www.iva.co.uk

To those who may not of seen me post on here and those who have forgotten that I have posted on here I shall start at the beggining of my desperate situation.

Just under a year ago I ran out of credit that I was robbing Peter to pay Paul with and my reality check came when I had got paid and two days later I had no money to do a food shop with.

I pulled my head out of the sand and contacted Money,debt and credit within 5 weeks of contacting them I had my IVA approved. My immediate relief was immense and I was so pleased to the point of posting on here it was the best thing that IVA was the best thing to happen to me (other than my kids)

Well 10 mths into IVA and I am days off failing, my original I&E wasnt realistic far from it and yes it was a fab improvement on what it had been and I have made some amazing changes in my spending habits and at one point I had £15 in a savings account.

BUT as nothing was realistic and I didnt have any sort way of paying for the blips in life such as car maintainace as the allowance for that had been swallowed up with something else. My child care allowance is half the cost of my child care actual costs and that my tax credits are due to drop by £75 a month in April is a prime example that i was deluded in thinking this would ever work.

I did get in touch with my IVA company and spoke to my account manager after I missed 2 payments who told me that we could try a variation but when all said and done can only vary it by 5%. I mentioned Bankruptcy but he said I would risk my job. I then stupidly had a think and decided I would try and make this work and paid another payment.Then my car broke down and reality hit again.

I am now avoiding my account manager, as I feel pressurised into having a converstaion with their variation team and him. My depression that I have nnot suffered from for 3.5yrs is now back with a vengance I am at my lowest darkest point that I have felt in years and even though I know that I should call him I really cant face being told that I am in a mess I know I am.

I did check out with my hr dept and i wont loose my job if I did go bankcrupt and got my head round going bankrupt. Then when talking to national debt line they told me that my car on hp would have to go back. I am unable to live without a car as I need a reliable one due to living in a rural location and to get to work. If I didnt have a car my child care would go up even more almost as much as the hp payment itself and that is before public transport costs.

So long story short I am back to the drawing board and seeking help that I should of a year ago.

I am eating a large slice of humble pie, feel stupid but worse than ever is the black hole of depression that my 2 children are starting to notice.

And please if you are looking here for the first time please be 100% and some sure that the right proposal is put forward for you.

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom

Deex

Hi Helen,

I am in rented accomodation which is long term through a friend so no tenacy aggrement for me to breech.

My major concern is my car I can not live without a car I have lived here for 6 years and only managed a year after my hubby left before I HAD to take driving lessons at the grand age of 32!! I have 2 children 9 and 4 I work 4 mile away so would have to cycle but that would be impossiable to do so and keep my child care arrangemets as they are.

I live 15 mile from my nearest largish town where the closest Asda is.My son plays rugby 13mile away and he would have to stop that due to no public transport.

The advice given would be to try and buy a cheap car in cash but I am going to struggle to save for the £510 for the court never mind sae for a car.

It is £160 a month for another 30mths an 06 mid range Megane with high mileage, and I chose it as it was a safe car for me and the kids.

Look at you with 80 days left really pleased for you and thanks for the hug. I really need one as I am dealing with this on my own.

My car is worth around 4K I think owe £4,770 on it.

It was national debt line that told me I wouldnt be able to keep it. My missed payments got swallowed up in other costs and I paid one month that I thought I could afford this month my car broke down so that is the third one swallowed!!

Just at end of tether and the phone calls and letters that I have never had from creditors will start dropping thru the letter box too soon a prospect that is frightening me to death

hey FC sorry youre suffering hunny
i would be inclined to agree with helens excellent advice. if bankruptcy isnt going to affect your job or haousing position and will make your life bearable again then its f=definitely worth considering.
its a shame that MDC didnt give you a chance with an unrealistic repayment plan.
helens advice of saving 3 months payments to help with BR costs is very good. at least that way you could get your car fixed. i do hope you get something sorted but think through carefully before making a final decision and dont forget if you need to ask stuff theres always someone here for you hun xx fd

you could always fail this IVA and look at another FC?? Its sad its not worked out xxx I am also sending you a great big hug xxxx

I remember your postings early last year when you were so impressed about the speed that your case had been processed, and I do remember thinking that you may live to regret the rush. Am therefore very sorry to see that you may have been swept along by a process which did not fully research or understand your case fully - sadly so many IVAs do fail as a result of this.

The best thing you can do now is to work out an affordable budget based on your own figures rather than someone elses, and see if they are prepared to put this forward as a variation. Please do not allow yourself to accept figures in the future that you will not be able to repay.

Your main concern about bankruptcy seems to be the loss of the vehicle. However, the advice you have received is not necessarily correct and I know numerous people who have gone bankrupt and kept their vehicles. You should speak to the HP company and advise that the vehicle is essential and you will maintain the payments. If possible offer a third party as guarantor and many HP companies are happy to continue to receive the payments. The OR should have no problem with you making the payments and can inform the HP company of this.

Speak to your HP company before you completely discount bankruptcy as you may be fine.

Can I ask something? If you were to fail an IVA would it be possible to apply for another IVA and do realistic I & E budgets> Just a question that arose while I was reading this thread. I was thinking of suggesting it but I am not sure its alloowed?

It would be better to have the proposal varied as all the funds paid to date would not be lost. If creditors refused to allow the reduction it is unlikely that they would accept a new IVA proposal with exactly the same income and expenditure as the one they rejected in the variation.

Hope this makes sense.

Budgets should be set at realistic levels from the outset - and if you are with a firm who tells you what you can and cannot spend then I would look elsewhere to be frank.

Thank you Michael and Melanie,

I have spoke to my account manager and told him that over the weekend I am going to tell him what I can afford yet again I told him about child care concerns, he said they have a bankruptcy dept that will get in touch to have a chat too with me.

Yes Michael my major concern is my car work would not be near on impossiable meaning cycling a 15 mile round trip and trying to drop a 4 and 9yr old off at child care and my child care costs would go thru the roof and they are already sky high.

I do feel a little better when the account manager said bankrupcy would is the easy route and I told him "what I am going through right now is far from easy and I resent that statement!!"

Thanks again I really wish I had found this site before I took the plunge.

I thought that you were a forum poster when you entered into your IVA? If not, then my earlier comments are incorrect.

I joined the day I got my date for the creditors meeting. By that point I was still looking thru the rose tinted glasses that I could make it work. You did at the time though Mel comment on how fast it was going as I thought they were the doggy nadgers for it. I still stand by what I said though and that it is knew and still do know to the penny what my outgoings are and all my admin was in order so was able to send off everything that asked me to get ready within hours of asking for it which must help speed things up.

All my bank and credit card statements where all in a draw.....unopened!!

I'm sorry you're struggling Dee.

You're not the first and you won't be the last person to wish that you'd found the forum sooner, I know I did.

I hope you can come to an agreement with your IP, but whatever you decide you'll get support here xxx

thanks skippy,

I have been reading your blogs Skippy. Can I be nosey and ask about your car....yes it is the main thing that worries me.

Was your car on hire purchase when you were granted exemption?

I was going to ask if my sister would pay my car off but had a conversation with insolvancy service and they said that it would be taken as an asset as it is worth around 4k if I owned it outright.

Michaels post did give me some hope though. I am going to call Renault tomorrow and see how they stand but I think I can recall a forum member and if I remember rightly a client of Mel's having trouble with them asking for the car back when she went into IVA.