Coming up to 1st Review

[Dumbeh]

We are coming up to our first review and I have to say, those sick, pre IVA feelings are coming back to me.
We have made all our payments, including some extra from hubby's OT. So far just about managed to keep our head above water, until yesterday when car broke down and we had to fork out £140 to get going. (Will have to borrow this money from a relative).
I am just worried that our payments will go up. Our wages haven't increased, although the bills (mainly food and petrol) have.
Is there any reason why our payments would go up if our circumstances haven't changed?

[kallis3]

I think you'll be ok Dumbeh, everyone is suffering with having to fork out extra.

[Goosed]

I`m in the same boat as you Dumbeh, coming up to review too.
All we can do is fill in our I&E forms with our exact income and outgoings and leave it to our case admin.
My concern is electric and gas, as my d/d will probably increase after my review, and my mortgage which is now open to all the rate rises that are sure to come soon...nothing I can do though, I`ll just have to deal with what happens when it happens.

[Broke of London]

Nerves are natural at review time...I just had my second review and felt just as nervous as the first time! I'm sure you will be fine. You'll only be asked for an increase if your I&E shows yu can afford it and that doesn't sound likely in your case. Congrats on being one year down!!! x

[Dumbeh]

Thanks guys,

It's a bit nuts really, having jumped the first hurdle, and always trying to reassure people that it does get better, I am now back being a worry wart.

It could be due to the fact that so far (car emergency excepted), it has been fairly easy since all the letters and phone calls stopped.

Maybe I should just stop worrying, fill in the I&E and concentrate on getting through it. (And dream of the holiday we will have once all this is done!)

[kallis3]

I think we all worry when it comes up to review time - it's a step into the unknown again!!

[Broke of London]

I worry because I'm momentarily putting my life in someone else's hands and they get to say how easy/ hard it's going to be for the next year. That said, at both reviews my changes in expenditure have been accepted without query and everything has gone smoothly. I do provide lots of evidence and explanatory notes alongside allowances in my I&E Spreadsheet so there is clarity about why things have changed.

[plasticdaft]

I have just returned my 3rd review paperwork and while my wage is up and a family loan which was taken up to buy a cheap car has been repaid(all cleared with ip),due to increased expenses as a couple the wife and I are perhaps £50-£70 a month better off. I expect they will want some or all of this extra but I will wait and see.

Paul

[pm5]

If your income has not changed then there is no way they should ask for an increase, the whole point of an IVA is paying back what you can comfortably can afford.
Lets not forget either that its not just people in IVA's that are struggling with price increases each week on fuel, food etc everyone is struggling & that includes the staff who work for IVA companies so the point i am making is that they will know themselves that expenditure will have increased dramatically over the past couple of years so there is no way they should ask for an increase into your IVA unless your wages have increased dramatically too & even then i am sure they would only take a maximum of 50% of any additional earnings after your expenditure has been taken into account.

[Broke of London]

The 50% rule doesn't apply to all IVAs unfortunately. Some people agree to pay across all of their additional disposable income.

But in the main, price increases are offsetting meagre pay increases for people and IPs and creditors are sympathetic to this.

[liverpig]

I was close to having kittens when my 1st review was due. Seems it was wasted as it went without mishap, no increases. My raise in pay (3%) in Oct was swallowed up with price rises in the cost of living and BE even ran through with me and agreed the review and I&E without a problem.

[zzalsnp]

If expenditure goes up and family income decreases due to different job and loss of tex credits could your monthly IVA payment actually go down or do IPs try to keep the payments constant?

Everytime I renew insurance it has increased, fuel and bills are increasing and household income has reduced since setting up the IVA. When I type the new figures into the spreadsheet used to set the original payment the final figure goes down by £100. Does anyone know whether this could happen at a review?

Thanks
Nick

[kallis3]

If you are struggling Nick then your IP has the discretion to lower your payments but up to 15%, anything over that will have to go to the creditors.

[zzalsnp]

Hi Jan, It's been a while since I last posted.

We're not struggling yet but everything went up just after the IVA approval. I've had some OT that's come in handy and I've been able to pay an uplift for 4 months.
It's typical - nursery went up by £4/day, after school club by £15/week, car insurance by £30/month, and to cap it off I switched utility providers when I started the IVA and they stung me with a £500 bill which I've agreed to pay £50/month. My new job is further away than I expected!

We are okay until the first review but I was just wondering whether IVA payments could go down reflecting the changes in costs.
All in all I just hope I can plan year 2 better than year 1.
I pay £566 (43p/£) but £500 would be much easier next year.
I've informed my IP of the changes but not asked for a reduction. I can take the hit but I hope they are as considerate when my costs go down or my income increases in the future.

Nick

[kallis3]

They can go down, you'll just have to make sure your IP is aware of all of the changes in your I&E. You don't want to start struggling.

Glad you're ok apart from that.