I think you do need to advise them of the bonus. You might be able to keep some of it but I would advise your IP nonetheless. Don't want to be caught out later!

Hi SkintMink

Can only suggest being totally honest with you IP at all times, You would expect honesty from them

Kitty x

Thanks for the prompt reply Neverendingstory. I do want to tell them about it but I read another post where they say at each review you provide the past three months bank statements. If that's the case and my review isn't for another six months, then the payslip containing the bonus won't be shown to them so how would they know?.
I don't want to cheat the IP, I would just like be able to pay the family member back. Honesty is always the best policy of course but it would be nice to be able to use the cash to pay close family back.

Thanks Kitty, I think you're right. I'll get in touch with them once I know how much it will be.

Bonus pay should really have been discussed before signing up to anything so you know how it will be dealt with. Declare it to your trustee,whether they could or couldnt find out is not really relevant.

Paul

Thanks all,
You are all of coure, quite correct in that I should tell them, which I will. I guess, like a lot of people on here, it would be nice to have a bit of spare cash for once and was maybe hoping others had been in the same position and could advise. Don't think I could live with the guilt of not saying anything though so will declare everything.
Karma restored [:)]

I get my bonus in April too and it'l be the first one I get that I can keep the whole one. I've been allowed to keep 50% of my bonuses (only had them for the last couple of years) so even if I got a rubbish one, it'd be better than what I got to keep last year.

Anyway, you're IP will want you to hand over a portion of it. They'll see it as a windfall. I don't know if they can check up by asking for your bank statements at any other point during the year but someone asked a similar question and Mark said that it was an offence not to declare things like this. It's entirely up to you whether you want to chance it, knowing your review is in 6 months or be up front with your IP. What you could do is hypothetically ask that if you were to get a bonus, would it be possible to extend at the end of the 36 months for this one as you have to pay back a family member. I don't know how they'd react to that but I can also understand the feeling of needing to pay a family member back. I had to pay my dad back £250 as he helped me with the deposit for my holiday. It took me months.

Hello SkintMink.

Irrespective of the moral and legal dimension here, a bonus will show up on the year-to-date figures on most payslips later on anyway.

Your trust deed firm may allow you to keep a proportion of the bonus or they may request that the full amount be paid over.

For anyone reading this thread who is considering starting a trust deed, the subject of any future bonus/commission/overtime payments is a good one to bring up before you sign the trust deed. We advocate coming to an agreement on what will happen with them (for example they might be split 50:50 between the earner and the trust deed) and getting this in writing.

The firms on this site will do that as will I suspect most firms if they are asked to. That way you get an incentive to earn extra money if the opportunity arises and the creditors may get a better than expected return.

Without such a written confirmation of an agreement it's perfectly possible that 100% of any extra income will need to be paid into a trust deed.

I've received 3 quite healthy bonuses whilst in my TD, the 1st I was allowed to keep as my partner was out of work - therefore not helping with bills etc. The 2nd and 3rd I gave up half. I was allowed to justify non standard bills etc if they came up but they deducted half of that.