www.iva.co.uk

Hi I am over halfway through my IVA. I am actually ahead in paying it back thanks to a PPI recovery. My only criticism is the IVA grabs as much as it can the minute your circumstances improve (which I don't necessarily disagree with...) - yet when things go the other way, it can turn into an uphill battle. For instance, try asking to reduce your contribution when the mortgage or utilities go up... I find this not just stressful, but from a business angle, simply "odd". If a client ends up unable to keep up with the payments they could end up having to file for bankruptcy. And bang goes the IVA administrator's income from management fees - and bang goes the creditors chances of getting their money back. So lose all round...

An iva is without doubt an emotional roller coaster. Many people will fully agree with your comments regarding payments going up more easily than getting a reduction.

Paul

It depends upon your IP -- but GT reduced my payments considerably when needed with no problem at all.

Well, I've been in an IVA for 3 years, started at £200 which jumped up to £317 a month when I cleared the HPI on my car (I did agree to that in advance as I only had a few months left on it). Since then my gas & elec (combined from 1 supplier) has gone up from £36 a month when I started the IVA to £79 a month currently; my mortgage has had one increase when the fixes rate ended - and food inflation has been what, 18% over the last 3 years (I should know, I work in the industry!).

Over the same period my salary's only gone up by 1.3%. And my disposable income's shrunk by around 18% over the same period. So why has my IVA contribution gone UP by over 15%??? (from £317 to £386... I'm not taking it back to the £200, if I did then it would be a whopping 93% increase in contribution...). When I complain about being more and more squeezed, my account handler actually gets ANGRY and says if I don't accept it well, I'll be in breach of my Terms. However, my wage slips & P60s all the way back to 2010 clearly prove my salary's not gone up by 1.5%, let alone 5%. And I've a copy of the contract - and the terms clearly say that my contribution should only go up if my income goes up by more than 5%. Another acct handler who spoke to me whilst my current one was on holiday looked into it, and confirmed I should still be on £317 as per the Ts and Cs. But despite all the proof, my acct handler still won't have it. Maybe it depends who you have as an account handler..?

Demand (DEMAND) to speak to your IP to get a detailed breakdown of how they have arrived at the increase ( over and above the agreed HP addition), at the same time request details of their internal complaints procedure and of their regulators in case you need to escalate the problem.

Freeman Jones have a rep who monitors the forum and has an excellent record of helping posters sort out problems. I am sure she will pick this up tommorrow.

Hi cstaddon38

I have responded to you on your other thread as below;

http://www.iva.co.uk//forum/topic.asp?w ... 197#529290

I will be in touch today so we can get this resolved for you.

Thank you
Sarah