Sd.. were nearly on 2014 now the school term has started so hang on in there. I know its a long hard slog but the light at the end of the tunnel is worth it. If u get it in your head that you may run for 6 years...im presuming in lieu of equity release then it wont be so hard to swallow at month 54 when u get the house valued and you keep your home. X
I asked friends and family if they wanted me to sell anything for them and to split the profits and I always ask for the sun days out tokens from people. Its amazing what you can get if u ask.
Best wishes
Cm x
Well that’s the thing – I didn’t have anything allowed for hobbies and leisure for the initial I&E and nothing in the first annual review!
It would appear that some IPs allow money for hobbies and leisure, while others don’t. It seems that some IPs allow pocket money, while other don’t. Some have a separate allowance for school uniform, while others just have a general clothing budget.
I know that you shouldn’t just talk to one IP when looking at an IVA but I would wager that most people just go with the first people they talk to and you end up just going along with whatever they suggest.
I expect some people would be tempted to add a couple of quid here and a couple of quid there to ghost money for 'hoobies and leisure' into the IVA; the reality is, of course, that 99% of things coming into that category these days, especially if teenagers are involved, are mega-expensive, so it is a very difficult circle to square, By the same token one can't expect creditors who are giving us all a chance to sort things out with them for a better future, to entertain the idea of a £150 expenditure item to take us and the kids to a local footy match one a month etc...
Last monthly payment made 3 June 2013 after 6 long years. CC issued 21 August 2013, but, er, lost in the post. Finally got it 17 September.
Older IVAs would not have had the same guidelines as used today but that does not excuse refusing these clients their allowances now. This makes things easier going into the last couple of years and gives the client more comfort to complete the arrangement.
Again, £40 a month for a family of 4 towards hobbies and leisure in this day and age in the expensive UK is a ludicrous amount. Lets not forget that the rising costs of 'everything' in the UK is probably what got us here in the first place. With two adults and two teenagers, £40 must be impossible. I have teenagers and as sad as it seems, they have ever changing wants and needs (like we did) which may not fit in with the IVA protocol. They also have friends who have more than what £40 for a whole family will allow who do other things meaning your own miss out on those 'teenage years'. Hell, a gymnastics class for one person is around £5 per session with an average 'hobby' (to keep people sane) a lot more. Times that by 4 and £40 is a pittance. Yes, we owe money but for gods sake, there must be some leeway. We are not expecting to be wined and dined with the best clothes, of course not, but this allowance simply strips away peoples and their siblings humanity and hope. Keep your chin up and state your extra's in your expenditure to obtain some sort of a decent standard of living. If not then incorporate it into something else and put forward a proposal which is more beneficial to your family. 5 years is a long time.
Ive had to give up my main hobby because of lack of funds to continue...was an avid Carp angler but a weekends fishing can be around £50 with bait, additional tackle bits and price of day tickets...Also along similar lines my car has broken down so often now i have to ask mum and dad for help. Embarassing and at 39 pretty pride-destroying. GT 'allowed' me to have the car repaired once putting my payment to the end of the arrangement but i know you cant make a habit of it and i also want this over with too! The guidelines are strict but i suppose its meant to be. I felot from day one i have been in a jail sentense but my circumstances are slightly different in that my ex wife left me in this all this mess, cheated in me, still remains in my house with her fella, whom she claims every benefit under the sun with and i cannot sell the property until my IVa ends - and her child (not mine) reaches 19. Its frustrating and she goes on 3 hols a year to the states (on DWP and DLA) yet i struggle to put petrol in my half knackered out car!?!?!
Last edited by geoffr on Wed Sep 04, 2013 9:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
What else is worth remembering for the people who don't have these allowances, is that your DI (disposable income) will be potentially higher as a result, thus yielding potentially higher fees for the IP. I'm not saying all IP's operate like this and I would certainly hope that they're in the minority, however it's worth thinking about.
A good IP will assess your income and expenditure and allow for sports, hobbies etc thus making a comfortable payment for the debtor and a payment which is more likely to be accepted by creditors.
I appreciate that a IVA is hard work - but there are also families out there who don't have an IVA, who work all the hours - and don't have an allocated leisure allowance.
Last edited by ginger323232 on Wed Sep 04, 2013 10:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
geoffr my husband is an avid carp angler too and I appreciate the cost of this hobby. We did five years in an IVA and I think his biggest catch was 16-18lb (although he'd prefer the big boys), we couldn't afford the lakes that hold the big ones. He went to the local river after stalking them out, used Morrison basics sweetcorn and home made bait (my son gave him body building whey? I've not idea) and although not ideal he enjoyed it. After the IVA finished it was always said we could have one monthly payment of the IVA each, my daughter, myself and my husband. He went to a tackle shop and was like a child in a sweet shop and topped up his gear. He now goes to a lake once a month at the cost of £10 per session and has learned to cut back through being in the IVA. Daughter and I still haven't had our monthly payment yet but we do have it here when we decide what we want but oh how our thinking has changed.
Hobbies do go by the wayside I know within an IVA and although it's not always possible to earn overtime etc., sometimes birthday/christmas presents have to turn to essential stuff too. Life isn't easy within the IVA but it is worth it, do keep plodding on all of you, every payment is one closer to the end and I promise you it does end despite at times feeling like it never does.
IVA final payment left the bank on the 26th January 2013...looking forward to a debt free future.
I am an avid patch worker and had to put hobby on the back burner as materials so expensive. You are quite right Lesley, birthdays and Christmas are great times to stock up and hubby always managed to get me a few bits for my Christmas stocking so keeping me happy and busy.
We didn't haver a hobby allowance or an allowance for haircuts or dry cleaning or news papers or cigarettes which I know some people have but we managed.
