To add my two pennorth, I would echo Melanies viewpoint re the fact that you can't really knock the CCCS but it is also true that the guidelines that we currently work with seem to have no real reflection on todays cost of living.
However, it is also important for anyone considering an IVA that before you jump in, so to speak, you must make sure that all your expenses are adequately covered. Whilst the guidelines ARE tight, at the end of the day they are still only a guide. If you have a legitimate expense, it is necessary and provable then it can be included.
To give you an example, I recently put a proposal forward with £150 extra per month for laundry and cleaning products for a client with a medical condition that demanded that money needed to be spent.
The guideline that drives me madder than any other is the relative pittance we are recommended to allow against car maintenance. I need 2 new tyres for the front of my car, cheapest quote is £55 each, without balancing and tracking, right up to £120 each. If I get the quality ones, which I obviously should, then if I were on an IVA that is my years allowance gone plus 4 months from next year!! That is without the cost of the MOT, a regular service etc so it is certainly time, in my opinion, to review these things to fall in line with todays cost of living.
Regards.
Last edited by
size5 on Sat May 03, 2008 12:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
