I have just completed the second year of my IVA. We are with Synergi and amazingly they have come back and said we owe a payment of £425. I don't agree with this. I have swapped letters with them, but find them most unhelpful. I am due to go to the Citizens Advice Bureau this afternoon. I was wondering if there is anywhere I can send the correspondence for a second opinion on who is right? I have been through all the paperwork, but we keep getting back to the same point. I have to say I have found Synergi terrible and would advise anyone against going with them. Can anyone help?
Do you mean your payments are due to go up to £425 or that you owe this for the last year(overtime etc). How much are you currently paying a month?? Has your income increased,and have expenses gone up??
Discharged today the 8th feb 2012. View is much brighter now.
Continuing to rebuild our credit worthiness.
plasticdaft wrote:
Do you mean your payments are due to go up to £425 or that you owe this for the last year(overtime etc). How much are you currently paying a month?? Has your income increased,and have expenses gone up??
Check the annual report as this may be a timing issue. When the report was prepared it may have been possible that the next payment was pending shortly afterwards and only 23 payments had been made. Alternatively, they have calculated overtime from your P60 which shows a shortfall. Do you know which it is?
plasticdaft wrote:
Do you mean your payments are due to go up to £425 or that you owe this for the last year(overtime etc). How much are you currently paying a month?? Has your income increased,and have expenses gone up??
A one off payment. They are claiming that our income has increased, which it hasn't from when we started the IVA. Last review my husband's salary had dropped as he had moved jobs. Now we are at the same level as when we started apart from a small cost of living increase. They have said that using the lower salary in the review last year against what we are now earning (£20.00 per month more than when we started the IVA) that there is a payment due of £425. Our income and expenditure reconciliation shows that our income is still below what we are expected to pay into the IVA each month. Our current payments are £545 per month.
Michael Peoples wrote:
Check the annual report as this may be a timing issue. When the report was prepared it may have been possible that the next payment was pending shortly afterwards and only 23 payments had been made. Alternatively, they have calculated overtime from your P60 which shows a shortfall. Do you know which it is?
There has been no overtime or bonus payment. I have had two cost of living increases, which means approximately £20.00 per month increase from what was agreed at the start of our IVA. There is one increase when the tax codes changed earlier in the year, but apart from that our salary remains the same. They have taken the figures put in the review last November when my husband's salary was lower, and have used this figure set against our salary now (which is only £20.00 more than when we started our IVA 2 years ago) and have said that we have to pay the difference. I have queried the tax rebate, no response, I have queried the fact that the wages have only increased by £20.00 since it started, no response, just requests for this amount.
Given that you are not going to be in a position to make a one off payment of that much ask them to allow you to add a payment onto the end of the IVA or split the £425 over the next 12 months(if thats affordable). Companies must be flexible to allow the IVA to continue,its not in anyones interest for it to become unmanageable.
Discharged today the 8th feb 2012. View is much brighter now.
Continuing to rebuild our credit worthiness.
You seem to know exactly what you have paid and you should stand your ground. Demand to speak to the IP themself who should review the case and ultimately accept your figures or show exactly where you are wrong. £425 is not a huge sum to an IVA pot but is a lot of money to someone in IVA.
My argument is I don't believe this amount is due. When they do their annual review what figures do they use for comparison? Those from previous reviews or that agreed when the IVA was agreed, i.e. the income and expediture agreement filed in Court? Athe start of our IVA our joint salary was £2784. Last year it dropped to £2683.24. It is now at £2803.97. The difference they are claiming is that between £2803.97 (November 2008 review) and that of £2683.24 (November 2007 review). There was no reduction in our payments into the IVA when our salary decreased, leaving a shortfall of around £200 per month. My understanding is that 50% of any increase over and above that agreed at the conception of the IVA when the payments were fixued, should be paid into the IVA. Does this also include tax rebates and changes in the tax code?
It is based on the net figure which would take into account tax rebates but the amounts involved are relatively small and easily covered by increases in inflation. The fact that you made severe household economies to maintain payments whenyour income reduced should not be used to penalise you. It may be that you are dealing with someone junior at the firm so I would again suggest you speak directly to the IP.
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
I will thanks - only one query can anyone answer my question in respect of which Income & Expenditure account is used to assess any over payment, i.e. that which was agreed and filed in Court or those in the following years? I thought the income & expenditure review was to compare what the income & expenditure is in comparison that that which was agreed at the outset, i.e. when the payments were set? - Sorry so many questions!!! dealing with this is like a minefield.!
The I&E review is to see how much your income has gone up, and what your expenditure is, so that if you have more disposable income, you may be asked to up your payments.
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
Thanks Kallis - however my argument is that the agreement specifically states 50% of any significant increase above that shown in Appendix V of my agreement, i.e. the I & E schedule completed at the outset. My argument is that their comparison should be with that, not with the one review showing a lower salary. Is that not correct? The I & E doesn't show a surplus, in fact is shows a deficit, i.e. a deficit of £175 between our income and expenditure and yet they are asking for an additional payment of £458!
