Now i know this is a little premature but Ive just had a call from the team that deals with Mels clients reviews.
He said I will need to provide evidence and explanation why things such as housekeeping are what they are as may need to knock down things at review time.
Now forgive me but we went through this with Mel on several occasions and kept note of spending. We both commute a fair distance for work/school and petrol only getting more expensive. We are a family of 5...i am currently feeding baby myself but by review she will be eating/on formula so additional expense plus nappys etc. We shop in Lidl/Aldi as it is and always take a list, go without the children to avoid 'extras' and use stuff up before purchasing more.
I was relaxing about living in the budget as it felt realistic...its end of the month nearly and getting tight but not dreadful. From October we will have extortionate childcare fees when i return to work which i am dreading. He said about knocking things down if over sllowances but when we did proposal our expenses where reasonable and real.
im now terrified that this team who dont know us will try and squeeze every penny from us and we will struggle. How does it work? Am i back to the worrying stage and fear of the unknown?? Can they insist on large reductions of our I&E even though its our actual expenditure? Mel led me to believe that our figures were not above the acceptable limits and creditors didnt fuss or question any of them.
All advice/reassurance welcome!
Yes it was written into proposal. We have a variable first year based on maternity pay fluctuating and then my return to work with childcare. Im just freaked out about the petrol/shopping costs with three kiddies and commuting to work. I do shifts and had flexi working but no guarantees i will get it approved again as got a new manager when i go back and they have to agree to it. If doesnt get agreed im gonna struggle with childcare and may end up working more days than i used to which then impacts on petrol etc!!! nightmare!!
You shouldn't have to justify expenditure that has already been agreed by your creditors at your next review time and I find it odd that someone from mels team has called you specifically to tell you this, does Mel know?
We have high fuel costs too as we commute a fair distance to work and living rurally are 7 miles from the nearest shop aswell, during our proposal stage we were warned that creditors may question it and to counter that they put a note on our proposal explaining why they were high, our iva went through with no query from creditors on that, and at review time, we weren't asked to look at it or to try and reduce anything.
Of all the companies out there I have found Mel to be very realistic regarding the real cost of living, irrespective of what the guidelines dictate.
I believe we are within the 'guidelines' but just a tad worried!
I had emailed team about what i need to file/keep for review as we havent had any contact since iva got accepted spart from a spreadsheet to monitor income for uplift (will not happen!!). I guess it got forwarded to this other team because they deal with mels clients reviews.
I cant cut back on food anymore than we have now. I walk when I can but need car for school run/work and visiting family in nearby towns. Maybe im worrying about nothing. Just when he said about reducing allowances like housekeeping snd petrol i got worried. I havent mentioned it to mel as not really much she can do...reassurance i guess. Oh well...things ate better now than 6 months ago which is the main thing. Next challenge is getting work stabilised for my return.
I wouldn't worry about it to be honest, there is no reason why you should be looking at having to rejustify your current expenditure at review time and try to cut things down, your creditors have agreed your current budget and if nothing changes by review time, there is no reason to question why your expenditure is set as it is.
I was always under the impression that for annual reviews for Mel's company, with any increases in the I&E (ie. gas/electric etc) would of course need evidence (bill statements), plus wage slips (to show any uplifts) and that was all - obviously, correct me if I'm wrong - I've yet to do one! Then the I&E to show these increases would reflect on whether you had to review your monthly payment (increase/decrease), again correct me if I'm wrong!!!
I'm with Mel and just going through our second review now, with our first, some of our expenses increased beyond the guidelines, I just sent receipts in that I had kept throughout the year and when I got my review paperwork back it was all agreed with no issues.
yes coffeebreak...he said spreadsheet with pays then send payslips quarterly (hubby gets paid weekly so this works out better). Im happy to send payslips etc its just he insinuated that they would review our housekeeping and petrol and make reductions. I heard him tap keyboard so not sure whether he could view our current I&E or not when he said it. Theres nothing fiddled as had to provide supportive evidence and housekeeping already tight and will be due to nappys etc. Luckily saving on formula/bottles at the moment as i can BF baby!! hehe!! Well im gonna forget about it..keep everything filed, send across payslips then see what happens come review time. Im sure theres nothing to worry about as Mel did a thorough case review at thecstart. Just hope gas/electric etc doesnt go up!
Hi Abbiesmum, sorry to read you have been a little unnerved. Rest assured anyone involved in your IVA, at whatever stage, has the same approach to expenditure as we do and ultimately Melanie is your IP and oversees your IVA. We are all part of the same bigger team. Things can change over a year hence why you may need to justify some expenditure but don't worry about it, if you need it, you need it. I have highlighted your post to Mel so she can respond when she is back on the forum later today.
Regards, Tina Shortland, Debt Advisory Manager for Melanie Giles at Debt Advice TV.
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Thanks for your reply Tina. I was just a bit unnerved by the mention of reducing essential allowances but it might be he just said it as a generalisation rather than case specific. I accept things can change and more than happy to review our I&E as the iva goes on. I just got worried if things like petrol get reduced if my hours st work then increase!
