I see payment breaks as a way of failure and it puts you behind for longer. I prefer to miss a month and make it up over the next two or three which is what I did when I went to Australia for my brothers wedding in February and I was back on track by May. But this month I had to send almost double to the housing association to avoid them taking further action as I have rent arrears on there because they estimated the service charges too low and whacked a hefty charge on there and demanded it to be paid. So every month is a balancing act and you have to rob Peter to pay Paul and then next month it is Paul to pay Peter and so on. I tell you something I will be glad when I have finished the iva in Jan 18 and paid my payday loan and honeymoon and then financially I will be a lot less stretched and even be willing to add some more funds in to the iva. I also have a claim for payment protection insurance outstanding so I will introduce all of that in to the iva if I get the funds back for that.
At least the weddings are done and dusted, just got to pay mum back for the flight and then she will be sorted and then that will increase cash flow a little more as I try and pay her 100 per month.
Sounds as though you are really struggling so you need to either sort out a lower payment to your IVA or even think about bankruptcy as you have no assets.
I will be surprised if you manage to make it to be honest. PPI will go towards the IVA but unless it pays back 100p in the pound then you will still have to carry on
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
Hi yes I agreed to the conditions at that time but my circumstances have changed a lot since then, some for the better but also some have been harder such as managing finances without any buffer as things like my rent, food, gas, electricity and council tax have all increased more than my income has and although my partner contributes to them half of these new amounts is still more for me to pay than when I was alone all combined. For example gas and electricity was only 25 per month now for the two of us it is 67.50 per month so half of that is more than 25 pounds per month. Food shopping is another one that is very hard to budget for and very expensive sometimes and now there is two of us I spend more even though my husband contributes too. These are all which were not originally foreseen when I took it out three years ago as I was single then. When they did my review this year and I said how much my shopping can be, oh the max we can do that for is 200 a month and I said what for two people and they said yeah when I am sure in my original proposal it was 200 and I was single. I also asked do they take in to account cost of living rises and they said no they don't. So in three years everything costs more, I've had a 2.5% payrise in that time which is approximately 550 before tax per year and I am paying more to them per month. I managed to agree a smaller increase than they wanted but not without putting up a bit of a fight.
Ask for a review of your I&E if you are struggling but this will have to be dealt with and if you are honest it has to be better than them finding out later.
Chantal - if you don't make a payment for month then that is a payment break as mine was - we just upped the payment for the next few months to take that into account.
You do need to get this sorted out now.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
It wasn't a payment break as that extends the term of your iva. You can be in arrears for up to three months with them so I made the monthly payment plus a further payment of a third of the monthly payment for three months and I shall do that again from October.
Okay okay. I hear you. I will contact them and discuss the issues and hope that we can resolve them amicably so that everyone is happy, although I got a call from them in January just as I was leaving for the airport to Sydney for my brothers wedding and I just had to agree what they said then as they were not budging but then I did get them to agree a smaller payment after speaking to a manager and explaining I was getting married. Now I've got to grovel as I have got to find about 1700 still for our honeymoon by January and make up this months missed payment and pay my arrears to the housing association. I will talk to them. Thanks.
Oh dear Chantal you really are in a bit of a mess, an IVA is hard but one hopes that by the end of it a valuable lesson is learnt, whilst in an IVA you have to learn to get your priorities right, we have all been there or going through it now, this forum is invaluable you will be given a lot of good advice but it's up to you if you take it, I will reiterate what others have said - talk to your IVA company, good luck[:)]
Actually, a payment break does not extend the term of your IVA if you can add extra to future payments, as we did.
I am now confused about the fact that you are paying for a honeymoon? How on earth have you managed to fund that?
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
It is a breach of your tenancy agreement to have arrears with a housing association.
Even if you agree a repayment plan they can still take action to evict you.
You need to prioritise your debts - there was another post last week where someone has found this out the hard way.
IVA started March 2011, Completed March 2016 and certificate issued 11 days after final payment. It was not always easy but then some of the best decisions aren't.
Hi I don't think it is that bad Barbara. I've only missed this months. I can easily catch up. I was in a big mess before my Iva as I owed so many people and it was thousands of pounds. It will be fine.
Hi it is not as the company put the charges on. No one can do anything if you offer and pay what you can realistically afford. It's people who refuse to pay. I done lots of research on this. The housing trust are happy as long as I pay extra to reduce the bill but it is not my fault as they only estimate the charges at the beginning of the year. Most people these days I am sure do not have a spare 200 or sometimes it has been as much as 500 to pay out just like that and they do understand that. Don't comment and scare people as you don't know all the facts and what I have agreed with them and all the circumstances.
Your budget is set up as you know and foresee now but you don't know what bill or bills you will get in the future so I can only tell the Iva what I am aware of.
