New to IVA's

[skintnicky]

Hi my husband and I were seriously considering an IVA but then someone at work told my husband that if we did our employeers would be notified and we would have problem with our household bills in that we wouldn't be able to pay our council tax monthly any more and sky and orange would not accept direct debit payments anymore. Can anyone tell me if this is true.

Also what happens with any extra income that you might earn, I ask as I have just signed up as a virgin vie consultant with the hope of increasing my income but obviously I don't know how much I will earn yet but it is likely to be about £400 per month would I have to pay this to the IVA too and also what about bonuses? If I did have to pay this to the IVA would the amount to be repaid increase or would it just mean that the IVA would be paid earlier?

Appreciate any help.

Thanks

[plasticdaft]

Your employers wont need to know anything about it. Sky and orange will get their d/d's as normal(you may have to reduce your sky package to save some cash).
Different companies have different rules for overtime and bonus's,but the norm is you can earn 10% of your monthly salary without paying any extra to iva. After that 10%,half of anything you earn would go into the iva.


Hope that helps.

Oh and dont listen to friends,just ask on here,we are much more knowledgeable,having all been in the situation ourselves.

Paul

[skintnicky]

That's eased my mind a bit thank you. Do you know about Council Tax can this still be paid in installments?

[skintnicky]

Also can anyone tell me how long it takes to put an IVA in place?

[size5]

The Council Tax, along with all other household bills, can be paid for in the normal fashion whether monthly, quarterly or whatever so I would not worry too much re that side of things although it is true that if you wish to sign up for a new mobile phone contract you may have difficulty in doing so.

The timescale depends on a number of factors, but after choosing your provider (go to www.iva.com have a look round there re reviews etc, making sure you talk to 2 or 3 providers) you will be sent a proposal in writing. From there, assuming no problems etc, the typical timescale is between 6 to 8 weeks, but that can of course vary from case to case depending on the details of the case.

Hope this helps.

Regards.

[MelanieGiles]

The best thing to do when considering something as important as an IVA is to take professional advice from an insolvency practitioner. As other posters have already advised you, your employer is not informed of the IVA - unless they are a creditor - and your household bills will continue to be paid in the same manner. There are thousands of people in the UK subject to IVA proceedings, and many of them are employed and homeowners - so your husband's work colleague may just be ill-informed.

[luluj]

Listen to the advice of experts, not friends that think they know but actually they don't. Everything is ok in an IVA and ok you are on a tight budget, but it is satisfying to know you are positively addressing the issues!

[plasticdaft]

Better to be on a tight budget than juggling cards around thinking you are in control,because you are not in control of your debts,your debts are controlling YOU!!!

I was in control for 5 years...until I realised that my 999/1000 credit rating had got me into £70 grand of debt(gold and platinum cards coming out my ears!!!),and that I couldnt possibly borrow more to CONSOLIDATE(had done this twice already).

Your IVA will teach you to regain control of money,yes the budget is tight,but manageable(small hiccups apart). And you do get a sense of control back when you can go and buy groceries and not have to plan what card to pay for them with!!!

[kallis3]

Agreed plastic. I can now account for all my spending, whereas before out would come the plastic and it's not real money is it? Until the bills come in!!!!!!!!