By the way darling, I’m £65k in debt” doesn’t go down too well over dinner!) I think it’s sad that people feel that they can’t share their worries.

An IVA is tough, and to try and survive on your own for 5 years must be very hard.  I couldn’t have tried an IVA without Dave’s support - he was there for me through the short-lived IVA and has been a big support to me through my BR.  It’s good to be able to talk about worries and problems, and if he wants to go out and I haven’t got any money at least he understands why.

When I first told Dave I had problems he was great.  He calmed me down and told me to look on the internet for a solution, hence the IVA.  Unfortunately that didn’t work, and he was there for me again during BR.  It took me a long time to admit how much I actually owed though, and even longer to tell my mum!  She has been a big support as well, although I was dreading telling her - she took it very well and said “Oh well, everyone’s doing it these days!”  Not what I was expecting, but a pleasant surprise!

I have also been open with my friends - they now know why I can’t always afford to go out, and why there’s only a fiver in their children’s birthday cards instead of an expensive pressie (bought on credit).

I’m not saying that my way is the right way, but I wanted to share my experiences in case it helps someone else.

Well I thought it was about time I updated my blog, although to be honest not a lot has been happening! I still haven’t finished sorting out my credit files, but I will write to the rest of them soon and let you all know how I get on.

I have now been discharged from bankruptcy for nearly 5 months. I have made 14 payments into my IPA, so I’ve only got 22 more payments there. To be honest, time is flying past, although I will be pleased when I’ve made the last payment! Like everyone else we are finding it tight with the ‘credit crunch’, but at the moment we are managing. I know that if things get too tight I can contact the Official Receiver and have my IPA reassessed. I’m hoping not to have to do that though – I want the satisfaction of knowing that I did the full 36 months.

Although I don’t want credit cards or loans in the future, I’m realistic enough to realise that my car isn’t going to last for ever and I may need finance, or that we might want to get a joint mortgage. With this in mind I’ve started sorting out my credit files - Experian, Equifax and Callcredit.

Once you have been made bankrupt, creditors are no longer allowed to default you, meaning that after 6 years is up your credit file should be ‘clean’. However, this doesn’t stop some of them! I have sent the data controller for each creditor a letter requesting that the default date on my file is no later than 29th March 2007 (the date of my BR), and that they mark my account either ’satisfied’ or partially satisfied.

The results are as follows:

Barclaycard - will amend the default date and mark the account as satisfied
Egg loan - no reply
Egg card - no reply
Littlewoods - will amend the default date and mark the account as partially satisfied
Natwest - will amend the default date and mark the account as partially satisfied
Next - letter to be sent this week
Virgin (MBNA) - letter to be sent this week
Tesco - no reply

If I don’t receive a reply within 28 days of the receipt of the letter I will then refer the companies to the Information Commissioner, who can (eventually!) force them to comply.

I have also got to write to Callcredit and ask them to amend their information - apparently I was made BR in Kingston and Warwick on the same day, with the same reference number!

Well I’ve made it! As of last Saturday (29th March) I’m no longer bankrupt - it felt strange waking up on Saturday morning and knowing that the year was over. I’m so pleased that I escaped a BRU - I was warned by my IP when I first told him I was thinking of BR that I could expect a BRU of a minimum of 3 years due to the size of my debt (£65k). I’ve since found out that it’s more to do with how the debt came about than the size of the debt.

All in all it hasn’t been as bad as I thought it would be, although I know I’m lucky as I had no house to lose and I could keep my car as I needed it for work.

I have learnt a lot in the last year / 18 months - I know that I don’t need material things to be happy and I like paying cash for things. I’ve made 10 payments into my IPA, so only another 26 to go, which isn’t long really.

Life has changed a lot for me in the last year - Dave and I have moved house, I’ve settled back into my job (I was thinking of leaving at one point) and I have my lovely Harry Puss to look after. While BR wasn’t a pleasant experience it was the only thing I could do.

I’ve now got the lovely task of updating my credit reference files to show settled or partially settled - apparently if I don’t I will have problems even when the BR drops off my files in 5 years time. I’ve got to apply for the files, and apparently some of my creditors may want an official notice of discharge from the court - bye bye £60! Obviously I don’t want credit cards or loans ever again, but I do want to be able to get car finance, a better mobile phone deal etc in the future.

I will carry on updating my blog if anything else happens, which knowing my slightly chaotic life it’s bound to!

Well tomorrow is my last day as ‘a bankrupt’. As of Saturday I will officially be a ‘discharged bankrupt’! To be honest the last year has flown past, and life hasn’t really changed that much for me, other than I now pay cash for everything obviously!

I can remember at the beginning worrying about how I would cope without credit cards to fall back on, but I have coped. I must admit I sometimes wonder how I’ll make it through to payday, but I have done and I try and be more organised the following month. That doesn’t always work, but I can muddle through.

I’ve got a system going now so that I can account for my money better:

Salary gets paid into my Nationwide account
All direct debits are paid from my Nationwide account
I withdraw money for the bills for Dave and the housekeeping money and keep this as cash
I transfer my spending money for the month to my Co-op account
I transfer my petrol money to my Virgin pre-paid card (it’s harder to spend when I’m broke!)
Monthly allowances are transferred to my Nationwide E savings account

By doing this I know that the money in my Co-op account is mine to do as I want with and once the cash is withdrawn from the Nationwide account I don’t have to touch it again.

