Oh my! I'm in a right mess.......again! I have had an IVA with Debt Free Direct since May but they are not as good as I thought. I have just found out that they have sorted out my repayments on the basis of me having one child instead of two...even though I made it crystal clear on my initial forms. This has made my repayments way more than necessary and way more than I can afford. I can't afford next months payment and have £16 left in the bank till pay day at the end of the month...panic is setting in and they have not yet replied to my lengthy letter I sent over a week ago. My question is can I swap to a different IVA provider?
Why don't you dig out all your documentation and go through it all ? Have the repayments changed ?? If the payments were too high at the start, did you point it out to them ??
I'm not sure if you can swap but I'm sure one of the advisers will be about to confirm.
There's light at the end of the tunnel - it's just that sometimes the tunnel seems so long.
Hi
You can't change but you can ask for a change in payment,they may need to go back to your creditors though
What figures were in your proposal ?
Regards
Well, when I started my IVA my eldest son (17)was working and agreed to pay me £104 a month. Weeks later he got the sack, bless him and has not worked since. Anyway the IVA swallowed up his rent money and he was described as a non dependent on my proposal. I presumed this was because he was a working lad. I was allowed £210 a month for food and household expenses but have since found out that I should have been allowed more......it's no joke feeding myself and two kids on that. My daughter has started college this month and now I have all the added expense of that and DFD are not being helpful...sob. I always maintained that my monthly payment of £510 was too much for me to pay but they kind of gotme over that barrel, scared the bejibbers out of me and here we are!
Jude - when you signed the proposal did the figures quoted (which were presumably based upon information provided by yourself) appear affordable? And how on earth do they expect you to feed yourself and a child on £210 per week - ridiculous!
If you have been coerced into accepting an unaffordable repayment, and brought this to the attention of the firm acting for you, I guess both sides have to take some responsibility for that - but clearly you cannot afford to live for the next five years on that budget, whilst also supporting your son.
It may be too early to put a variation to creditors, but you do need to have urgent discussions with your IP to try and save the IVA, or to consider other options available to you. Again, this post highlights the need for all people thinking of offering an IVA to creditors to ensure that payments are affordable.
I kept telling them that I would not be able to afford the payments but they said the creditors would not accept less. I have had to cancel next months payment to pay for my daughters bus pass and car tax which is going to set me back £410 not to mention the MOT! Needless to say I am expecting trouble. Would it be more realistic for me to go straight into bankruptcy because there is no way I can afford this for another 4 years and 7 months. What do I do??
IVAs MUST be based upon what you can actually afford and not what you IP may say you have to pay to effect a minimum dividend. This is a recipe for disaster, and to be honest you should not have signed your IVA proposals in the knowledge that you would not be able to afford the payments. Bankruptcy must now seem an attractive option to you, and if you have no assets which would be at risk it may be the best way forward.
It does sound like a viable option now even though I wanted to avoid it. What would happen though? I have no assets and live in rented accomodation. I do own a car though, would I have to give it up even though it's not worth much and I need it for work?
Jude, I was in a similar situation to you. I was in an IVA that I couldn't afford and despite telling the company that there were errors they told me not to worry. I made 4 payments and ended up going BR.
You need to speak to your IP and see what they say. Make sure you speak to the IP themselves, and not a member of the admin team. If you decide that there is no other option for you other than BR you will need to inform your IP of your intentions and ask them to fail the IVA, which is usually done after 3 missed payments. A lot of courts now say that the IVA has to be failed, and you must have proof of this before you can petition for BR.
Regarding your car, if you need it for work (rather than just preferring not to use public transport) and the car is worth less than £2500 you should be able to keep it. I was allowed to keep mine, as although there was public transport, I wouldn't have been able to get to work on time.
Good luck with whatever you decide, and please keep asking posting to let us know how you are getting on x
Great practical advice by Skippy - who has followed the same journey as you may be heading for and admits herself that bankruptcy was a much better option than struggling to pay an unaffordable IVA.
Dear me it just goes to prove that you should check and double check! I phoned debt free direct and wrote to them explaining that I could not afford the payments and told them that I have cancelled the next payments and that my intentions were to go bankrupt. Some days later Debt Free Diret phoned me and told me that they have worked my IVA out all wrong, they have based it on me having 1 child not 2 and that I should not be paying as muh as I am. They are sending me a new proposal which I should recieve in the post soon. I have to be honest though, I am so cross that they forced me into a position where I was unable to feed my kids or buy eletricity, I still want to jack it in, go bankrupt and be done with it. How dare they put all that stress, worry and panic on me because of an internal misunderstanding! I have lost patience. When my new proposal comes what exatly can I claim as expenditures, for example, can I claim for clothes for my kids, pocket money, flee treatments for my three cats etc. They may be petty expenditures for some people but are important to me and my family. Just how ruthless can I be? I won't be pushed or scared into a corner again regardless of how much I owe. I know it is my mess and I am solely responsible for making the decision to take out loans I could not afford but I had no options at the time! i'm sorry to get on my soap box but I am cross!
What a ridiculous mistake to make - and this suggests that you actually had little involvement in the preparation of your own IVA proposal! Where did they get all of those figures from, and how did you think that you were going to be able to make those payments.
I simply do not understand how things like this can happen in a professional firm. Did your IP actually discuss the IVA proposal with you at any time during the process?
Yeah I wondered those things too. By the time I had entered into my IVA I was at breaking point, not sleeping, on medication, pretty much prepared to do anything to amend my situation, keep my sasnity and protect my kids. I had to believe that my IVA provider was working with the correct informtion and giving me good, honest, accurate advice based on those those facts. I was scared and vulnerable and without options. Now I am cross and wondering if I want to start the process again - bank statements, benefit proof etc. My creditors accepted the IVA grudgingly to say the least, they said I could cut costs on my internet, mobile (which are on fixed terms till next year) and cats and upped the payments my £45.00 on the day my IVA as presented. I'm not going to be backed into a corner again because they made me a victim - I went there with my ex husband - once bitten and all that! If I had access to money I would pay it all back but I haven't and I am sorry. I have nothing to show for all my debts except 2 healthy, well adjusted kids which I am very, very proud of. I have spent every penny I have borrowed for the last 15 years on them and am not ashamed to admit it. If my experience with Debt Free Direct does nothing else I would like it to serve as a warning to other vulnerable women to not be afraid of their circumstances, ask, ask and ask again. Be firm and state your case which is what I intend to do when I embark on my new proposal and if it aint right forget it and go elsewhere or go bankrupt.......you've already reached rock bottom it cant't get worse!
There is an important lesson here for others, to check, re-check and check again that the IVA proposals put before you are realistic and sustainable.
And you have the most priceless possessions ever - two healthy chidren who must absolutely adore you! Can't put a financial valuation on that - and I wish you the very best of luck for the future.
