www.iva.co.uk

if we enter into an IVA and our son qualifies for university, how do we allow the fees in the IVA calculation - hopefully it will be in two years time

I think perhaps an expert may be better answering this one.

I would suggest that creditors would not be sympathetic as in a way they would be writing of debt to allow you to pay for your son's uni fee's.

I will ask my IP's opinion and get back to you.

You can take it as 99% certain that it will not be allowed.

Sorry - I don't agree. If you know that you have forseen expenditure, such as support for a child's further education costs looming in the future, there is no reason why creditors would not accept this, so long as the argument for was properly presented and justified. I have done this on many occasions in the past, and to be frank most creditors are supportive of further education costs.

You will need to make your son aware of your situation, however, and encourage him to try and fund some of the cost himself by taking a part-time job or going to a university a little closer to home to ensure that costs are maintained to a minimum.

if his education progresses as it has been, he may well be due to be offered a place at Oxford or Cambridge

I'm gutted and dismayed that my poor credit control could affect his educational and career prospects. Perhaps the IVA could include a monthly contribution into a fighting fund ahead of his university years [a notional £50 per month maybe] - this must be something that's been covered in IVA's before.

rickyg

This would be unlikely to be affected, but both Oxford and Cambridge do offer bursaries for talented candidates. I think you should arrange to visit his school and speak to the Head Teacher to explain your circumstances, and get them to find out if there is any assistance which could be found at this stage.

This is just one more thing to worry about then.I never even considered this one. My IVA lasts 6 years and has just started. My son will stay in further ed and then go to uni. Uni will be in 4 years.Does this mean he won't be able to go because of my financial stupidity?

See my replies above as I think this amply covers your query.

Sorry I may have misread what you wrote but I did not say I had forssen this issue in my origional proposal, henc my concern now. cat

Sorry cat - I misundersood your post!

You have a few years to prepared yourself for this point, and try and save some money towards it. I would not worry about this at this point in time, as a lot of water will go under the bridge over the next four years, but it would perhaps have been better to have forseen this at the time you put forward your proposal.

thanks Melanie..will keep in my mind.Cat

I imagine that there was no provision for your daughter's education costs built into the IVA, which in any case may not have been accepted by creditors.

The best advice I can give is to try and put away a little each month to try and save towards her costs, and explore the possibility of any grant aid funding or bursaries which might be avialable to her.

If you have increased your payments over the IVA term, there may be some mileage in the supervisor agreeing to reduce them back to the original level to assist with further education costs, and of course your daughter could take a part-time job to help with the costs as well.

My daughter will go to Uni all being well a year before my IVA (if it's approved) finishes. I have thought about this long and hard as I don't want to hinder her education. I decided and have spoken to her about this that if she chooses and is accepted by Manchester she can live with one of my family for the first year and a loan will need to be taken by her for the fees. A part-time job will have to be sourced to cover her day to day living expenses and upon completion of my IVA I can then contribute what was my monthly payment to the next years studies and to pay her loan off as I don't want her leaving university with masses of debt as this is not a good start in life for her. Well that is the plan, let's hope it works out x

That is a very sensible plan for the future, and one which ought to give your daughter a good start in her further education.

Plus there is always Open University whereby currently the fees would be nil if the young person themselves not interested in family income is below £15K plus they will purchase computer and pay broadband connection more and more Young people are going down this route now because they don't want to leave uni with debt and employers are impressed because they have been motivated to do this themselves albeit with very good support from OU plus tutorials near to home once a month and excellent forums that they can communicate with on line. Just another option.