www.iva.co.uk

Review

Hi Guys, I have not had a response from IVA company regarding annual review, if has been about 4 weeks now, they have confirmed they have received it and also said that our fuel allowance of £170 is not acceptable! Too frightened to ring them again, do we just make the normal payment on 1 April 2013, which will take us into 4th year or wait until we get a response. All very scaey having no contact, outgoing all gone up fuel, petrol, house and car insurance, petrol, contact lense contract for daughter (necessary due to medication) andof course food! Any advice would be welcome xx

Hi there,
Don't worry mine took about 6 weeks this time around. Think possibly due to workload! I personally don't believe your fuel is excessive but you may need to prove it with receipts. My IP seems to realise these costs have increased and has not asked for proof and they have greatly increased over the last 5 yrs since we started.
Hope you get sorted.
Don't be scared to ring them as they should be there for you as well as the creditors!
Xx

Thanx! We have sent new energy bills off to them confirming increased direct debit but they have said it is too high! Will have to Cut back somewhere else! Xx

The general rule of thumb for fuel is 15p per mile for work purposes plus £50 per month social and domestic for a single vehicle and £70 per month social and domestic for 2 vehicles.

I must say that our fuel bill per month is over £500, due to mileage covered for both me and my wife for work, as well as unusually high domestic mileage running our little sportsman around the region - it is what it is. Similar with gas/electric, ours has increased this year (actually about 3 months after last review) , we submitted copies of bills during our recent annual review and it was accepted with no questions asked.
I thought that was the purpose of the annual review, to capture these changes in circumstances.

Gareth, this is obviously one situation in which GT does come out well. In my review all of my increases in expenditure, as well as decreases in income, were taken into account (resulting in a reduction in my payment). I have heard horror stories of other firms being totally unhelpful at reviews.

If my next few years with GT go as well as the first few months I will be happy .. and prepared to wait for the completion certificate (maybe not 2 years, mind) a little longer .... better than a few years of hell and a speedy closure, I feel.

Foggy, yes I agree. I am quite content at the moment with GT and pleased with the annual review, as well as their open minded approach to a couple of other queries I posed to them, including the Green Deal scheme.
As far as closure is concerned, at present for me, I will be happy to have the additional income from the IVA payments and move forward from there - no major life changing events planned at present.
I may be a little more keen to get my completion certificate if it was holding me up moving on, with a house move for instance. I am naturally optimistic and hope/believe the current situation with GT will be improved by then. I guess the target for IPs should be to deliver completion certificates by the 6 year point, as there isn't much you can do with it until after that point.

Expenditure is what it is, utilities are what they are and mine are through the roof and I'm very frugal with the heating. I'm just hoping more IP's can be more realistic when assessing income and expenditure. Hubby travels all over for work but his petrol is paid for 100% mine isn't but I don't have far to go.

Agreed Gareth -- the only fly in the GT ointment for me is that, unlike some firms, they still hold you to the windfall / inheritance clauses until that certificate is issued, whereas many firms take the stance that, on the final payment, you have completed your responsibilities. In the latter scenario I would be happy to wait --- but, as things with GT stand .... you never know when that lottery ticket might come up !

What do they mean that your fuel allowance is not acceptable? Is this what you actually spend on fuel - in which case why is someone telling you that this is too high? Do they control the price of petrol?!!

Stick to your guns on this particular point, and keep a few petrol receipts over the next few weeks to prove that your figures are correct. Different cars, driving over different terrain, will use fuel at differing rates - and there should be no guidelined figures apart from those relating to common sense.

.... they might also consider that a car, barely maintained due to the constraints of an IVA, will also be less fuel efficient !

We certainly do Foggy! I am always looking at this area to see whether the purchase of a newer or more reliable car at the start of an IVA is a sensible option. Particularly on those who rely on it for transport to and from work, or within a business.

Another example of why your firm is head and shoulders above many. I am not being sycophantic here, either !!

Actually - it also comes from a desire to protect my firm's fee income as best as I can, but that probably sounds greedy!

Wish you were my IP !