www.iva.co.uk

He's been in an IVA since March, he had an injury at work and this has affected his wages. He would like to know if this drop in income would affect his IVA.

Yes,he needs to speak to his IP to let him know that his income has reduced.

Hi Andy,

Are you going to be able to continue with your IVA? I thought you were looking at bankruptcy?

i have spoken to my ip she has arranged a lower payment this month and will do so next month she told me that if it continues past 3 months then we have to look at other options whats worrying me if i file for bankruptcy will the court take my situation into consideration or will i get into trouble the problem is my wage wont be the same every month and one of the main contributers for my debt was my personal injury how would the court deal with this

You would have no problems with the court or the OR. You would have done your best to resolve your debts via the IVA route, but if you are not able to continue with the payments due to the loss of income, then it can't be helped.

The court would be very sympathetic - circumstances beyond your control. You would not be in any trouble at all.

what about the fact of me having to pay a certain amount every month to the court if my wage fluctuates due to having sick time off how would they work that? and is it true that my injury claim for compensation would not be affected under bankruptcy

i have read on many sites about having bank accounts frozen loosing debit cards etc but i have friends who have been made bankrupt and have not had their accounts affected at all and still keep their debit cards etc is it at the banks discretion ???

If you have disposable income of over £100 per month, then you would be expected to pay across between 50 and 70% of any surplus. I don't know how your injury claim would be affected, if at all as it is compensation for injury.

Some people do have their bank accounts frozen, but as long as it is your normal bank account and not a creditor, the OR normally expresses no interest and writes to the bank to tell them this. If you are with the Co-op, you will have no problem at all. If not, I suggest you open an account with them if are thinking of going bankrupt.

will i have to get rid of certain things like mobile phone contract, sky tv, gym membership?

The allowances in bankruptcy are more generous than those in an IVA. If you take a look at Skippy's blog there is a spreadsheet she has done.

Also, if you look on the Insolvency Site, I believe there is something on there:

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/

If Swans_Girl is about she will be on to help you.

Are you in arrears with your mobile phone contract? If not you may be able to keep it, but in a lot of cases the service provider terminates the contract if they are advised by the OR that you are BR.

Sky is not an allowable expense, but there is no reason that you cannot keep it and pay for it out of your surplus.

The same goes for gym membership - unless you have a valid medical reason for needing it, it will have to be paid from your surplus.

im not in arreas skippy no in the case where my wages are going to fluctuate is it the job of the OR to determine each month how much id need to pay. where the mobile phone contract is concerned if i have a perfect history with them it may be that they decide not to cancel it .

does the OR determine weather to inform comapnies like my mobile provider or my bank? he may decide not to?

I didn't actually declare my mobile - I don't have a landline in my name, so I listed my mobile under 'telephone'. I told the OR, and they didn't have a problem with this.

They will inform your bank as a matter of course. If they have no interest in the account they will tell the bank this, and it's down to the bank whether you can use it or not.

Regarding your fluctuating income, I think they normally take an average of so many months and set the IPA accordingly.

well its the same with me skippy my landline is not mine where the gym is concerned i do have medical reasons i gather i would need something from a doctor?