My hubby and I had a face-to-face with our IP yesterday. Sorry, NOT IP the case manager. He took the draft and went over it page by page. He seemed confident he could get it accepted as he has professional experience in dealing with the creditors before. He has had only 2 IVAs outright rejected in the past year. This gave me and hubby encouragement. He then added that there are no guarentees it will be accepted and/or accepted without modifications. We felt deflated again.
He explained the creditors could vote yes to hubby's and no to mine and that means it is not accepted. It could happen the other way around with the same end result because they are interdependent upon each other.
The windfall statement. He explained if a £100 or less we do not have to report it to him,but over a £100 he needs to be informed even if it's won on the lottery. Any payrises, must be reported immediately along with bonuses and overtime;and 50% will be taken and given to the creditors.The payrise may not be put towards the IVA IF certain expenditures increased, i.e., fuel costs,utilities,etc. The yearly review he explained we have to keep receipts of any item that cost a £100 or more even £100.01 and a record of what it was, etc. The notional selling costs can't be included in the IVA because we are not selling the property.
In the event the IVA fails he stated hubby and I would return to the pre-IVA situation and either we or the creditors could petition for bankruptcy. He has an obligation to inform the creditors that (after all other venues of reasonably maintaining the IVA have been sought)we
have failed, then it is out of his hands and we deal directly with the creditors.
He made it very very clear that IF that should happen,''do NOT think... you might not lose your home, you may not lose your home, think, you WILL lose your home...'' He then continued to explain what going bankrupt entails, beneficial interest, an OR and his/her role,paying ex-creditors back 75% of disposable income, etc. After all of this he asked us did we have any questions no matter how silly we feel they may be about the IVA or bankruptcy.
He also stated that those in the military and police officers can go bankrupt without any problems in loosing employment.IP experts, did I hear him corrrectly? He said the IVA is evolving as we spoke and even more changes will be evident in Sept.2007. He then stressed the importance of maintaining an IVA.
It made me think of an 'IVA philosophy'. Basically, you are living on next to nothing to pay back your creditors and rightfully so to ensure the maximum payment to your creditors. You and your IP are sort of glued-at-the-hip for years. S/he are always in your life for the duration of your IVA....period. It's important that you like him/her and trust them with your life because that is what an IVA is, your life. At the end of it,you keep the second most important thing,your house(hubby and children are numero uno)and learned how to budget very well all with cash.
So, what's next for me? The corrected IVA will arrive by this Friday. We sign and return it. He receives it Monday and files it at the court house within 2 days. He said the creditors meeting will take place 4-6 weeks from the time it's been filed at the court house. In early March probably if not sooner. We may beat the Charging Order final hearing. He explained the process of a Charging Order. It's not as automatic as I thought! We still can't afford one because I do not start working until 6 Feb. Payday is the last business day of the month,but we shall see.
Overall, we left his office feeling relieved. We also felt he was helpful, informative and trustworthy. We especially liked it when he said if we ever fell into arrears or any problems related to the IVA to let him know immediately and he will assist us the very best way possible. The important thing is, is to contact him *immediately*.
The only thing we did not know was that we have to pay £92 a year for a bond before the creditors meeting. After that the payment of the bond will come out of the monthly IVA amount.
With all the negative experiences posted about IPs I thought it only fair to report a positive experience to show there are good honest IPs out there.[:)]
Thank you all who have taken the time to answer my questions. This site was excellent for information and support during a very stressful time in my life. I shall continue to post with updates and to share the bit of knowledge I have gained from going through the experience of the IVA process.
All I have left is my humour.
