www.iva.co.uk

hi there,
I have had my IVA since may this year and so far so good. Only problem now is that my mortgage is set to jump up by a further £350 a month as we had a special rate for 3 yrs which has now ended.
I dont know what to do, we have tried finding a new mortgage deal but every broker ive spoken to has said we arent going to find anything better due to the fact we have an IVA and my husband is self employed therefore requires a self cert mortgage.
Do we need to contact Synergi (our iva practitioners) and see what they suggest? When we had our circumstances worked out and our monthly repayment figure suggested, it was before this big jump in our monthly outgoings.
Can anyone offer any advice.
Much appreciated
Joanne x

Hi,

You do need to speak to your IP about this, especially if your mortgage is going to go up by such a large amount.

Was this increase not factored into your IVA when it was proposed?

no it wasnt something i thought about at the time with all the stress i was going thru, i just completely forgot my mortgage was going to be going up at the end of the year!
i was just so relieved to get the iva.
what can the IP do, if anything?
many thanks, x

The IP can normally reduce payments by up to 15% without resorting to the creditors, otherwise it has to be a variation meeting with the creditors.

ok thanks for the info, can you tell me whats involved with a variation meeting? does this mean the creditors vote again?
im totally stressed out with all this and just dont know where we are going to find the extra money.
thanks for all your help,
joanne x

Hi,

It is pretty much the same as a creditors meeting, and they vote as to whether or not the variation is accepted.

Why on earth was this not spotted at the time your IVA was being proposed? This sort of thing makes me really cross, because it is just laziness on the part of IPs who cannot be bothered to check the terms of their client's mortgages.

How much are you paying into your IVA right now, and if you are on a repayment mortgage is there the possibility that you could switch to interest only to shoulder some of the increased expenditure?

An increase of mortgage payments will be our main concern in July 2011 when we come off our tracker rate, but i have let my IP kown about it, and we are committed to working through it when the time comes, beaulicious you really need to contact your Ip asap, hope you can get it sorted.

My mortgage rate is due to end April I think it is and my IVA was accepted in Feb 2008 with the reduction in IVA payment accordingly, Melanie is right the IP should have factored this in. I hope this is sorted for you and do let us know how you get on.

thank u melanie, ive been dreading someone telling me its my fault for not bringing it up, but it just didnt occur to me at the time! (i know that sounds daft, but i just didnt)
We are currently paying £546 a month and im pretty sure the creditors arent going to let us drop by £350, but anything at all would help.
We are currently paying interest only anyway, and that worries me that we arent paying any of the actual mortgage!
If i ask for a variation meeting and they refuse to lower our payments, will it affect our original IVA, can they then demand bankruptcy or can we attempt to stick to our payments.
I dont want to lose our IVA.
many thanks, joanne x

The only option is a variation to reduce payments as £350 is way too much to have to try and find. If creditors do not agree your IVA will be failed and you will effectively be back to square one. If it would be cheaper to rent it may be an option to offer to sell the property in order to maintain the payments at the current level but regardless you should urgently speak to your IP as this certainly should have been spotted when the proposal was drafted.

i dont think renting would be an option, our mortgage payments have jumped from £160 to £512, which i still dont think i could rent a house big enough for my myself, my husband and 5 children!
ive worked out 15% of £546 brings our payments down to around £464, i shall have to see where i can cut corners in other areas to afford this, i really dont know if i can cope with the stress of a variation meeting, if it means losing our IVA.

You will not rent a property for that monthly payment suitable for a family of your size. Your IP should have noticed this and has an obligation to contact creditors and have your payments varied. Contact your IP urgently and explain the situation and insist on an immediate variation. You could offer a twelve month extension to improve the dividend and with the possibility of equity later creditors may accept.