questions that I have recently become aware off

[phs]

I am just over 2 years into my IVA. I have a few questions that I have recently become aware of:
Q1: I paid 4 months of 'voluntary contributions' commencing Sep 2005 to my IP prior to the formalisation of my IVA in Jan 2006. Will this reduce the period of my IVA, i.e. will it finish in September 2010 or January 2011?
Q2: Once my IVA is complete, how long will my credit rating be affected? My IP told me one year, but I have also heard it is 6 years.
Q3: The IVA is in my name only, but my wife's income was taken into account and continues to be. I have been told this is incorrect and that her income should never have been considered. Is this correct?

[rayb]

Hi,

I can only answer Q2 - Your credit history is only affected for 6 years from the dates of the defaults/IVA

I am sure an expert will be on shortly to advise the answer to your other questions

[welshman]

Q1. In my case, I paid three payments prior to strating the IVA and they were not taken off the term of the IVA or repaid to me.

Q3. i believe your wife's income should not be taken into account but that your I&E should reflect the fact that you are only paying a share of the bills for the house and your partner is sharing them.

[Reviva UK]

Hi there

I am aware of 3 IVA providers that collect up front contribution payments that don't go into the IVA pot. When questioned about this I was advised that because the banks have squeezed the nominee fee so hard in recent months this is how they collect the full fee.

[welshman]

Doesn't that mean that the fee they quote in the Chairman's report is actually incorrect and is actually higher than the creditors think? Is this legal? Which providers are those if you don't mind saying?

[ianmillington]

Whatever the purpose of the payments, if they were not to count as contributions they should be referred to in the proposal. Ask your Supervisor about it. Also, check your Chairman's Report to see whether there is a modification requiring all pre-approval payments to be paid into the IVA as the creditor reps have been working to try and stop the practice to which Paul is referring.

Question 2 - both are right. 6 years from approval which, assuming the IVA goes the distance, will be 1 year from the end!

Wife's income. Swings and roundabouts. I think in most cases a wife's income will be taken into account, there is a degree of logic in that she may have benefited from some of the debts incurred and the creditors view is that it is not appropriate for her income to be "ringfenced". Your IP ought to have got her agreement at the start to do this. Alternatively, you could omit her income but then you would only be able to claim your share of the domestic expenses against your contributions, so you might still end up paying the same - possibly more in fact.

[phs]

I have been contacted by a company who insist I was given bad advice to enter into an IVA, as I do not own a home, run a business, or have any assets. They advise me to declare bankruptcy, but I am concerned that this would live with me forever. In the short-term I would be better off, but would not my eventual credit rating be better if I stuck with my IVA?

[ianmillington]

Who has contacted you?

Ian

[phs]

The IVA Council

[ianmillington]

I can only recommend that you shred the document. They presumably have indicated to you that you have been missold your IVA?

They have got your name and address from the Personal Insolvency Website. Go to www.insolvency.gov.uk and go on the IVA/Bankruptcy search and find the entry for you. That is all the IVA Council knows about you so how they can possibly conclude that an IVA was not right for you defeats me. They are trying to charge you for an "assisted" bankruptcy. £1000 I think. If you neeeded to go Bankrupt and needed help in doing so, there are people here who will help you.

You will also note that the DTI has put a statement about the IVA Council on its home page.

Ian

[Adam Davies]

Hi
If you are paying your IVA each month then hang in there.
Your credit file will be clear of your IVA one year after your IVA concludes[presuming that is five years after it started]
The IVAC are using a simple rule of thumb to say that you have been miss sold an IVA,i;e no asset and a job that is unaffected by bankrutcy.
You have to question their motives,they will earn very nicely from you,indirectly,if you took their advice.The company that they refer you to,UK Bankruptcy,are a linked company.
The only point that you need to clarify is the payments that you made prior to your IVA,contact your IP and ask the question
Regards

[size5]

Every expert on this site, myself included, can point to many people under our care who should not, in all honesty, be there.
Categorically, that does not mean that they have been "mis-sold" to, it means that having had all the options carefully explained to them, they have decided upon a course of action for themselves.
I can honestly say, and I am sure Ian, Melanie et all will back this up, that I have NEVER forced my advice upon anyone, all we can ever do is to outline all the options and let every individual make their own mind up, I have often virtually pleaded with people to consider going bankrupt and have been over-ruled by honest, decent people who wish to do what they consider to be the right thing.

Have to watch what I say of course, but blood sucking leeches charging £1000 for something that can be done for nothing if necessary might be a phrase that you may wish to consider.

[ianmillington]

I believe that around 50% of my clients have been told (by my people) that they should go bankrupt. Having had all the facts drawn to their attention they then take the view to do an IVA, for a variety of reasons personal to them. If I agree to act in those circumstances I don't see I'm doing anything wrong, simply acknowledging the fact that the client has ethics too.

Ian

[size5]

50% is probably about right Ian, and I heartily concur that that most people show a keenness to stand up to their responsibilities that should be acknowledged, even if, technically, it is not the right financial advice

[Jinx]

Thats interesting advice from the experts...

I too have no assests, no emplyment restrictions etc. I have so far been in my IVA for nearly 3 years (May 08). That is simply because the IVA rep in the call centre never explained the other options to me as they were selling IVA's!

I have also received numerous letters from numerous companies advising that bankruptcy is the best option for me.

If I was to look at bankruptcy at this stage I presume I wouldn't pay back all my debts but my credit file would be significantly effected and the last three years would count for nothing. Is this correct?

I do feel that by paying off my debts I am learning a lesson about the value of money & I know I'll be creditphobic by the end of it.

I just wish that I had, had all the information in the first place!