40k debts, 36k pa salary - IVA?

[Anna]

Thank you Melanie - looking forward to an email contact from Tina.

http://anna.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[Anna]

Sorry - just to let you know that I do not have access to my home email from work but can always be contacted on my mobile which I believe I have included as contact on the form submitted last night.
I do not particularly want to use my work email to deal with this issue.
Thanks a lot

Anna

http://anna.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[MelanieGiles]

That's fine. I will pass that on to Tina.

Look forward to speaking with you soon!

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

[Anna]

Thanks again Melanie - I will call and check all outstanding amounts tomorrow and possibly submit a new online form to you/Tina via your website with 100% accurate figures and the expenses that I did not take into account last night.

Have a good night.

Anna

http://anna.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[scaredkez]

thanks all just wanted to clarify over the kids accounts as i didn't want to give out the wrong info
kerri

Please view my blog at: http://scaredkez.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[neverending]

Quote"The bank cannot use monies held in your daughter's account to set-off against your debts"
My thoughts exactly Kerri,if your childs account has your name included then it is at risk.
regards

[Anna]

Had some not so good news today - update on my blog.. for anyone interested..

Not sure why my blog does not show under "IVA BLogs" tab?

Link in the signature...

http://anna.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[Bwise]

Hi Anna.

Me and my partner have been in an IVA for a year now. we have just completed our annual review.

We hit debts totaling £64000; it was a real shock when we first calculated our debts for the first time. We have two children and are both working with good jobs, but, still found debts rising by the day. we started with credit cards then loans to clear them and then spending more on credit cards and so on and so on....

we knew things were getting out of control when we were using credit cared to pay basic bills, interest was creeping higher and higher all the time. Finally we got to breaking point and thought of ways to reduce our debt.

My husband saw an advert on TV for debt free Direct gave them a call to see what advise they could give. They suggested an IVA within a few days we received the application. we had to proved a history of our debt and how it all mounted up. we had 5 credit cards, two large loans and a car on hp.

Within two weeks we received an agreement and the date for meeting with creditors. one of us had to be on hand (phone call) if they needed to speak to us.

The agreed amount was £793 per month over 5 years. as hp is not calculated into the IVA once the car is paid of the amount will rise to £1193 per month.

we are saving aprox £300 per month on our debts, but at least we will be debt free in 5 years now.

The only problem with the IVA the creditors are still entitled to collect further money from you if you get a better job or more money. They also wanted me and my husband to cancel our work pensions to pay back more money. I had to get a letter from both our pension companies to say we could not opt out.

We still find it very tight at the end of the month and don’t really have any room for little luxuries.

I decided to find a better job with a better pay rate and luckily I got one. I informed DFD of the change in my circumstance and the reason I needed to change was due to the tight budget each month. having two children who want to do normal activities like any other child. football club ,dance, swimming an so on they told me I was limited to how much they would allow for. Something likes £25.00 a month. also kids are always going on school trips, dinner money and they were still tight on the budget. I am waiting to here back from my annual review to see how much the monthly increase will be on the IVA.

I am hoping it will not be too much more as i don’t think I will cope. We couldn’t afford to by our mothers a mothers day present yesterday how sad is that. I am counting down the months until all of this is over. I suppose at the end of the day we make our own beds and we have to lie in them.

Bye for now and good luck

Bwise



Bwise

[neverending]

Bwise
Your comments and experiences are so common and a reminder to anyone considering an IVA to be realistic regarding how tough it can be and to be realistic when completing the income/expenditure figures.Five years on a tight and inflexible budget is a lifetime.
I personally feel that if you get a better job/promotion then you should be able to keep 50% of any extra money earned but unfortunately this is not the case,normally.
Make sure that you fill out a fresh income and expenditure form and be realistic,utility bills have risen etc,etc.
Good luck and let this forum know how you get on.
regards

[MelanieGiles]

Insolvency Practitioners must be realistic when conducting annual reviews and take all circumstances into account. The last thing I want is for a case to fail and the creditors not to be repaid the dividend which I put my name behind and felt could be achieved - caused by inflexibility or reluctance to consider individual circumstances rather than having a rule-book mentality.

To this end I am extremely realistic when managing the needs of the debtor against the expectations of the creditor - and everything I do is reported to creditors who have the opportunity to object if they do not agree my strategy.

Do make sure that you make adequate provision for all additional expenditure - the first year is crucial in the life of an IVA as it is the period during which you are readjusting to a budget and managing on cash expenditure, probably for the first time in years. Things will change from that you envisaged at the time your IVA was put together - in your case prepared and signed in two weeks! Presumably with no meeting with your IP!

