Questions about setting up an IVA

[Katy1974]

Hiya, I'm just setting up an iva with payplan and they've been great. I've just got a couple of questions that have come to me late on a Saturday night.
1. Can I still get a mobile phone contract when my iva is set up? I am with vodaphone at the moment which finishes in may. I would like to stay with them for another contract if I am allowed
2. Will I still be able to pay for car insurance monthly or us this classed as credit?
3. I sometimes have to do overtime. I have been told that if I am able to provide receipts for extra expenses ie new windows then I can use this money for this without giving them the 50%. is this right? What sort of things can I use this on? Would I get away with buying the children a tv for Christmas with this money. I have been allocated the maximum £50 for contingency which with 3 children isn't really going to provide much of a Christmas. As we haven't done anything with the house for years we have some essential jobs that need doing.
4. At the moment I have a small savings account at work and my savings of £25 a month come straight from my wages. I usually have less than £150 in it as I use it for car tax / mot / Christmas presents. I have been told that I have to close this. Is this right? Surely if I have a monthly allowance for car repairs why can't I keep it in this account?
Thank you so much for any response. I am really hating this IVA business and wish their was another way out!!

[flumpy dog]

hi katy welcome and congrats on getting started,
if you already have a contract with a firm then upgrades should be fine. im with t mobile and have been with them since my iva began in 08.

your car insurance should be included in your outgoings

most iva plans have a clause if you do over a certain amount you have to hand over 50 %. if you were told otherwise by payplan then check with them before you spend.
i cant see why you cant have a small contigency savings account for expenses-perhaps one of the pros can confirm.

dont feel bad i beat myself up many a time (and get a good clip round the head from the guys on here-kal x) they keep me going and i know that the iva is a means to an end. try and think positive its not easy but posting on here and venting really does help as ive learned good luck fd xx[:o)]

[plasticdaft]

Point 3 I think you have been misled or have misunderstood whats been said(easily done with all the confusing jargon!!).Get a clear answer before going ahead.

Paul

[kallis3]

Hi and welcome.

As stated, you should be able to sort out a new contract with Vodaphone - they will just check that your account with them is up to date. It's unlikely that you would be able to move companies though.

Any insurances can be paid monthly.

You will probably find that your overtime comes under the 10% 50/50 rule. You get to keep the first 10% over and above your normal take home pay and the rest gets split 50/50 between you and your creditors. You might be able to keep some of the rest but you would have to have a very good reason to do so.

You won't be allowed to buy your kids a TV unless you can make savings from other allowances. Christmas and birthday allowances are not allowed.

You should be able to keep this account open, a savings account is an excellent place to put your contingency allowance and any small savings you can make. I doubt you will be able to continue having £25 a month deducted from your wages for savings.

If you're not happy then contact a couple of other companies - the experts that post on here come highly recommended and you can find their details under the 'Ask a Question' link on the left hand side of the page, or visit the comparison site www.iva.com for a list of companies and ring a couple for some free advice.

[Shining]

Hi and welcome to the forum, have you taken the advice of more than one company? If not, I would respectfully suggest you contact another couple just to ensure you get case specific impartial advice. Payplan are a good company and we do have posters with them but always best in my opinion to take the advice of 2 if not 3.

Mobile upgrades are usually fine (I upgrade with 02)
Monthly insurance is fine, I pay mine monthly.
as Paul says point 3 needs clarification.

[Foggy]

Hello and welcome. I would certainly do as Lesley suggests above and get some other firm's advice. www.iva.com is a good place to visit for details of reputable companies.

On the 50% thing ...... the 50% you need to pay into the IVA can be used for other spends in exceptional circumstances, and only with your IP's prior consent. TV's will not qualify.

As for the savings. I doubt you will need to actually close the account. The bugbear here is funding that account. The £25 per month will not be allowable as an expenditure, but, if paid from your normal allowances it should be OK. So, in reality, that £25 deduction from your wages will be ignored and will be included in your disposable income. To keep making the payment you will have to fund it from, say, your housekeeping allowance.

