www.iva.co.uk

my husband 2and a half yrs ago entered a IVA due to bad business dealings with his business partner. His business partner went underground so to speak and couldnt be found at that time. To cut a long story short I had to agree to give my husband £23,000 from our house which.The creditors could not have any hold on the house due to a financial agreement prior to marriage. We are also paying £200 per month and have not defaulted. Our IP now says to increase the payments to £450 4 next 10months to pay it off. What we have recently heard is that the business partner went bankcrupt and his money went also into the pot which with our money is now more than the initial debt, our IP says we can do nothin and continue to pay, they hav aslo taken £7500 in fees,Have we been had here, si there anything we can do and can the creditors chase me for my husbands business debts?

Hi Bev and welcome to the forum

Was the IVA based on partnership debts which you say your husband's ex-partner may have already paid off? This most certainly needs investigating by your IP, although the ex-partner may have a claim against your husband in equity for half of the money he has paid.

I also do not understand why your husband's IP has increased his payments. Can you throw any light on this? And why are there only 10 months left to pay on the IVA - was this originally proposed over 5 years?

Hi Melanie, as I understand it my husbands business partners contribution coupled with my husbands contribution has taken the pence in the pound contribution over the initial 33p in the pound that my husband was initially charged with. My husband took on all the debt until the partner was found, the IP found he went bankrupt and a proportation of the debt was paid off, the IP has also said that instead of the initial 33p in pound it is now over 80p.
The initial payment period was over 3 yrs, this finishes in May 09, with an extra £5000 being paid at the end of the 3 years, however at the time our IP told my husband "not to worry about the £5000 as it would cost the creditors more to collect should we not pay" tho that was said verbally and have no evidence.We cannot pay this so our IP has said for my husband to increase the payments to £450 for the next few months that again is impossible. This is now causing us grave concerns and noone seems to be helpin us.

Until the partnership debts are paid off in full, all partners remain liable for the lot, and creditors can pursue all of the partners for the full amounts due individually.

Your husband's IP appears to have made a very glib comment at the outset about how the £5,000 would be raised, and he should have made sure that this was achievable based upon the facts of your case at that time. It is not acceptable to say that your husband must increase his payments over the next few months, without regard for whether this is affordable.

You should take this up with the IP directly, as he/she has detailed knowledge of your case.

Hi Bev and welcome from me too.

The initial 33p in the £ agreed to by your creditors was only a minimum offer. If your ability to pay increases so should the dividend to the creditors. The fact that the debts to your husband's creditors have been reduced as a result of the payments received from your husband's ex-business partner's bankruptcy is irrelevant.

If you are unable to pay the final lump sum into the IVA as originally promised in your husband's proposals, then the supervisor of your husband's IVA can return to the creditors and ask them to accept the payments they have already had in full and final settlement (i.e. waive the requirement to pay the £5,000). In view of the fact that the ex-business debts have been reduced substantially, those creditors may be more sympathetic to your situation.

You should not agree to increase the payments to the arrangement if you cannot afford to do so.

If you feel that your husband has been wrongly advised then I suggest that in the first instance he raises his concerns with his IP.