www.iva.co.uk

Thanks a great deal of good advice I successfully entered into an IVA through MyVesta (who claim to be the best debt solutions expert in the world). They directed me to Grant Thornton who now deal with my IVA. As I spend only on my essentials and very little for all else, I have just about stabalised my expenses. But with inflation creeping in, it's becoming somewhat difficult to keep pace. Regardless of all concerns I am determined to put aside some money on a savings account merely as a habit and I would like to have it put on a direct debit, with the money going from my account directly to the savings account. I am aiming to save around £10-£30 a month. My IP told me that saving anything over £5-10 is not a good idea as this would account for as disposable income and should therefore must be forfeited to my IP. The truth is I plan to save this money by walking to work instead of depending on public transportation.
Sounds very dire, but in reality I gain a good deal of exercise with a quick brisk walk etc. Anyway, is my IP accurate in the information they have provided? Am I really restricted on saving money even in the smallest context?
Also just recently I received a called from another IP asking me about my financial situation and also proposing that I switch to them for a "better deal". I don't even know how they got the number. Is this a scam of some sort?

Hey powerhouse, I think that if you can walk instead of using public transport then you can save that money for yourself. Remember, there may be times that you won't want to walk, like when it's snowing. So you really need that expense. I don't know if the advice they have given you is wrong, I'm sure Melanie or one of the other IPs can advise you.

I believe that anything you save from your allowed allowances is yours to keep. Im sure one of the techies will be along to advise also.

Firstly, it is eminently sensible to set aside some money into savings if you can afford to - to meet expenditure which is not paid out regularly or is unforseen. I cannot believe that your IP said that you could not do this, but perhaps this was mentioned by a member of their staff who might have been a little inexperienced. I know your IP well and can say that they would actively encourage sensible budgeting whilst in an IVA.

With regard to another IP contacting you to find a "better deal", may I respectfully suggest that this is not an IP firm, but perhaps an organisation that deals with "assisted bankruptcy". Could you confirm the identity of the firm to us, as there is a lot of unsolicited correspondence floating around in this industry at the moment.

Don't remember the name of the company. I only have their number. With regards to any extra money that my workplace pays due to unexpected overtime (in the range of 1-2 hours per week) do I still have to pass on 50% of this towards my IP? The OT I am referring to is what is generated by merely having to stay behind to finish off any outstanding work. How strict is my IVA with regards to such matters?

In our report we have to pay out 50% of anything over 10% of our income ie if i earned £1000 a month. and earned £300 overtime, I would be able to keep the first £100 as 10% and then half the rest leaving me with extra £200 and paying £100 to IP.. I think thats right.. I'm sure I will be corrected if wrong.

Whether you have to pay over any overtime monies to your Supervisor is dictated under the specific terms of the IVA. If your IVA is "protocol compliant", the method described by Angela 18 above is correct.

My last 2 months income has been slightly over the amount stated but it all got spent. Does that mean I have to let my IP know about this? I have come to realise that my grocery bills cost significantly more than before possibly due to inflation and rising cost of living. I now write all my expenses down and never dine out or even go out anymore. Probably a dull way to live but atleast it's just for 5 years. To get approved for my IVA, I probably took the risk of limiting my expenses to a bare minimum.

How long has the iva been running. You may well be able to up your allowances for groceries etc. Talk to your IP and see what they say.

The IVA has been running for about 5 months. I never kept track of my expenses for the first few months because I didn't realise things were more expensive than they used to be..say around a year ago. I suppose that's one of the things about paying with a cash card, you really don't know where the money went.

i am allowed £80 contingency allowance every month i can do what i want with it the thing that gets me is why isnt there a set standard what all ip`s have to follow? i know every case is individual and earnings etc but the amount of difference between every case is astounding

ps my spelling is shocking sorry [:I]

It is a shame you are struggling like this so early on i also went through myvesta but got a different company for my iva for them to say you cant even save up £15 is shocking and this ontop of the struggle to survive you will need to contact your ip to sort something out for you after all if you fail the iva and go the BR route they will get much less

good luck

Hmmm got me thinking this. My IVA proposal hasnt been submitted yet, but I have the potential for sales related bonuses once a quarter, which havent been happening this year, hence the mess I'm in. I understand that if I start getting bonuses again, I will have to hand over 50% of them to the IVA which is fine, but does that mean that if I get a bonus of say, £3000, and I pay £1500 into the IVA then I am not allowed to save the other £1500?! What else am I meant to do with it? To say you cant save £15 is a bit of a joke in my opinon. Maybe one for the experts, if i did save the £1500, does this mean that my payment will go up at the annual review even though the bonuses are not guaranteed?

PS I work in financial services, so the prospects of any bonuses in the near future are questionable!! There is more chance of Red Rum winning the Grand National. And he's dead.

and then when they look at your p60 at the end of the year after they have took their 50% what then!! it will show you earning much more then they will up your payments these are shark infested waters i have been in an iva for 3 years some say they are a god send to me its like being in the planet of the apesno control over anything 30 months feels like 30 years hard labour but please my opinion the vast majority its a god send[:(]

it will all depend what is in your proposal with bonuses etc mine is anything over £500 after tax i need to half but the one good point about my iva there is no hasstle with sending wages slips every 3 months and bank statments they only ever get intouch every 13 months for the review and then its just my p60 and any evidence of increased expenditure. 2 more years wow i will never till the day i die get credit again i am going to take great pleasure in handing cash over for everything even a new car[8D]