I seem to have made a mistake and poked the bee hive...
Not being happy at the response from my IP to a the news of my wife being pregnant and their advice on a lack of a 'clause' in the IVA agreement to cover it and any reductions as well as some other incorrect advice given, I asked them a few questions about fees, discretionary variations and reduction on payments once new baby is born.
I also advised that due to a dramatic decrease in earnings from March, I was struggling with repayments.
In response they are now demanding copies of:
*My consent order (maintenance to ex-wife for two kids)
*Rental agreement (I don't have one, I live with my wife in her house she has a mortgage on and I contribute to her)
*Copy of the council tax bill (in joint names)
*Copy of life insurance policy (which I'm not allowed to have apparently), *Copy of my car insurance policy and payments,
*Copy of the utility bills for the last 12-months (have been on pre-payment meter so no bills)
They've also now asked for a written explanation for arrears which were incurred 16-months ago, of which they have agreed a plan for me to repay monthly over the remaining 18-months (but I am struggling with). They did not ask for anything at the time or even during the annual review.
They also now want to know what my wife's income is in relational to her maternity pay.
They have not once asked for any of this in 3.5 years and as far as I'm aware none of these are over the CCCS guidelines on an individual basis.
Can't help but feel I'm being punished here. I presume they are entitled to ask for everything they have requested, but given I've significantly reduced all my outgoings (from the initial proposal), I don't know what they are trying to achieve here apart from put pressure on me and look for holes in things.
Incredibly stressful, just feel like quitting work, going bankrupt and telling them all to shove it.
I don't think that you are being punished at all - IPs rarely are motivated to exert punishments to their clients. It strikes me that your IP is merely wanting more detailed information about your current finances, to put them in a position to be able to consider varying the terms of your arrangement.
Work with them as I am sure that they will get you the result you desire - and huge congratulations to you and your wife about the baby.
If that's the case, why are these requests only coming through so far into the agreement, when they've previously not been asked for and when expenses have actually gone down and are at or below the recommended guidelines? As for the arrears it's taken 16-months to ask for this information, so perhaps they are just sloppy?
They have already stated that they are not going to consider reducing payments due to me being "grossly over" the guidelines, for which the items they've requested are not at all. The money I am allowed to keep is based on and I&E sheet that was agreed by them, so isn't it moving the goalposts somewhat to then say that that sheet doesn't work for them?
I am sorry I cannot answer those questions, as I do not have detailed knowledge of your case, but my guess is that your IP merely wants to be able to put the best offer forward for you to give it the best chance of being accepted.
Your income and expenditure summary should certainly be based on what you need to spend and not guidelines which may not be relevant to your own specific circumstances. Why not try and have a chat directly with your IP personally, to see if he/she can explain things a little better for you?