After stressing about my IPOQ for the last few days I decided to post my worries on the forum - I was worried that the OR would decide they wanted to take my pay rise, not allow my increases in expenditure or disallow something that I was allowed in the original IPA.  Ray A and Queenie both told me to contact the OR and explain the increases to them, so I took a deep breath and went for it!

I didn’t speak to my usual case worker, but to another very nice lady who informed that I would be getting a letter (no doubt arriving on Saturday!)  confirming that my IPA would stay the same at £186.  I was so relieved as I now feel that I can plan ahead a bit more as I know what I will take home and what I will pay out for the forseeable future.

I know a lot of people on the forum have had problems with their OR’s recently, but I have found that the staff at my OR’s office have been sympathetic and helpful so credit where it’s due.

I’m a bit late with the update, but here goes!

I spoke to Clarke Willmott after my previous post, and it turns out that they had the wrong collection date on their system, and when the OR checked my account it looked as though I hadn’t paid.  I also spoke to the OR, and they sent me another IPOQ to complete after we moved.

We finally moved on 9th November and I’ve now completed the IPOQ.  My new figures are as follows:

Income: £1345.00
Rent: £200.00
Council tax: £60.00
Gas: £20.00
Electricity: £20.00
Water: £10.00
Telephone: £35.00
Housekeeping: £350.00
Essential travel expenses: £120.00
Clothing: £50.00
TV Licence: £6.00
Contents Insurance: £7.00
Car Tax: £10.00
Car Insurance: £30.00
Car Maintenance: £50.00
Opticians: £25.00
Dentist: £15.00
Prescriptions / Medical: £10.00
Hairdressing: £10.00
Holidays: £20.00

This is a total of £1058.00, leaving me with a surplus of £287.00, which is less than I actually had to begin with!  My main worry is that they will disallow things that they allowed first time around, but I’ll just have to wait and see.  With their track record of making sure that any letters arrive on Saturday, I’m sure that I’ll hear from the OR on Christmas Eve!!!

I’ve just realised how long it is since I updated my blog and I thought it was time I did something about it!  A few things have happened since I last posted, so here goes!

My first panic was back in July - I got back from a damp holiday in Dorset (still a beautiful place though!) to find a letter waiting for me from Clarke Willmott, the firm of solicitors who collect my IPA payments.  My first payment had gone out of my account on 2nd July, and the letter informed my they hadn’t received the payment and if I didn’t contact them to arrange payment they would inform my employer and the OR - what a nice welcome home!  I dealt with it really rationally - I sat on the floor and cried!  By Monday I had pulled myself together and I called CW and spoke to a very nice man who told me that not to worry, that the payment had probably been misallocated and apologised for the distress the letter caused me!  Sure enough a couple of days later I got a letter from CW confirming that they had received the payment.

Everything then went quiet until August, when I had another panic - I read on another forum that people had been contacting the OR to inform them of a pay rise, whereas I had written to Clarke Willmott about mine back in May.  I rang CW and they told me that I had done the right thing contacting them as they contact the OR on my behalf, but on this occasion they had not done it!  A week or so later I received an IPOQ (Income Payments Order Questionnaire) from the OR’s office regarding my pay rise.  As I am going to be moving I rang the OR’s office to ask what I should do, as the figures might change.  They told me to that I could wait until I move (still waiting, grrr!), but after thinking about it I completed it and sent it with a covering letter explaining that the figures might change.

I heard no more from the OR until yesterday - why do nasty letters always arrive on a Saturday?!?!  The letter informed me that they hadn’t received September’s payment which was made on 1st October due to the weekend, and the letter was dated 2nd October - impatient or what?!?!  It also mentioned the IPOQ that I would be returning when I move, so it sounds as though they haven’t received that - silly me, not using Recorded Delivery, I’ve learnt my lesson!  After getting upset and then cross I’ve got all my bank statements together and I’m going to ring CW and the OR tomorrow and try and sort this out.  It almost seems like the system can’t cope if the 30th of the month falls at the weekend.  Dave has offered to lend me one payment so the money can leave my account earlier and be with them by the 30th.  Not ideal though as I’m borrowing money again!  I’ll see what everyone has to say tomorrow and I’ll update you then!

This is a table of IPA percentages that you can expect to pay on any surplus income:

50 Nil
60 Nil
70 Nil
80 Nil
90 Nil
100 50 50
110 55 50
120 60 50
130 65 50
140 70 50
150 75 50
160 80 50
170 85 50
180 90 50
190 95 50
200 100 50
210 105 50
220 110 50
230 115 50
240 120 50
250 150 60
260 156 60
270 162 60
280 168 60
290 174 60
300 180 60
310 186 60
320 192 60
330 198 60
340 204 60
350 231 66
360 238 66
370 244 66
380 251 66
390 257 66
400 264 66
410 271 66
420 277 66
430 284 66
440 290 66
450 297 66
460 304 66
470 310 66
480 317 66
490 323 66
500 350 70
510 357 70
520 364 70
530 371 70
540 378 70
550 385 70
560 392 70
570 399 70
580 406 70
590 413 70
600 420 70

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.