Sent our I&E paperwork in recently with the relevant supporting documentation.
Got a letter back within 10 days saying thanks for the info, everything is fine and as our income had not increased then continue making your regular payments.
On the face of it a satisfactory outcome, however...
As I have my own business my income does fluctuate and as I am in the construction industry work last year did dip and at times I only had work for 3 days a week, subsequently when doing the twelve month analysis we showed our overall income had dropped, coupled with this we showed that some of our expenses had increased (items beyond our control) and we supplied supporting evidence for this.
Overall our disposable income each month has dropped by some £50 so to be told everything is ok and to continue as we were was a bit of a shock.
At the very least I would have expected a call or email saying they were concerned that we would struggle to make the payments.
It does make you wonder if any one actually reads all the information you send in.....
Yes on the face of it, that does seem a stupid way of them putting things. I suspect it's a 'stock' letter issued. However, an IP can't reduce payments without either you requesting it (in the case of the 15% clause that is in some proposals) or by calling a variation meeting.
If you are struggling then maybe you will have to ask for one of these to be considered?
Hi Kazza, The drop is well within the 15% so no need to call a variation meeting. Not sure at present how things will progress over the next few months we are going to suck it and see for now.
It just galls me that we have to jump through hoops each review date and make sure all the t's are crossed and the i's dotted yet they don't even comment on the content. I thought last year was bad enough when we received the annual report saying everything was progressing fine before they had even done the annual review...
These guys are making a lot of money out of me each year, the least they can do is read what I send in..
Surely an annual review means your i & e gets reviewed?? and im pretty sure if there were any increases in income that would be quickly snapped up and used as part of the iva - should work both ways but seems its all for the creditors!
font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by Spanna1310
Surely an annual review means your i & e gets reviewed?? and im pretty sure if there were any increases in income that would be quickly snapped up and used as part of the iva - should work both ways but seems its all for the creditors!
A sceptic would say its all for the IP who is paid a percentage of realised payments....
When clients of ours are showing a reduced disposable income at annual review time, we always ask them whether they feel they can afford to keep making the contractual repayments. Things like this are usually better discussed.
Hi Mel, that's what I had expected, a quick call or email asking about the current position and ability to manage ongoing payments. We didn't contact them prior to the I&E as they would just have said wait until we have all the paperwork.
Hopefully yours is an isolated incidend nickjohn, but if you need to reduce the payments then you should drop them an e-mail asking them to exercise their discretion.
On my recent review the D.I had dropped. However the letter did ask me to give them a ring as they were concerned.
I have to say that I had already addressed their concerns in a covering letter with my paperwork, which was, seemingly, overlooked -- I do like to be pro-active.
Anyway, a couple of emails and a reduction was agreed right away ---- so, a few speed bumps, but we got there in the end.
The silver lining was that I now have a couple of personal contacts who have been very helpful.
My opinions are merely that .. opinions based on experience. Always seek professional advice.
IVA Completed 23rd July 2013 .... C.C. 10th January 2014
nickjohn - I think I know what you mean. I've had 5 annual reviews and dreaded each one, which was daft as there were never any issues. A few times my DI dropped by £50 and was asked if I wanted a reduction but I declined as I felt that I could manage. Conversely, the opposite has happened, where my DI increased by £40 but was not asked to increase my payment. I understand your point in that you make a lot of effort each year at annual review time and don’t get any particular feedback. Are your reviews done by post? Mine are done over the phone so I can talk about things there and then. It is then followed up in writing.
font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by Sensible77
nickjohn - I think I know what you mean. I've had 5 annual reviews and dreaded each one, which was daft as there were never any issues. A few times my DI dropped by £50 and was asked if I wanted a reduction but I declined as I felt that I could manage. Conversely, the opposite has happened, where my DI increased by £40 but was not asked to increase my payment. I understand your point in that you make a lot of effort each year at annual review time and don’t get any particular feedback. Are your reviews done by post? Mine are done over the phone so I can talk about things there and then. It is then followed up in writing.
All my communications are done by email, I have only ever had 4 conversations with the IP (or should I say their assistants) in over 3 years..
This may be a silly question (forgive me, i have not had an annual review yet), but: If your IP agrees to vary your repayment downward within the 15% guideline, will your IVA get extended at the end of the term to make up this shortfall?
Like nickjohn, my net income has dropped as well, not by much, but a drop is a drop, and knocking a few quid off my IVA payment might help. That said, I might be inclined to keep it where it is, if I thought they might add another few months to the end of my original 5-6 year term.
My opinions are just that: Based on my experience and being a self-employed IVA customer.
