I have just got of the phone to Blair Endersby and to put it mildly I am feeling a little frustrated and angry!!
I am 9 months into my IVA and have spoken to them most months about my income...... I was told that they base my I&E on my basic wage each month and then any extra income should be paid accross at 50%. However after many months of querying why my wages are set at £100 more than my basic they have told me its because they take an average of what we earn, not our basic pay. I have explained to them that our overtime and expenses are not guaranteed and vary from month to month so the system they use can make us worse off some months (when we have a basic month)I am confused as to what I should pay over at 50% as both of us can have OT payment and expensess (non taxable) I am worried that my 50% payments are wrong and I could end up owing money.....their attidue is well we will sort it at your anuual reveiw and you have 14 days to pay it back!!!
I have also asked their permission to reduce my hours at work, which is needed due to reclocation of my workplace and childcare needs, most of the reduction costs will be offset by my chilcare costs stopping if I could reduce my hours. We currently pay approx £200 per month in childcare which is included in our I&E this will cease if I reduce my hours but my wages will be approx £230 less per month. I dont really have much choice as without the reduction in hours I would really struggle to keep my employment. They have told me to do whatever I feel I should but would offer my no gaurantee if this would be OK to do, they said the could not put it forward until I have the wage slip to show the change in circumstance!!! Can this be right??? I feel really uncomfortable with this advise, I WANT my IVA to work and dont want to do anything without my IP permission......I of course asked to speak to my IP, I was told what for they will only tell you what I have said. I also asked for them to put it in writing that I have asked permission.... again this was refused!!!!!
Hi
Your reduced hours and income will be offset by your reduced childcare costs, will you be able to keep your payments the same ? if so this should have no impact on your IVA.
Basic wages should always be used unless your overtime is guaranteed.
You should be able to net the figure quoted on your initial proposal [100 pounds more than it should be] , plus ten percent and then pay over 50%.
Regards
B&E insist on averaging my monthly pay even though our OT/Expenses are not guartanteed or the same each month. This "average" is set £100 more than our true basic pay. Every month that we have paid extra into the IVA I am not sure what sum I should pay as most of the extra income is from expenses that are not taxable which apparently they say we can keep 100% of. The confusion lies if we have done OT we have a 50/50 clause in our agreement but as our wages are set at a higher rate than our basic i'm not sure how to work out the 50/50! I don't want to get to the reveiw an owe money because our calculations are wrong......how much to I take off for tax etc ??
My reduced hours will proberbly mean that we will be around £40 per month worse off. I think we will struggle to absorb that pay cut due to our I&E being tight due to the "average" pay as some months we are down £100 before we cut back any futher. B&E say if we need to have a creditors meeting or they can reduce the payment we would need to pay an extra year into the IVA.
This seams unfair as they already get extra payments each month (which I have no prob paying as I want to pay back what I can) they are also due to get a £12000 winfall but they still want to extend our IVA saying the creditors wont agree to a monthly reduction unless we increase our IVA term!! Can this be right?? If we have to extend an extra year, how does that work if I need to extend due to equity release would we have to pay yet another year to make it a 72month IVA?
Averaging is a dangerous way of working out a client's basic income, and you are right in thinking that this makes the 10%/50% calculation difficult to work out.
Was overtime originally included as part of your basic salary? And if so, why?
We were told when applying for the IVA that they would take our basic wage then pay any extra over in a 50/50 split. Unfortunatly at the time of application we did not know our excact basic wage as our pay included overtime (hubby was working everyday of the week to try and keep our heads above water) B&E said its no problem we will base the wage on just your basic pay so when they came up with a figure it looked about right to us. The overtime has of course dried up due to cuts etc at work but we both try and do a little extra when we can. Our wages to vary month to month depending on the demands of they job we somtimes have meal and petrol allowences (non taxable) and inforced OT due to finishing our shift late. Their is no guarnetee of any OT it is purely on the demands of the job.
I am really unhappy about this averaging. It is not what we agreed to infact it has never been mentioned before and I have been calling them most months to try and get the situation sorted!!! At least it explains why we have no money left most months!!!
I have e-mailed the IP ........I await their reply!!!
Who are you dealing with at Blair Endersby? My Account Manager is excellent and takes my circumstances very seriously and basilcly looks after my best interests long with ensuring the creditors interests are in hand. I did however, have to insist on speaking to my account manager as the staff on the help desk are just following protocol and can sometimes miss the bigger picture. Insist on speaking with your IP or your Account Manager, there is some good staff there who know what there doing. I understand your frustrations as Im going through something similar but I honestly cannot fault how they have treated me. Good luck.
Hi Kaza,
I'm with Blair Endersby. I don't work anymore as my daughter is disabled and I a full time carer, so my circumstances are different to yours but I hope this helps.
I did have difficulties with BE for the first few months as my mum passed away. I had no joy but found this forum and posted like you have. They left a post as they have for you. For the first time I spoke to an IP. She was lovely and they have been supportive ever since. Try ringing and mention you have posted on here and they have asked you to contact them. That is what I did.
I hope you get the help I did. I totally agree with Paul.oz. They have some great people working there, it's getting to speak to them which can be hard.
All the best,
Deb
IVA started Sept 09. Glad to be on the way to being debt free
Kaza,
Just re-read your second post. Don't wait for email, ring them, mention this forum and that they have asked you to contact an IP. Hopefully, if you insist on an IP you can get some answers.
Good luck.
IVA started Sept 09. Glad to be on the way to being debt free
This goes to show the importance of careful work at the early stages of an IPs involvement in acting for a client.
It has been said that my firm are perhaps slower than others in getting to creditors meeting. I make no excuse for that - careful and thorough work at the early stages, avoids things like this once the case is at creditors meeting and then accepted. And of course the IVA protocol now sets down set requirements for IPs to comply with - including a full examination of a clients wage-slips.
Absolutely Mel,
I wish I had done more research and known about this forum before I entered into an IVA. I have to say though that BE have been excellent since I posted on here. I hope Kaza gets to speak to an IP there.
IVA started Sept 09. Glad to be on the way to being debt free
Well................B&E have phoned today. The guy I spoke with was really really helpful and explained everything to me. He was very heplful and polite. Basically I dont have the traditional 50/50 agreement infact they owe me money [:D]He explained that I have been mislead by my account manager from the start as my agreement is different to most, he has assured me the individuals will be informed of their mistakes. I am very pleased and I can go on to reduce my hours at work as the loss will be offest against my current childcare costs[:D]
Thank you B&E if I have any further problems I have will attempt to contact the person I spoke with today, not the call centre staff, I feel releived I have finally had some great customer service.....Thank You (I might be able to sleep tonight [:)])
So glad BE came good Kaza. I think you just need to speak to an IP or someone who will look at your inividual needs. As I said I did have problems for first few months but since then I speak to the same two people and had great help.
I'm sure you will sleep soundly tonight.
IVA started Sept 09. Glad to be on the way to being debt free
