can overtime be considered as income

[claire.d]

we are in the very early stages of considering an iva but want to know if any overtime can be considered as part of your income even if its not guaranteed

[MelanieGiles]

Hi Claire and welcome to the forum

An insolvency practitoner who takes into account overtime as part of someone's regular wage is treading on thin ice.

Unless the overtime is guaranteed, which is quite unusual these days, it can be denied or withdrawn at any time. If this is the case, then your income may drop to a level where your IVA payments cannot be sustained, and then the IVA will be at risk from failure.

I much prefer to operate the 50% uplift ruling, where there may still be some incentive for you to work overtime, as you get to keep half!

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.
View my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

[claire.d]

hi thanks for the reply but what is the 50% uplift ruling? I really do not know much about iva's but am trying to find out as much info as poss.
The reason i ask about overtime is because at present we have a dmp in place with cccs they have advised us that any overtime my husband earns cannot be taken into account as is it not guaranteed income. As it is the overtime he gets is varied and really only covers extra things that our budget wont stretch to.
We are considering an iva as i have just started a part time job and was hoping that i would be earning enough to pay an iva but judging by some of the things i have read on this forum i dont think we will be able to. As a rough guide we owe about £50,000 to 9 creditors have a dissposable income of approx £225.00 we own our property approx value £200,000 with a mortgage of £125,000 I know we have equity in the property but i dont think we could afford to remortgage to clear the debt unless it was reduced in any way i feel were going round in circles at the moment and although the dmp is going ok ( going for 1 year now and up for review any time) i dontsee any light at the end of the tunnel. I would appreciate any advice Thankyou.

[neverending]

Hi
With the equity in your property actually higher than your unsecured debts then I think you may well not qualify for an IVA.You really would be better to look at a remortgage to clear all your debts or part of them so that things are more managable.
Do not feel afraid to contact one of the companies on this site by phone,I,m sure that they will be able to advise and explain the options open to you.

[MelanieGiles]

Hi again

You are actually not insolvent, so an IVA could not be proposed. I think that you should take advice from a mortgage broker to see how much a remortgage would cost you. Given your current position, you are in a great bargaining position to pay off your debts in full, seeking a discount from your creditors for an early payment. Do this yourself, as you do not need to pay professional fees for talking on the telephone. And be cheeky! People have told me that they have got some great discounted deals - and the last thing your creditors will want is to accept £10 per month via a DMP for ever. When you have got some deals set up with creditors, then you will know how much you need to borrow.

Neverending - this could be your first job!

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.
View my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

[claire.d]

Thankyou so much for your help. I was totally convinced before talking to yourselves that an iva was the only answer,how wrong was I? i'm going to get some figures from a mortgage broker to see if i can afford to borrow against the property but would you have a rough idea how much i could possibly expect to reduce my overall debt to its currently approx £50k also would you be able to recommend a good broker? Thanks again, I didn't know these forums even existed i'm hoping for a better nights sleep tonight!

[neverending]

Claire
A good broker is Leybridge 01202 555666.
You could raise as much as 40-50k,but make sure that you can afford the repayments.