Bankruptcy Living Expenses Guide

One of the most critical sections of your bankruptcy application form is the living expenses budget. This information is collected in section 7 entitled Outgoings.

It is important because the Official Receiver (OR) will use this information to work out if you should make a payment towards your debts each month. If you miss out any of your expenses by mistake or set them too low you might be asked to make a payment which is too high.

Why is completing your Bankruptcy Living Expenses difficult?

The problem with section 7 of the form is that it is not a guide to completing your living expenses budget. There are only a few living expenses categories specifically highlighted. Many significant categories such as home insurance and car running costs are simply not included.

It is therefore extremely easy to miss out vital expenses from your list. In addition section 7 does not give any indication as to what level of expenditure is reasonable in each category. However the Official Receiver uses strict guidelines and will compare these to the amounts you have included in your budget.

If you exceed the guidelines and are not able to give a good reason for this the excess will not be allowed. It is then more likely that you will have to pay towards your debts each month.

Get a copy of our Bankruptcy Living Expenses Guide

To get an accurate view of which types of living expenses are reasonable and to make sure that you include all allowable expenses in your budget you should get a copy of our living expenses guide.

The guide is free and lists all of the different types of expenditures you should consider when completing your monthly budget. It also gives hints and tips about the budgets which you will have to stay within to ensure that they are acceptable to the Official Receiver.

To get the guide please use the “Download Living Expenses Guide” button top right of this page or (at the bottom if you are using your mobile).

How to use our Living Expenses Guide

There is no set of living expenditure figures that the Official Receiver will definitely accept. Each individual’s situation is different. They will make their decision about what you need to live on based on their understanding of your circumstances.

As such if you download the guide it should be used for guidance purposes only. You need to remember that if you try to include expenditure budgets which are unreasonably high based on your circumstances these will be questioned by the OR and you may be made to reduce them.

If there are legitimate reasons why you spend more than the amounts suggested then do not be concerned. You should include the figure which accurately reflects what you need. However you must be ready to justify such expenditure if it is challenged by the official receiver.