www.iva.co.uk

Hi iam coming to the end of my first year of my iva. In two years time i could be finishing my time in the army. Will my pension and lump some be classed as a windfall? If so would they take all my lump sum? please help!

Hi there and welcome to the forum

This is really something which should have been considered before you entered in the IVA. I deal with a lot of Armed Forces clients, and I always specifically exclude the pension and gratuity payments, as I know from my own personal experience that the money is much needed for rehousing and perhaps retraining.

What advice did your own IP give you about this at the time, and is there any mention of this entitlement in your IVA proposal?

Hi thanks for your reply. This was not mentiond in the iva as i was expecting to still be serving. I don't think there is a mention in the proposal. I will have to check the proposal when i get home. The list of long service jobs has gone down due to soldiers choosing to serve longer and recruiting is strong at the moment so the worst case senario is that in 2 years time i could find myself leaving the army.

john just want to give you my thanks and respect for protecting our country in these difficult times.my dad was a desert rat so i know and respect how much you are putting your life on the line for queen and country .RESPECT.

Many thanks mate. i'm just hoping that if i am going to finnish my career in 2 years time i can use the money to resettle back into civi street without the iva making life more difficult than it will be.

If I were your IP I would fight creditors tooth and nail for you to keep that money. My own husband retired from the forces after 22 years and found it incredibly hard to settle - he has been in the Army from the age of 15. A great pity this was not considered at the time you entered into the IVA - as one simple sentence would have excluded this money you have worked for a long time - on meagre pay - to build up.

How much are you expecting to receive and how much are your overall debts - also how much do you pay into the IVA on a monthly basis, and are you sure that ETR is not a possibility?

Hi John, speak to your regiments pensions adviser, get some figures for the worst case scenario and speak to your IP.

Alternatively, if you don't want to leave, speak to your OC, see if they can shed light on any ways you can advance enough to stay - I know time is short, however, I rushed a Sgt through promotions myself so that he could extend his service.

In my service I knew many long serving officers and NCO's who managed to extend their service by taking slightly different routes.

Good luck

Hi John. Provided the funds are not drawn down you can propose a full and final settlement based on you leaving the army and retaining some funds. If you offer enough to achieve the original dividend on offer creditors may be happy to accept this. As Melanie says, it can be difficult to adjust when you leave the army and finding immediate employment at the same salary level would not be easy. This would mean that you would be unable to maintain your IVA payments after discharge so a variation would be required anyway.

Given that the funds would only be available to creditors if you left the army I do not see why a variation would be rejected. Any funds you would retain would be needed to find accommodation, resettle, live until you find employment or to start a business. Creditors should understand this. Certainly speak to your IP and make them aware so the variation can be prepared if and when required.

I hope you get it sorted John.

John Davis good luck....hope you get this all sorted out. I know from personal experience that transition from the Forces to civi street is difficult at the best of times but with the added worry of possibly having your pension taken it must be a nightmare for you.

Anyway take care and good luck.

Ye its not good at the mo but seeking advice fom my ip so hopefully things might get better

Good luck John, I hope things work out for you x

Hi John

I'm in exactly the same position as you. I was adviced by Resolve UK who provided the advice and set up my IVA through Mc Duffy to extend my service.

Unfortunetly I was informed today that It is now unlikely that I will be able to extend putting my pension and graturity up for grabs.

Ironically I am a recruiter and was told today that I had recruited myself out of a job.

I will now be approaching Mc duffy for a variation!!

I presume you mean McCambridge Duffy?

They have an excellent reputation on here and I am sure Michael Peoples will be along to advise tomorrow.