[Sarah1967]

I agree with Foggy re-savings. I don't see that it makes any difference how you save for things like car tax/xmas presents/MOT's etc. I have a couple of on-line savings accounts that I've set up in readyness for my IVA to start. I will be using these for those very things.

So long as your IP company use this £25 that you save with work in the calculations for your disposable income then that should be fine. Maybe they were saying to close the account with work to make things more straight forward?

I guess that if they insist, then you could just open an on-line savings account with your bank, and put the money in there instead

[kallis3]

I will be surprised if Katy is allowed to continue with savings from her salary when this can be paid across to the IVA.

If, however, she can fund it from savings from other allowances there is no reason why she can't carry on with it.

She may well have to justify it at annual reviews though if it is still showing as coming out of her salary,

[Sarah1967]

I can see what you mean Jan. I did mean that I thought she should be able to be able to save the £25 so long as she funds it out of her allowances. I know she wouldn't be able to have it down as an expenditure

That's why I thought maybe her IP was saying to close the work account - to make it clearer for her IE report.

The on-line savings account that I've set up will be used to put any spare money in that I manage to keep from my various allowances. Just thought she could use the work one like this.

[kallis3]

If she can fund it herself and put it away in a savings account there won't be a problem but I think she may have to stop the taking of it from her salary.

It may well be that this account has to be closed but you can always set up an account with your own bank.

[Foggy]

I can see the wish for the IP to make the situation clearer, as Sarah says, and the potential difficulty of having to justify it at every review. But, as long as the disposable income is based on her salary BEFORE deducting the £25 I can see no problem, as it then, effectively, comes out of her allowances.

[Katy1974]

Hiya, thanks all for the replies. I've had to register as a different name to reply.
Really pleased about the phone and car insurance. I shall have to speak to my ip about the overtime. I am going to stay with payplan as they were recommended to me through work. The ip is fantastic and always answers my worries but not sure if I am 100% about them but I can't be bothered with all the hassle to give all my information to another company. I'm a but concerned that I was told it was fine to open an account with first direct only to find out that they are the worst people to go with. Too late now as I've changed everything around.
I was definately told that as long as I could justify my extra expense with overtime then that was fine. I had specifically called about quiries about overtime. Nothing has been done to our house for years. The boiler is 40 years old and cupboards are falling of the walls. The wooden windows have gaping holes. I shall have to double check now.
With regards to my saving account this is used for car tax and repairs generally and I have no problem in it being taken off the car money. I haven't tried to keep it secret it is just a way to keep that little bit in reserve. Surprisingly my partner hasn't been told to close his. I shall just have to read all the fine print when everything cones through.
Thanks again for all your replies

[kallis3]

I'm with Payplan and had no problems so far.

First Direct will close your account - they are well know for it. They trawl the Insolvency Register to see who has an IVA or is bankrupt.

The Co-op come highly recommended so I would look at changing to them if they are not a creditor.

Co-op are well recommended

[Katy1974]

I'm going to leave it for now as I've only just finished sorting it all and wages are due to be paid in this month. I might just set one up as a savings type thing and then it is there ready for when they close it. I just need a few months to let everything settle as I'm feeling really stressed by all this. Just waiting for the letters to start asking why we haven't paid which I'm dreading. Up until this month we have paid everything on time. The credit card bill had got bigger but it is all paid! The most frustrating part of it us that my oh is relieved by it all whereas I would rather struggle and keep paying. He has had this problem for many years and wanted to do it years ago as it was always his debt from when I met him. I am only in this situation because of bailing him out and trying to keep onto if it and allowing joint loans etc.
Sorry I'm waffling now, I'm just really down about it all and have sn important exam on Tuesday which doesn't help

[kallis3]

Sorry that you are feeling so down and hope that you can get this sorted.

Don't ever worry about waffling on here.

Hope the exam goes ok.