tax credit overpayment and iva help please.

[janeyjaney1]

Hi, I'm new to this. I'm wondering if anyone could shed some light for me please as I am panicking like crazy.

Ok ill try my best at keeping it short as I can.
We are struggling with debt, it got worse when a creditor started taking £100 out of husbands wage as an attatchement of earnings.
I foned a Iva company for help as it is exactly what we need to do atm.
Anyway, last week I was starting to feel like the weight was lifting as I spent the week sending wage slips etc to the Iva company and filling out the forms. Anyway to cut a long boring story short, I phoned him tho morning to ask how long the whole process will take, he told me that we are waiting for the creditors to agree/dissagree and they are in particularly waiting for the hmrc one from the over payment of tax credits as this is our highest amount we owe and they are likely to keep us waiting and are likely to say no. this has made me panic, I feel sick incase the Iva cant take place, I'm just wondering if anyone has any experience with this, I would appreciate it. Sorry if I sound like I'm drowning on, I'm just very panicky atm.

[janeyjaney1]

Also I would like to know if anyone has had a [[no] off tax credits, is it likely they will say no? They are the biggest part of the debt. Thanks in advance for any advice x

[Michael Peoples]

HMRC have their criteria so it is hard to say how they will vote. They sometimes accept, reject or abstain depending on the circumstances and previous compliance issues. If they are already recovering money from an attachment of earnings or reduction in current tax credits they may be happy to continue on like this and therefore reject the IVAs.

HMRC do not like joint IVAs nor do they like equity in properties or high mortgage costs and your own IP must have discussed these things with you. Hopefully everything is approved but there are a number of reasons why HMRC reject IVA proposals so if they do your IP will need to point you to the alternatives.

[janeyjaney1]

Thanks for your reply,
They are not claiming It back from me at the moment, and I don't claim tax credits anymore due to my kids growing up. I'm feeling extremely anxious about it all, I just hope they say yes.

[janeyjaney1]

I'm so anxious, I suffer anxiety and I've put in for an Iva, I've now found out that tax credits overpayments could say no as its the biggest debt and its all in thinking about, worried sick, mainly because we have a AOE on husbands earnings from another creditor who are taking 100 a week and after rent and household bills it's leaving us with very little to do shopping and live, so an Iva would help us considerably, I'm so worried, what can I do?

[Foggy]

Topic merged so all replies are in the same thread.

[Michael Peoples]

If HMRC are not recovering the tax credit overpayment at the moment then you have a better chance of success. If however they reject you could consider bankruptcy and your IP will be able to advise on this option.

[janeyjaney1]

Thankyou for that info,
I was considering bankruptcy but we were a bit worried as we have a car on Hp with only 12 month remaining, its important we keep the car with my husband needing it for work as he works quite far away and starts often at 3am 4am and couldn't get public transport, then may face loosing his job, my husband is going to ring the court regarding this AOE to see if we can get it lowered as this is stinging us. If we can get this lowered in the meantime while we wait to hear from the IVA company it will be helpful, then at least if the Iva people say that tax credits disagrees and the Iva doesn't go ahead then at least we may be in a better situation to tie all our debts together and do a dmp, yesterday when I wrote the post I was panicking like crazy, today I'm feeling a little more positive that if the Iva doesn't go the way we want there is a solution.
Thankyou for your time and I'm finding this site very helpful.

[janeyjaney1]

I'm just wondering, would it be likely that the courts would lower the AOE if we explain our situation as to not coping? Does anyone know?

[Michael Peoples]

If the IVA is accepted or your husband petitions for bankruptcy the AOE has to be removed. If however he enters a DMP he can apply for a variation to the order and your local CAB would likely be able to help.

In bankruptcy there is no reason for the vehicle to be lost as it is allowable. However he should check with the HP company in advance as some have differing rules to others.

[janeyjaney1]

Thankyou for your reply and advice, I didn't know that, I will speak with my husband tonight. Thankyou again.

[janeyjaney1]

Sorry if I sound a pain, having a panicky day again, I've just heard that the hmrc like to take their time in giving a reply, do you know if this is true? I'm wanting to resolve my situation as soon as possible and if they decline the Iva then I'm able to move forward and make the necessary desisions, its this waiting that is really starting to get to me, I feel like I'm in limbo. Every single day feels like a week,
I wish I didn't suffer anxiety and panic disorders as it makes me feel like its 100 times worse than it is.

[Michael Peoples]

That is nonsense. HMRC are the quickest to reply to IVAs and usually vote at least a week before the meeting. Most other creditors do not vote until the day before or even the date of the meeting but HMRC are usually much quicker. They like to vote early so any queries can be addressed and there is no need for any adjournments.

Whoever told you that is either confused, does not know what they are talking about or spinning a yarn. When a meeting of creditors is called all creditors are given the same amount of notice and HMRC usually vote first.

[janeyjaney1]

Thankyou so much for clearing that up for me, that's put my mind at ease a little, it was actually someone on the CAB chatbox that said it, my husband said it sounded a bit wrong, they shouldn't say it really without knowing the facts as they may be giving out false info to vunrable people.
Thankyou once again. I'm finding this site very very helpful, well done on all the brilliant advice you give to people, its also very reassuring to know i am not alone.

[janeyjaney1]

Update. Week 3, I still have not heard anything back as yet, I will be phoning them today to see where we are at. Last Tuesday I was told they are waiting for hmrc for their vote. I'm hoping that this week we have a result as to seeing if my Iva is accepted or back to the drawing board,