Thanks Lesley. I can understand where the creditors think they could get their hands on the additional £200. They thought the money going for the boiler was insurance... but it's acutally paying for the boiler which we had to replace 2 years ago as the old one conked out. That's £46 a month. My husband also has monthly gym membership at £42. But both the above are paid for by me - my husband doesn't pay anything towards it. I'm solvent and not trying to get an IVA. However, my husband does have private medical cover... He slipped 2 discs in his back a few years back and was in absolute agony, off work, unable to drive, unable to sit at a desk, basically housebound. He was getting nowhwere with the NHS - some days would be better than others, it's not a life threatening condition and we all know the funding pressures the NHS faces. Eventually as he was missing so much time at work and the slipped discs were the result of a work accident when he was asked to help shift box upon box of files as the office was relocating, his company added him to their private health scheme. Hurrah! He got a consultation, had an MRI scan, got a full diagnosis, a series of spinal injections (ouch) and eventually an operation, which finally in March 2008, (the accident was in November 2005) seemed to do the trick and life was almost back to normal. That's where the gym comes in though as it's a vital part of his regime, builds up his core muscle strength and enables him to manage his condition to the extent that he rarely has to take painkillers and if he's just careful he can lead a more of less normal mobile life. BUT... he was then made redundant from that job so starting to pay for the health insurance himself... it's around £90 a month. The creditors are saying that he doesn't need the insurance or the gym and our IP is arguing that he does. Anyway, I pay for the gym... They reckon he could get the same care for free on the NHS but we know from experience that just isn't the case. He could stop paying the insurance, but you just know that the minute that happens something will go wrong and his back will 'go' and he won't be able to work at all... God,I'm so sorry, I'm really rattling on here, but that's why they're asking for £200... And they're kind of penalising me in the process and the i take care of the boiler and gym payments. I'm solvent. I'm not proposing my own IVA and I pay as much of my husband's expenses as I can, given that I do have my own debts and loans to service too... The creditors have all the figures and will have seen that.. but this is how they're wanting to squeeze that bit extra... We're trying to get letters from my husband's GP and Osteopath stating that the healthcare and gym are necessities rather than luxuries... but I just have a bad feeling about it all and I'm now back to imagining knocks on the door and big bruiser types pushing their way in to grab our second television and pull the plug on the internet! sigh!
