left with no spare money at all

[aggi_p]

HI,
I had a creditors meeting last Friday. They said the lowest they could accept is £480 per month. I have added up my expenses and that would basically leave me with no spare money at all, i don't know what to do! my expenses are as follows:
£8.39 - Laptop Insurance
£44.60 - Car Insurance
£50 - Mobile (use for work and personal)
£28 - Sky
£30 - Gym
£150 - Petrol (work is 12 miles away)
£20 - Nails
£400 - Mum (money i owe plus rent etc)
£480 - Proposed IVA
= £1211.09

Which is basically what i earn a month. Obviously i could cancel my gym, choose a cheaper phone package when my contract runs out etc but that doesn't run out for a while yet. It also doesn't take account for MOT, service, car tax, AA and so on. I don't know whether to accept and try and struggle or look more to br?

[scaredkez]

hi aggi welcome to the forum i am afraid you will probably be told to forfeit the nails, gym and sky and probably get a pay as you go phone if it works out cheaper, you will also probably have to lose the laptop insurance as these items are classed as luxuries, you say you have to pay your mum £400 per month is this just rent as even if you owe money to family it should be put in your iva as you can't be seen as being preferentail, i am not an expert and i am sure one of the experts will be along to clarify any of this, do you own your own property and do you have any assets, as BR may be a better option if you don't as you have nothing to protect.
good luck in whichever way you choose keep us posted and let us know how you get on.
kerri

[batawi3]

You have to consider whether you can sustain paying that amount of money for sixty months, if you feel that you cannot then it might be better to consider bankruptcy. I was very lucky in my IVA as I was able to keep my sky, life insurance etc payments, plus quite generous allowances like gym membership etc

[123debtsolutions]

It sounds to me like your Income and Expenditure details were not checked and discussed with you thoroughly. I am interested to know what IP you are using? I would also urge you NOT to sign an agreement that you are NOT comfortable with.
I dont know enough about your current circumstances to advise on any other solutions but if you wanted to discuss this further with me I am available. Alternatively I would recommend speaking to your IP about any revisions that could be made at this stage.
I would also say that the likelihood is that your only other option maybe bankruptcy and if that is the case then it is upto you to decide whether or not this would be a better option for you at this time.

Whatever you decide I wish you the best of luck and both myself and many others are available to offer advice and assistance on the forum.

Regards

Lee
www.123debtsolutions.co.uk - 08000 114 123

[neverending]

There is no "spare" money in an IVA and I think that you have a fair deal.Remember you will be debt free in five years and your creditors will be writing off[guessing]a fair amount of money.
You petrol allowance seems very fair and you could use this surplus to fund your repairs etc etc.

[MelanieGiles]

There is a very simple answer to this one. If it doesn't feel right for you then don't do it.

You really need to think through that budget, and assess whether you want to live at home for the next five years without any luxuries. Putting down gym membership and nails is a recipe for increased payments, and you should be prepared to forego that type of expenditure when you are in debt, however on the other side of the coin you are the one who has to live through the repayments. Is there a particular reason which has led to your indebtedness?

Also the debt to your Mum should have been included as a creditor, and you should not be paying her back preferentially through the IVA. Her vote might have been the one which counted to outvote other creditors, at the end of the day.

I certainly would not accept increased payments if I felt that that would leave me struggling for the next five years. Do you have any assets which would be at risk in bankruptcy, and how important is it to you that your creditors be paid back something?

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

[aggi_p]

Thanks for all your advice. I got started with Thomas Charles who set me up with Wilson Phillips Insolvency practioners in Blackburn. The money i pay my mum is for rent etc and to pay back money i owe her, I will have to check whether that has been included in the IVA, it should have been. The phone, i can probably find a cheaper package but my contract doesn't run out til June. The gym and nails were put down as other things, meals at work and housekeeping I think so they weren't seen as luxuries. The car, I do actually spend that in petrol, sometimes more if i do a lot of splits as i drive at least 23 miles a day, although my car is older and prob not as efficient as it could be. The lady is supposed to be phoning me later today so I will go through it with her again but she said that's the lowest they would accept.What would happen if i told her i wanted to go bankrupt and how would this affect me in the future? Does it just stay on your record for 6 years? I do really want to do the IVA but i don't think i can sustain £480 per month on my current wages. Also, if I was to tell her this, could she go back to the creditors and say i'm thinking of bankruptcy? Would this maybe make them reduce the payments as i have no assets they could have? Thank you!

[MelanieGiles]

Hi again aggi

What payment were you originally offering compared to the £480 being demanded. I think the main problem you have is that payment to your mother. Creditors do not like to see high payments from children who still live at home with their parents, notwithstanding that you would probably be paying much more if you were in a private rental. Would it cause your Mum undue hardship if you were to reduce the payments to her during the IVA.

The other thing to bear in mind is that you will be subject to this arrangement for 5 years. I sense that you are fairly young, and is it feasible that you will still be living at home with your Mum over that period?

Looking at the figures you presented in your original post - there is nothing provided for car maintenance and road tax, medical expenses or clothing. It does seem a very tight budget.

There is nothing to stop you withdrawing your IVA offer at this stage, as I assume Wilson Phillips have adjourned your meeting. They should be fighting your corner now, but you and they will lose credibility over the proposal if you go back and say there is additional expenditure which had not been taken into account.

If you do decide to go bankrupt, you are correct in that it will stay on your credit record for the next six years, but then so will an IVA!

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