www.iva.co.uk

We have paid 10 months of our iva. Last year my husband became ill, he was eventually dismissed from work because he is unable to go back due to his condition...his doctor thinks he will be out of work full time...to cut a long story short i am going to have to become his carer.

He was told it was possible he may get medically retired but the company have refused to do that.

We have been on a 6month payment break since december..so i can get benefits sorted out etc.

Im really stuck..we both have iva's which we are expected to pay a grand total of £300 per month for them both..now obviously i cant afford to pay nowhere near that amount.
I have already spoken to my advisor who told me they would not want to accept any less than £100 per iva per month..and they didn't care how we got the money aslong as we paid them - this was without going to the creditors to ask them if they would accept lower payments considering our circumstances.

Im terrified we will have to be put on a dmp...we will only be able to afford a few pound a month and we will be paying it off forever!

I really don't know where to start or what to do next

Could anyone please give me some advice?

many thanks in advance.

Hi -- the reason they will not accept less than £100 per month, per IVA, is that it is commercially unviable.

Do you own your home or are you in rented accommodation ?

How much are the original debts ?

We are due to pay back about £150 each per month ..they expect to receive just over 7k each by the end of the iva.

Our original debt combined was about 33k

I have no idea what i can do now. I cant afford to feed three kids and ourselves and pay £200 to the iva's.

We rent from the council.

The only thing i own is my car and i use that to get my OH to hospital ..he cant walk far due to his condition.

I think the iva has had its chance and is probably no longer suitable. What value would the car have?

Paul

I have an 09 Zafira

Is it paid for? Your best option may be to consider bankruptcy and concentrate on hubbys health. Might be worth asking your iva provider about bankruptcy.

Paul

I agree Paul -- as you guessed, this is why I asked those questions.

Does your husband receive DLA or PIP (for newer claims)? If he were to be awarded the mobility part (higher / enhanced depending on the benefit name) then you could get a motability car.

That was if you were to declare bankruptcy the car could be taken as part of the order.

With regards to ill health retirement - did he work for the council or government? Only it took me a year of appeals to finally be awarded ill health retirement. You can go through the appeals process even if you have been dismissed by a government post.

We have 2 Iva's one in my name and one in his - i deal with both of them.
The car is mine, i am not selling the car to get a disability car because we are still waiting for atos to assess for pip and we are on the basic amount of esa at the moment so not alot at all.

I was thinking..it would be possible at a massive push for me to pay my iva (its the one that owes the most) at £100 per month..
If my husband went bankrupt would i still be allowed to keep my iva?

It is either that or me keeping my iva and paying the lower amount of 100 per month and my husband paying into a dmp..which he would only be able to pay pennies in per month.

No he didn't work for the council, it was a media company.
We are appealing because they have made the decision on a report that was done before he had an official diagnosis which is totally stupid!

But if the appeal is going to take months then we are stuck because i need to start paying the iva's again in june.

Sorry, if my husband was to go bankrupt would they take my car?

If the car is yours it would be safe if hubby was to go bankrupt.

Paul

Thank you for answering my questions

If my husband were to go bankrupt could we do this with the iva company we are with?
I know he would have to take his name off all the bank accounts because he will be unable yo hold an account..
Does anyone know what else will happen? Will they send someone round to repossess goods etc? The only 'valuable' that they may be able to take would be the tv in the living room that is coming up to ten years old, i purchased this but have no receipt etc so would they have to prove that it is his?
Everything else we have are white goods, sofa, kids belongings etc
Also would going bankrupt affect him claiming his benefit?

Your IVA company should be able to advise you about BR but you can complete the forms yourself, they won't actually do it for you.

Your husband will be able to hold a basic bank account. I think that Barclays are the only high street bank who allow an undischarged bankrupt to hold an account but there other other options such as Secure Trust but these accounts come with a monthly fee.

No one will be sent to repossess any of your belongings. The Official Receiver isn't interested in items required for every day living so please don't worry about that. They are only interested in high value items.

As far as I am aware there will be no effect on your husband's benefits.

Can I ask why you both don't go BR? It would be a fresh start without the worry of the IVA hanging over you. I don't know how much your car is worth but you may be able to make a case to the OR to keep it (as you need it for your husband) or you may be able to sell it and buy a cheaper vehicle if it's above their threshold.