An IVA is not supposed to leave you living a drachonian lifestyle, but making comfortably affordable repayments with no allowance for luxuries. Unfortunately, with various industry benchmarking guidelines, inappropriate allowances now dictated by creditors, and the attitude of certain members of my own profession - an IVA is becoming the new bankruptcy, whereas the relaxed approach taken towards bankruptcy expenditure allowances makes bankruptcy often a more favourable option.
Strange how times change!
Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.
For further details contact me at
http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at:
http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk