I know that people are desperate to get their IVA's accepted, but figures should never be manipulated so that they are approved.
Surely that could be a recipe for disaster?
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
A complete recipe for disaster - aided by professionals who do not bother to understand and appraise their clients circumstances. It saddens me to see people treated in such way, at a time when they are being professionally advised and believe that they are doing the right thing.
I know Payplan are a big firm, but at no time did they, or our creditors, get us to up any payments or try and trim our allowances. For this I am very grateful.
We are coping well at the moment. I doubt we would if they had expected any more from us.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
We wanted iva accepted so we had to reduce certain things. It hasnt been too bad so far. Food is the worst but we have all had three meals a day. Fruit & veg etc. We could not afford school meals but they didnt have them before. My kids are "suffering" for our spending as we havent got spare money for treats now which I feel bad about.
Thanks for replies on this - but I am completely clueless which way to turn.
As you can see from one of my posts on this thread we have little room for change (looking at the I&E set by company) & we have only had a 56 pound increase since then which we have manged to get them to swallow the gas & electric. Though after letters & phone calls they still have not confirmed this on paper & this was done over the phone in December 08. I had to phone them in January to say "whats going on" & I still have not got it in writing what the stated over the phone. No wonder I am waiting over a month now for my review - only good thing is I am waiting for tax credits to send me my new award notice to confirm how much I am allowed this year as it has been provisionally reduced by 45 exact a month till renewal is sorted. Head hurts - must start blogg x
Final IVA payment made in April 2013, never ever thought we could do it or get through it but we did! X
An IVA.co.uk Mentor is someone sharing from their experiences of dealing with debt
I've stated in the past that our IP is Cleardebt. Apparently my husband cut the fgures down. He said we would only get accepted if we cut down on certain things so that the IVA would be accepted. So its hubby to blame. But I didnt want to go BR either.
Wonder, I am sorry you are struggling right at the beginning of your IVA & I understand about not being able to afford the "treats" side of things.
We have had to learn to adapt & find cheaper or free treats & its very difficult to say no after years of saying yes & slapping it on credit or in the weekly shop that was going on credit anyway.
I hate the fact i cant afford swimming lessons or Beavers & other clubs etc. But what annoys me you have to buy the uniform for them to go to some clubs & it can be more expensive that a school one!
But once you get going through your IVA you find ways & means saving on this & not spending on that. Not that i think you should struggle - no way its been very hard for us & I dread the next 4 years. I would also be interested as to which company you are with x
Final IVA payment made in April 2013, never ever thought we could do it or get through it but we did! X
An IVA.co.uk Mentor is someone sharing from their experiences of dealing with debt
Wonder - I respond to so many posts on this forum I do not recall the full details of everyone's case. I'm sorry that you feel that your figures were manipulated to get an IVA accepted, and hope that things will get a little easier for you as time goes on.
As Mrs Knight has experienced, you sometimes do need to cut your cloth accordingly, but IVAs are not meant to be an ongoing financial struggle either.
speaking from my own personal experience if I had put down everything I would like to have spent on expenses even though they may have been within the guidelines it would have left virtually no DI. I did the BR calculation on the cccs site which showed £1 DI. I put down what I thought I could reallistacally get by on for 5 years and still achieve a reallistic proposal that would be accepted. Unfortunately at times us husbands do what we believe to right at the time and perhaps although we feel that our partners fully understand what we are doing we may not have explained what is happening fully. I know I am not going out for posh meals for the next five years but I geniunely feel that we will achieve the IVA completely and I personally will learn so much from it in that I can't have something just because I want it.
Last edited by ivas4us on Thu May 21, 2009 8:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
IVA.co.uk The best place for debt advice. Thanks to Melanie Giles, David Mond, David and J (Elv5) Kallis, Dand, Skippy, Andy Davie
It is not a case of what you would like to spend - but a case of what you reasonably and actually do spend on essential items which should be taken into consideration.
The problem is Melanie as most of us have probably been consistently overspending anyway it is difficult to know what we should be spending. Pre IVA we probably spent loads on food but that included eating out and take aways. So it is always difficult to know what you would have been spending if you had budgeted properly to start with. I know I put £400 down for food for 2 adults and 3 children as I believe that we can achieve this with frugal budgeting. It is probably the first few months when you think that it is hard and then settle down to careful compromise to see the IVA through.
IVA.co.uk The best place for debt advice. Thanks to Melanie Giles, David Mond, David and J (Elv5) Kallis, Dand, Skippy, Andy Davie
I think that is right Paul, I think there was a naivity on how much I spent. My allowance for Food and household is definately not enough and I my wife is going to have to contribute extra to pay for this. However, I have £31 for lunch at work, so will save from this as I am on a cup-a-soup and an apple each day.[:0] Other concerns I have are car maintenace (for my wife) the allowance covers an annual service and MOT but would not cover any repairs. 4 new tyres would be £400 and these need changing every 2-3 years. My clothes allowance is not enough as I need suits/shirts/shoes for work. Also, forgot to include haircuts, hayfever tablets and some other small things that add up.
There is no criticism of anyone here its just that until you do these things you don't know what is reasonable and manageable. I hope if I get a payrise next year (more than likely) I can revise the above at the annual review and still keep my current IVA payment.
We were lucky this year - I had a payrise, but as expenditure has also risen we didn't have to alter our payments.
I take packed lunches most of the time, or if I am on a late shift it's usually a portion of home cooked food so meals don't cost me a lot.
The only thing that will throw us off track at the moment is if we have something major go wrong. That's not accounted for!
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
