www.iva.co.uk

Hi,

I've just got a new job which involves a lot of travel, the company I work for have a corporate American Express card for Travel expenses etc which has to be settled by myself at the end of every month after claiming back my expenses from the company.

Would I be allowed to apply for this whilst in my IVA as it is a corporate card rather than for personal use? As far as I can tell from the application I would be credit checked but my company also have joint liability.

Has anyone come across this before and is it something I need to get authorised by my IVA supervisor?

Thanks

Hi,

Not sure about this. Usually if it is a firms card you are ok as the firm pay the bills, but if you have to pay them and you are credit checked, I really don't know.

Hopefully one of the experts can advise on this one.

I used to have this type of card when I worked at PwC, and you will get credit checked and likely refused. Could your employers give you a float rather than relying on the card? You could then put this onto a pre-paid card instead for your travel abroad.

Hi Shipp
Under the standard terms of a voluntary arrangement, you would require, as a minimum, the consent of your supervisor to enter into a credit agreement. If the requirement for credit limit is high, consent will be necessary from the creditors.

As you are in an IVA it would be extremely difficult for you to obtain credit as all major financial institutions will undertake a credit check. However, the outcome when applying for a corporate card may be more successful if the employer has joint liability.

Assuming this problem is overcome then the main concern for any supervisor would be as to how you would fund the payment of the monthly bill until you are re-imbursed by your employer. This problem could be resolved by the employer managing the corporate account so that it pays the bill after receipt of your expenses therefore negating the need for you to fund these expenses.

Hope this helps

Thanks

I am in an IVA and have a corporate Amex card but the situation is different in that my employer pays the bill and I have to submit expense claims to match the monthly statements.

Since Amex is not universally accepted I also am an additional cardholder on my partner's Barclaycard that I use for travelling expenses as well. In that case I claim the expenses from the company and pay my partner back each month if I've used it once I get them paid. It was issued before I was in an IVA.

I don't know whether you have this as an option of course and am not sure whether as an additional cardholder you need to be credit checked as I think it was done in my case just before the IVA process formally started and my credit record was shot to pieces.

In both cases I have never used the cards for personal expenditure.

I have a travel lodge and PREMIER INN card that both have £2500 limit. It was through the Company though as they pay the bill.

Surely you can get the Company to obtain the corporate card (especially if a few employees require it). And they pay the bill with you highlighting in your expenses form and supplying receipts.

Might be worth suggesting to them.

Hi
I think additional card holders are not credit checked
Regards

That is correct Andy.