Hi Karen - and welcome to the forum.
I am a practising insolvency practitioner, and was also in the Army for a number of years, so I will be able to advise you from both angles hopefully!
I note that your partner has only been in his IVA for a relatively short period, and find it strange that his IP is seeking such a high increase so early on. How did they calculate his wages at the beginning of the IVA. Without appearing to be "too clever", I do find that a lot of professionals do not really understand military payslips, in that there are usually a lot of incomings and outgoings which are unique to Forces Personnel and which may not constitute actual earnings. That coupled with the additional expenditure - I remember those compulsory mess bills and regimental subs!
It is quite mormal for the IP to review a client's payslips on a quarterly basis. I insist on this within my own practice, and this is done to cushion the blow of having to pay over monies caught under the now commonly used 50% uplift provision - which the creditors generally expect to see carried out just at the end of the year.
For your partner to be asked for an extra £380 for one quarter, means his earnings have been on average £250 more each month than were assessed for the IVA. There must be a reason for this - has he been overseas recently and in receipt of LSA monies? What do you mean by the £13,000 the IP agreed on - was this his annual wage? Again doesn't seem to be a correct figure. What rank is your partner, and how much does he generally take home on a monthly basis after all deductions?
Your second point - no his debts will not be paid off earlier, unless of course he does manage to pay 100p in the £ over the course of the arrangement, which may be possible given the figures you have now presented.
Your third point - I feel sure that the insolvency practitioner must have sent your partner a copy of their proposals to sign, and then a copy of the version issued to creditors, together with a copy of the Chairman's Report - the detailed notes of the creditors meeting listing all creditor modifications (if any). Can you verify this with him for me? if he does not have copies to hand, ask the IP firm to send these to him as a matter of urgency.
Your point 4 - it is not really possible to change IP's once an IVA is in place, and this only usually takes place in the event that the IP dies, or moves firm. You would need to get a specific resolution from creditors and the IP himself to agree to step down otherwise - and this in unlikely (and costly). Can I ask who your partner's IP firm is? He must insist on talking to his IP personally to sort things out, as it seems to me that his payments have been set at an unusually high level and are not allowing him space to breathe - or the opportunity to visit his son, and that is an important priority which must be allowed.
Karen, it seems to me that your partner must undertake an urgent review of his finances - you can help him with this - get him to produce a copy of his IVA proposal which will detail the income and expenditure presented to creditors, and go through it with him to make sure the income figures are correct and the expenditure is reasonable and allows for all contingencies. If you find that a lower payment is required - and please make sure he allows for those regular visits to Scotland to see his little boy - then you must get him to approach his IP directly for advice. It seems that there may not have been much contact between them so far. I agree that your partner's mental state at the time of entering into the IVA has probably made him not appreciate the implications of the agreement, but it is now time to put things right.
This IVA may need to be varied, and perhaps you can post to me in a day or two when you have gone throught that budget with him - with a fine tooth comb. Tell him not to worry. There will be a solution to this, we just need to find it, and then can recommend a sensible way forward.
And please don't apologise for writing essays. This is exactly what this forum is for, and we are all more than happy to help you find a resolution. You partner has already made a generous offer to his creditors, which was perhaps (and sadly) unsustaintable. That does not mean that everything is lost!
Hope this helps you to get started.
Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.
View my IVA blog at:
http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk
