www.iva.co.uk

Hi

I am currently within an IVA agreement, however my circumstances have changed and would like some advice if possible please.

I was renting a room off a friend who was also one of my debtors as I owed them back rent. They did not want this arrears paying through the IVA but was still down as a debtor.

I took the IVA out in 2007 and started making payments in Sept 2007. I had my annual review last year and nothing changed.

Since then however the person who I was renting the room off - we have now become a couple and my partner wishes to buy a house and me move into the house with her.

My partner is very concerned how this will affect my IVA and also if she could be held liable for any of my debt.

can anyone please advise

Hi and welcome.

Your partner can relax - she will not be held liable for your debts. All that will happen is that her income will be taken into account for the purposes of household expenses to make sure that you are both putting your fair share in.

adrian5 - the arrears of back rent which was included in your IVA is caught under the provisions of your IVA.

What do you mean that your landlord did not want these arrears (?) paid through the IVA? Have you been paying them separately?

No I was renting a room off a friend which due to my circumstances at the time I was in arrears. The friend was named as a debtor but did not want to get involved with the IVA so she said she did not want the money's owed ( it was only a small amount ).

Since then we are now a couple and she wants to buy a house and me move in with her and she is concerned about if she could be held liable for my IVA.

I deleted your other topic, as it was a duplicate of this one.

No problem thanks

how much information do they take off my partner ? I know they will want to see how much she earns etc but when we move ( as my partner wants to buy a house ) none of my debts can be taken from her ( as in any equity within the house )

I have also had a good pay rise of about 5k does this mean that the IVA can take near on all of it or do they only take a percentage ?

Your partner would have to contribute say pro-rata to the joint household expenses based on your both net take home pay.

Have you told your IP about your payrise? You might be required to fill in an new I&E form as your payments will mostly likely increase as that is a good rise.

Just because you are now partners does not mean that your finances have to merge. If your partner is going to buy a property and funds the deposit herself why can you not continue paying her rent as normal? This would not impact on your IVA payments and neither you nor your creditors would be acquiring an interest in the property.

The pay rise is different and you will need to declare it but undoubtedly other expenses have gone up too. Discuss this with your case manager and you should reach an agreement on any increase.

thanks for all your help everyone

just further to the above, through the chain of responses above it looks like I have 2 options, carry on as is ( current arrangement or disclose our relationship ) I have no problem with either way I just want to approach the best way / the right way for all parties. What would be my best way forward ? do I inform them of the partner status or just leave it as I am renting a room even in a new house under the same person as above. Is this something I need to bring to the IP's attention now or do I wait for my annual review ?

My partner would like to know what sort of information they would request off her if we went down the route of informing the IP of us being a couple as in would they request a breakdown of her monthly expenditure ( with proof - bank statements etc ).

Your IP will want to know details of her income, and details of any shared bills - such as general household expenditure. They will also need to know whether she has any financial commitments of her own.

As you have a duty to advise your IP of any changes in your circumstances, only you can determine whether the events you describe are sufficiently material to warrant disclosure.

My advice is to disclose as you are duty bound under the terms and conditions of your Proposal to do so.