continually finding it harder to make ends meet

[barry007]

My wife and I have been in an IVA for two years now and continually find it harder to make ends meet. The amount we were told we had to pay each month was miscalculated by our case officer, ie. we were not given any allowance for the opticians although we both wear glasses, plus other small things that add up. So two questions really, the first, can we get our payments reduced without extending the length of the agreement, and secondly, we have been told that the house keeping allowance for 2 people for 1 month which includes all food and cleaning stuff etc is £340, is this true?

[kallis3]

Hi Barry and welcome to the forum.

I'm not sure what the allowances are,but if you feel your payments are too much, you need to speak to your case officer to see if you can get a reduction. I think most of them are able to do a variation of up to 15% without consulting the creditors again.

[Viki.W]

Hey Barry, welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear that you're struggling. I think that the housekeeping is within the CCCS guidelines, sounds about right. You should talk to your IP as you may be able to lower your payments without the need for a variation meeting but that might be just for new IVAs so please hang in there and a technical expert will advise you. X

[MelanieGiles]

The maximum housekeeping allowance for a two adults with effect from 1 September 2008 is £313, but really if you spend £340 your IP ought to allow that especially if you are able to maintain payments at the contractual amount.

It would be a shame to give up on the IVA after you have paid so much in already, but if you are finding things a struggle it is possibly time to renogotiate the level of your payments with you IP.

[size5]

£313 is the equivalent of £72 per week approx. Now, given that this is a housekeeping allowance and has to cover more than just food, am I alone in thinking that this is an unrealistic budget?

Regards.

[MelanieGiles]

I think that most of these allowance are unrealistic, but unfortunately the creditors seemingly do not.

[look_divine]

well i spend nearly £100 per week for 4 of us, rices for items is crazy i mean if you buy washing powder say its £7,toilet rolls nearly £5 for a multi pack it doesnt go far

[size5]

To put this into perspective, 5 years ago, whilst working for a different organisation admittedly, a survey was done by one of the major firms in this field that found that, whilst there was a minimum acceptable standard of living to be allowed for, we could allow on financial statements a maximum of £480 for food, £100 clothes and £60 for toiletries for a family of 2 adults and 2 children, £640 in total whereas if memory serves, and I am at home so I cannot swear to this, but the guidelines now indicate a maximum of £445 for similar cases.

This was 5 years ago remember, but I recall little opposition in getting those cases through.

Result? I very rarely recommend IVA's now for single people and couples without children as the allowances are not something that I myself could live within or stick to, as such it would be hypocritical to recommend a product that I would not look at myself.

The updating of allowances for people to have a decent life with is long overdue.

Regards.

[look_divine]

well i try to buy most things with bogof especially stuff the kids eat
like cereals crisps etc
toiletries the same toothpaste, soap, shampoos
you couldnt do it otherwise i wsh sometimes twice a day as my 5yr old is not the cleanest of pups im afraid and the other one rolls in mud so hence the £100 shopping
must cut down

[look_divine]

so whats the dividend for one adult and 2 kids?
hence my son is nearly 16 and eats me out of house and home

[LoneRanger]

Intersting comments Size5 as an IVA was recommended to me by yourself and i have a partner with no children.

[angelrainbow]

Thankfully my allowances are actually what we spend. We do have two very young children (both under 2) and so nappies, wipes, special formula (youngest has milk allergy!) had to be bought and paid for on top of everything else. I am aware it is at the top end though. Guess we just got lucky that our creditors accepted out proposal.

[size5]

In your case Steve, you specifically asked me to look at an IVA for you as you felt the DMP you were already on would take too long to clear the debts. You also stated that you were not willing to consider bankruptcy, so an IVA was a big step in the right direction for you. Circumstances conspired against us at the end of course, but I stand by what I said.

Regards.

[barry007]

Cheers everyone for your comments, I had only anticipated receiving a reply to my question from an expert. Silly me, I did not realise I was entering a Forum. Now though, I might as well use this site should I feel asking other questions or helping others with answers that I can give.

My wife and I will see our IVA's to the end unless of course we can reach an agreement before then but I am angry a little that the company who set up our IVA were not really concerned about the amount that was set for us to pay each month. I would say they were only after the biggest fee that they could make.

Catch you all later.

Kind Regards

[Soulgrowth]

Some interesting thoughts ... I felt that the allowances I was allowed under my IVA as a single person were quite livable with ... I always thought that I wwould never have managed so well had I still had a family to support ... there would be more unaccountables for with a family rather than a single person?

Debbie