I've done a first pass of completing the online form(s) on IVA.COM (and my first question would be if this in itself is a good idea?) but have not submitted them to a firm as the forms state I need to enter my wife's earnings al0ong with all allowances (e.g. tax credits, child allowance).
I am the major breadwinner, by along way, though my wife does work part time and also receives the child related allowances, e.g. tax credits and child allowance. However, the arrangement is that I buy all the food and consumables for the house, albeit by means of "housekeeping" in that I pay the money into my wife's account as she does the physical shopping, and my wife pays for all the kids clothes, etc. as well as the expenses for her car. In case you haven't gathered my wife and I have maintained completely separate banking facilities, in which regard we have no joint accounts or financial commitments whatsoever.
With this being the case and with it being an "Individual" arrangement I wondered if her details are required?
The only reason your wife's income is needed (presumably the IVA will just be in your name), is to ensure that she is paying her fair share into the household budget, which in turn frees up disposable income on your part.
Why don't you give one or two companies on iva.com a ring, rather than do it via a form?
It would be easier to explain it to them that way, and you are still under no obligation and the advice is free.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
No-one is trying to catch you out re your partners income etc.
There is no obligation - just get the form off and see what the IP or IPs rep thinks of your situation. Mine was very helpful (C.Debt).
I am in a similar situation, and now paying what I can afford - but its a fair amount less than what I was paying (and couldn't afford) on my way to insolvency....
Hi
Creditors like to see total household income and expenditure. Creditors may think that both have benefited from the credit, not just the person that has taken out the credit. As such they like to see all the disposible income used to fund an IVA.
Regards
Andy is absolutely correct here. If you are living together as a couple, you will need to present a combined statement of your family finances, and if your partner has any disposable income left over having paid her share of all household expenditure it is very likely that creditors will want this to be included in your offer.
I thought the principle was one of proportionality - if the Partner of someone in an IVA had a Pay increase, then it would be expected that there would be a proportional increase in their contribution to the household outgiongs.
The person in the IVA therefore has a bit more disposable which goes into the IVA which is fair enough.
My wife didn't benefit from any of my borrowing - it was all propping up expenditure on failing 'investments' and I put her through hell. If she got £100 monthly payrise and it all got swallowed up in the IVA without leaving her anything for herself - I think she'd walk out and I wouldn't blame her....
I thought an IVA was a personal agreement between debtor and creditor. My debt is entirely down to myself and although I am married we live separate financial lives. I do not know her income (although it is very meagre). Her outgoings are her own and I do not even know if she has any personal debt outgoings and do not want to discuss with her. It sounds like it would be impossible to get an IVA without informing a partner? And, sadly, I think this would be the end of the only good thing in my life, my marriage.
Thanks for any help.
Last edited by mole on Wed Mar 25, 2009 10:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
You don't normally need to tell a partner about this, but you do need to put down her income and all of the household expenditure so that the creditors can see that you are paying all of your disposable income into the IVA.
I kept things from my husband initially, and it caused huge problems when he found out, but we are now stronger for sharing everything. Would it be so bad to tell her?
Why don't you give one or two IP's a ring and discuss things with them. Visit www.iva.com for a list of companies and reviews. You will get free and impartial advice from them about all your options.
Last edited by kallis3 on Wed Mar 25, 2009 11:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
This was a post by 'Up to my neck' back in early February which Melanie endorsed actually. I copied it for comfort at the time as it seemed pretty fair to me, and brought some badly needed reassurance to my long suffering missus! I sure hope David M (my IP) thinks its a reasonable approach...
With acknowledgements and thanks to 'Up to my neck':-
Try to think of it in terms of your household expenditure being fixed, but as you will be earning more money, your notional share of those expenses for the purpose of calculating your husband’s disposable income will increase. Simple example - your husband earns 20k a year, and you earn 10k a year (so 30k total of which your husband earns two thirds and you earn one third) - let’s assume your monthly food budget is say £300. This will be allocated £200 to your husband, £100 to you (two thirds to him, one third to you). If you then start earning the extra £500 a month, your salary will go up to £16000, so the proportion of the food bill will be adjusted accordingly to roughly £170 to your husband, and £130 to you (as your husband now earns 55% of the total household income, so you have to be allocated 55% of the household bills). So as Jan says, you will find that not all of your extra money will be expected to be paid over, it just means that your husband will have more spare income to pay in as you will be allotted a higher proportion of the bills.
Thanks Jan, for the advice. Perhaps, she would be understanding, but I have messed up before and I think it may be easier for her to understand if a solution was already in place rather than raising it now with all this uncertainty.
I will look at a IP and discuss with them. Also, interested to know if there is any reason to try to manage this with a private company as opposed to a free or charitable organisation.
Cheers, Phil
Only an IP can propose an IVA so there will be fees paid. These fees are agreed with the creditors and drawn from the IVA contributions. Most firms do not charge up front fees and there are no charitable organisations who do IVAs for free.
I'm with Phil (swardean) in that I am seriously concerned my marriage won't make it through this turmoil if I tell my wife before I've at least attempted to reach a resolution. From a creditors point of view what affect would that have on my finances! Part of the reason we have separate financial arrangements is because she was left "carrying the can" in a previous (non-marital) relationship where they had joint commitments but her boyfriend failed to pay his elements and then ran off.
It'll be bad enough my family having to live under the financial restraints I'll be imposing on them, it's my fault after all, without her worrying we could lose everything until any agreement is reached. And I'm not being unkind when I say my wife does not deal with stress at all well.
Is there really no alternative? My wife earns about 11% of the household income, albeit it is a slightly higher % in terms of take home pay once tax (inc my company car), NI, etc. are taken in to account, and I know she has little to nothing left a month.
If you are going to want to leave your wife's share of the disposable income out of your offer, you will have to have pretty good reasons to explain this to creditors as they will generally assume that you pool your funds and pay things jointly - even if you do not.
If she has no money left each month, having paid her own financial commitments, this is unlikely to be of great issue.
Hi Mark.
It would be possible to prepare a proposal with your wife's information if she did not know but this is certainly not best practice. If there is a jointly owned property she would need to be aware as there would almost certainly be a fourth year equity release demanded by creditors.
I suggest that you speak to an IP and have a proposal drawn up. You can then show this to your wife before you sign it and you could then explain the implications. If the debts had nothing to do with her and arose from before you met she has no moral responsibility to them and creditors are unlikely to pursue her income. As long as she is not made to suffer as a result of the IVA she may have no issues.
Proposals are drawn up in a certain way but do not reflect real life as no couple splits the grocery bill 63% to 37%. Provided the payments are affordable to you it is of no concern how you and your wife pay the bills.
Hello everyone. Well the deed is done, my wife now knows about my position, and albeit somewhat of a surprise I know about hers! Suffice to say we are obviously the soul mates I always thought we were as we are both as bad as each other which actually brings an initial feeling of relief as we can go through whichever insolvency process together. I've a call with Melanie Nicholas of IVA Advice Bureau tomorrow to really kick things off, I presume this is one of your Debt Diva compadres Melanie (Giles)?
which actually brings an initial feeling of relief as we can go through whichever insolvency process together. I've a call with Melanie Nicholas of IVA Advice Bureau tomorrow to really kick things off, I presume this is one of your Debt Diva compadres Melanie (Giles)?