My IP advised me to hide savings. The house has been robbed and the money has gone.

[Emma.44]

The house insurance doesn't cover anywhere near the amount of cash so that's not a concern. I hope the catch whoever did this cos I feel worried that my home has been invaded. Getting the money back has become irrelevant really, I know I should have used the money on the IVA in the first place. It's hard for anyone to understand my particular situation, and very difficult to try and explain the emotions I was going through when I hid the money. I want to believe the last two comments so much, I want to help the police with their enquiries and I hope they won't take the matter further as I am holding my hand up now and showing that I will try to do the right thing now if I'm given the chance. I'm just so scared to contact them now, and jump when the phone rings in case its them. My daughter is insisting I see a doctor because I'm making myself crazy worrying about what might happen.

[ClareSilver]

Have you actually informed the police that you are in an IVA? If so, I doubt very much that they will be interested in your IVA (that part of it would be more of a civil case rather than a criminal issue). In my opinion if the police are aware that you're in an IVA, it's extremely unlikely that they will press charges on you for not declaring it to your creditors. The police would be more interested in trying to catch the scumbags who burgled you. However, unless they have fingerprints etc, it's unlikely that they'll be caught.

We got burgled in the middle of the night whilst we were sleeping - the scumbags actually used a blow torch to burn the PVC out of the kitchen window and take the glass out. They then got away with a credit card, packet of fags and a wallet. Swines......

Try not to worry too much and I'm sure all will be fine. Good luck.

[ivamess]

Hi Emma, are you feeling any better now? I hope that you are feeling less worried, and a little more reassured. I can see that you would want to hide the money because it is very frightening starting out on an IVA and our first instincts are survival aren't they? Anyway, as I said, I hope things have panned out for you a bit over the past couple of days.

[Emma.44]

Hi, thanks for asking, yes I am feeling a lot better. Still very anxious but its under control. I just lost all sense of persepective, felt guilty and angry and didn't know where to turn. I feel reassured that if anyone wanted to take the money hiding matter further then I think they would discover it to be pointless now anyway. Moving on with lessons learnt hopefully. Thank you everyone.

[tinks81]

I'm probably going to get shouted down here but I'm with the doubters on here. If you had so much money stashed away (too much for the insurance to cover, in your own words) then why the hell didn't you pay off your debts with it? In my (humble) opinion, IVAs are there for people who are genuinely struggling to pay off debts. To admit that you had thousands hidden & would/will end up having a lot off your debt written off frankly sickens me. I do have sympathy with the fact (?) that you have been burgled & had your privacy violated, but apart from that I have no sympathy. And yes this post is harsh, but it really has made my blood boil & I make no apologies for it.

[Desperate Bob]

I am with tinks81 on this also.

It must be horrid for you to be burgled and you have my sympathy for that.

But hiding away money is a big no-no, I sold everything I have to pay my bills each month and it was only when I had nothing left was when I contacted PJG for help.

Also it is well known that people inflate the claim with something like this and whilst I am in know way saying its what you have done it has that look to it.

I hope this post does not cause offence as that is not my reason for posting but more of that is how it can/does look to a neutral.

[Emma.44]

Understand the frustrations of the last two people, I would feel the same if I read my post and hadn't been through what I've have been through.

[Desperate Bob]

Like I said Emma, not for one minute do I think you inflated your claim for the robbery and in truth keeping some cash in the house for emergencies is wise.

But the people who come here are broke and struggling so when they hear about someone in an IVA who had a few thousand under the bed it gets to them.

Hopefully though this will be the end of your bad luck and I wish you well.

[andrea1968]

To those who are having a go at Emma, try to consider her circumstances before she decided to go in to the iva. Her partner has a long standing gambling addiction. Who knows how many times she has had to bail him out financially and what she has sacrificed over the years. Addicts will often get their money any which way they can, legally or otherwise. I would certainly want a back up plan if things got tough and I needed a(financial) back up plan to get out of the situation. How many of us decided we were not declaring assets, did we all hand over our homes,cars,jewellery, treasured possessions, valuables we would go bankrupt first for before having to let them go, just to keep the banks happy. I don't think so. Give the poor lass a break.

[martinw]

My iva was also caused at least in part by the addictions and problems of others. In my experience addicts are very good at getting every penny you've got, so I'm surprised the op managed to keep a few thousand. When I started my IVA all I had of any real value was a 10 year old car, a laptop and some premium bonds,my thoughts were more about ensuring I was declaring what I had rather than hiding it.

Martin

[Emma.44]

Thanks Andrea, that's exactly what it's been like, though if I was a mere lass I'd have less reason to panic. I'm a week away from turning 60, my husband, only this year after 35 years of gambling, has stopped after a complete breakdown about a year ago, he turns 65 this year. I have stood by him all this time, bailed him out every time, but when my father died recently I just felt that should be my little security, not his to throw down the drain. Having tried to hide money for nearly 40 years it becomes a way of life. Everyone has their reasons for doing things that seems crazy to others. I am a decent upstanding person who would never in their right mind break the law. My situation has affected my mind, thank you for showing some compassion, those of you that have. Those that don't, you remind me of how I have been about people who I can't relate to.

[Radish]

I can understand where your coming from. IVA's are so hard and we are left a modest amount to live on. I would have been tempted to do the same as you. I am sure we are allowed to have savings in an IVA? at the end of the day, household items break down, cars need repairs and if we dont have disposable income what can we do? Even windfalls cant be put away for a rainy day - we lose them....Just a shame some low-life takes money you work hard for. Really sorry you had to suffer like this.

[martinw]

You are allowed to have saving and save during an iva, but when you make a proposal you must disclose the full financial picture.

However sympathetic I and others may be to the ops plight, I think we must be careful not to condone making of false statements. If hiding savings and windfalls becomes acceptable it could make for s tougher regieme for others

Martin

[martinw]

font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by Radish

 at the end of the day, household items break down, cars need repairs and if we dont have disposable income what can we do?

My iva budget certainly covers car repairs. If you do get an unexpected bill you can ask for a payment break

Martin

[Radish]

That is true. Sadly it prolongs the debt as its capped on the end. Agree with windfalls, there is a line about what you should disclose. I think the advice should have been to put the money in a account that you dont owe any money too rather then stash it.. But I would tell my IP about it