And if you do not agree the decision of your IP, and feel that you cannot afford to make the increased payments, you can make a simple application to Court for directions under Section 263 of the Insolvency Act 1986. Let a judge rule on the outcome, who will listen to both sides.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

[Bwise]

Thank you for your replies to my post.

We are still waiting on our reply regarding my annual review, they want us to provide more evidence on my monthly outgoings before a decision can be made. I know they will want to take as much as they can. But, my experience of my first year was very tough.

It’s the little thing like, going to the dentist, and being told you need a filling £40. a flat tire on your car (new tire) £50 a broken window in my car £50 excess, new prescription glasses £300. so on and so on…

These are the type of things that happen all the time, and a few of the things that happened to us in my first year. They have to be done but you don’t ever seem to have the money to pay for them.

I don’t think the articles for IVA's are realistic to the truth. They make everything sound so easy, you will save 75% of your debts is not true. Can you believe I still have an unclaimed creditor on my account as well? How does that work?

I had a call only last month from a debt collector regarding an outstanding balance on my credit card. When i told them i was in a IVA for nearly a year, they knew nothing about it? I thought all creditors were aware at the time on the meeting with creditors? Surely they agree or disagree?

So where do I stand if they decide I still have to pay back more than I can afford? Is there a way I can object without being made bankrupt? That what scares the C**P out of me…! Me and my husband both work for the government myself in a school
and my husband on the transport. If we lost our jobs we would loose everything. I have never claimed from the state in my life and I wouldn’t know where to even start.

They say we are allowed £50 contingency allowance, but that is not enough by a long shot.

Any advice welcome






Bwise

[jane.l]

I have to say, Anna, your blog made me cry! I am at wits end now, not sure if our IVA proposal is going to work. Our debts total £59,000 and rising! Our proposal is over 6 years, £420 per month but for the last 2 years its £840! My job contract ends in Nov 2008, we'v got 3 children, 2 cats, (god, they cost a fortune, but we would be heartbroken if they had to go, so NO WAY) anyway, we thought we had a buyer for our house and were waiting to see if Picture Finance would agree to "lift" a second charge and allow the sale and the shortfall would go in the IVA. Had a call yesterday from IVA company and they said Picture are not for budging on their stance, all they are interested in is " how are you going to pay off this £35,000!!?) Last night, the buyer of our house knocked on the door, and at this late stage, near to completing, he wants to get the house for a few thousand pounds less! Our IP says to tell him (politely!!!) to go away and re-market the house, the IVA proposal covers this as it states we have 6 months to sell it, if the IVA is agreed!

I am feeling so ill now, am seriously looking into bankcruptcy now, we are moving in to a rented house next week, I admit I am worried about the landlord finding out and chucking us out and I suppose I will lose my car, I bought it on HP last August for £10995, I am not sure how much I owe and think its worth about £8000. My husband has a cheaper car so maybe we would be allowed to keep that one instead, although it is a lot more expensive to run than mine, I wonder if I could make a case for keeping mine as its cheaper to run????

Had a phone call at 8am this morning from Northern Rock, they seem to ring every hour, he rang last night and I said "what do you think has changed overnight, you rang me last night,do you think I have won the Lottery!??

I have even seriously contemplated suicide last week

[MelanieGiles]

Bwise - Your IP will not ask you to pay more than you can afford. And if he does, you can appeal his decision by going to Court and asking the Judge to rule on an affordable level. This is unlikely to happen, but do make sure that you provide full details of all of the additional expenditure you have incurred during the year.

Jane - I really do feel that bankruptcy might be a better option for you than continuing to put yourself through all of this stress, particularly given the uncertainty of the unsecured element of your secured loan. Has your creditors meeting been arranged yet?

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

[jane.l]

our final proposal is in the post to us and once we check and sign it, I presume then the creditor's meeting will be arranged. I am not sure how long these things take.

The man from Northern Rock who rang this morning said that it has been passed on their Legal Department and I am not sure what that really means, but I suppose they will continue to ring, I really should not answer the phone, but at that time of morning I just thought it might have been a family member and could have been an emergency, unfortunately, I do not have a caller ID phone!

[gimmewine]

For what it's worth, let me tell you my strategy for dealing with the harrassing calls. I agreed a time with my family (between 8 and 9 pm, mon, thu, fri) where I would answer the phone. I also spent £6 getting a genie sim for an old phone and gave my family that number for emergencies only. At all other times I turned down the volume on the phone so I could not get in a stress about phone calls.

If a creditor rang at the times agreed with my family, I would talk to them, but would ask for everything to be put in writing. As you are heading for IVA or BR you can pass all such communications to your IP and let them reply, that is what you pay them for. It worked fairly well and kept me going.