www.iva.co.uk

My husband has been in an IVA for 2 years now and we have asked for it to be reduced. We had to submit our income and expenditure and obviously my husbands earnings etc. We are really struggling paying the "large" amount of money to the IVA. We are getting into arrears with our other bills to make sure we have enough money for the IVA. If my husband is made bankrupt, will we definately lose our house? We have to live but its not easy and we are arguing (always about money). Can I pay a dividend and get out of this? Help!

Hi,

If you have submitted a revised I & E Form they will have to take notice. If you are having no joy with the front line staff you can get your IP's details from www.insolvency.gov.uk and email them directly to look in to this.

You could offer a F & F to settle but how would you arrange the funds??

Thank you for your advice. We'll see what they come back with, hopefully it will be ok. I work for a local authority and am with the credit union. I could get the funds from there. It would probably work out cheaper!

Your house will only be affected if you have equity. What is the current value and how much do you owe on your mortgage?

I'm not sure of the current value at the moment, we need to get it revalued. We owe £111,000 on our mortgage. I'm sure there will be some equity in this, if there is - do I just pay half?

Assuming you mean to acquire your husband's share - then yes you just need to pay for his share only.

Was any equity in your house promised as a payment in year 4 or 5 of your IVA?

I think its in year 5.

Hence you are then liable to re-mortgage or whatever to pay in your husband's equitable share at that time. It will be that share that you will have to re-purchase if your husbands IVA fails and you would be able to "buy it" to save the house.

Discuss your current problems with your husband's supervisor (IP)

As the IVA is 2 years old my immediate thought is that if the IVA can be made to work it may well be in everyone's interest, given it only has 3 years to run (as any IPO/IPA will be for 3 years). Also, on a bankruptcy the 6 year black mark will effectively start again. The right course of action to take is to investigate a variation which you seem to be doing.

To get a better idea....
What amount are you committed to paying into your IVA each month?
What dividend did your proposal project?
How much can you realistically afford now?
Do you both work?
Clearly the points raised by the others here about equity are valid. However, as your husband's IVA is 2 years old so we cannot assume what (if anything) needs to be done about the property as the terms will probably be different to those we use today. What does the proposal say on the question of equity and, very importantly, the Chairmans Report? If you don't know, I strongly recommend you ask your Supervisor for an interpretation.