Hi annie.

That's an interesting one and I'll confess that I'm not 100% sure.

You only make a contribution in bankruptcy if it's affordable for you to do so. If your income increased as a result of working then I suppose it's possible you might be able to contribute towards your debts and the cost of the sequestration.

The contributions carry on for three years in total, even though an individual will have been discharged after the first year.

What I'm not sure is whether anyone will seek to check your financial status with you if:
1 - You've never made a payment as part of the bankruptcy.
2 - You've already been discharged.

Hopefully one of our experts can confirm the position soon enough for you.

glad to give you some food for thought

A contribution/Income Payment Agreement (IPA)cannot be put in place after the date that the debtor is discharged from bankruptcy.

If an IPA is already in place before the date of discharge, it will continue after the date the debtor is discharged - for a maximum of 36 months from the date the IPA started.

I did suspect that would be the case candlewick but haven't seen the question come up before.

Thank you for being able to help annie so quickly.

thanks for the quick response so after april if i dont have a job yet i wont have anything to pay is that right

Glad I could help.[:)]

That's right, annie. Even if you get the best-paying job in the world (and I hope you do![:)]), if it happens after you've been discharged, you won't get an IPA.

I've always felt that this does create a bit of an anomaly. For anyone who is not yet discharged from bankruptcy and is not working or earning enough to make a contribution payment then there is a real incentive to wait until the 1 year discharge happens before seeking to improve their situation.

Whereas if someone is conscientious enough to find work or seek a better-paid job prior to that point then they are effectively punished by having to pay for 2 more years.

(Just to be clear - I am not referring to your situation, annie needs a gun. Given that you have been receiving incapacity benefit, I am sure there are very good reasons why you have not been seeking work and would never suggest otherwise.)

I thought contributions were reviewed six-monthly in both sequestration and pTD so that any change would be reflected in contributions made.?

Hello RBSB.

We're talking about a very unique scenario here. No contribution is affordable prior to discharge. The improvement in circumstances happens post-discharge. It will not happen that often I'd imagine.

IT IS CERTAINLY NOT MY INTENTION TO AVOID CONTRIBUTIONS TO MY SEQUESTRATION BUT BECAUSE THE WONDERFUL PEOPLE AT ATOS HAVE DECIDED AFTER A HALF HOUR INTERVIEW WITH SOMEONE WHO DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME THAT I AM FIT TO WORK ALTHOUGH MY DOCTOR IS STILL ISSUEING ME WITH 4 WEEKLY SICK LINES I MAY HAVE NO ALTERNATIVE BUT TO TRY AND FIND A JOB WHICH WILL ACCOMODATE MY ILLNESS WHICH OF COURSE IN THE CURRENT CLIMATE WILL NOT BE EASY . IF I DO START WORK I AM MORE THAN HAPPY TO CONTRIBUTE WHATEVER IS DEEMED AS ACCEPTABLE

Sorry to hear that, annie. Are you getting any help in dealing with this? Presumably there is an appeals procedure for you. Citizens Advice are often excellent at helping people with appeals.

YES I HAVE TO ATTEND A TRIBUNAL IN FEBRUARY AND HAVE A CAB REPRESENTATIVE TO HELP SO FINGERS CROSSED

Have you had/ asked for an occupational therapy assessment or work capacity evaluation? I think they would both be valid and certainly better than an interview with an uninformed person.
What role does the person who doesn't know you (your abilities/condition) have and for what purpose is he / she being interviewed. Seems really unreasonable to base decisions on that.

We used to joke that the interview office was deliberately located 2 flights up and the first criteria for fitness for work was making it to the appointment. It is generally a fairly inflexible measure and the joke wasn't so far from the truth.