www.iva.co.uk

Hi, sorry if i ramble on but this is going to be a bit long winded i'a afraid. My husband and I entered in to an IVA January 2006 with the first payment to creditors being made in May of that year. Due to the stress after this had all gone through my husband and i decided to split amicabily and both wanted to still try and make the IVA work, without giving too much thought to the IVA we continued to have both our wages paid into the same bank account and all payments of £500 a month have continued to be made to our IVA.

However during this time as you can appreciate two sets of living expenses, I have lowered my mortgage payments to interest only to enable my husband to pay rent where he is living, also without thinking I have taken out credit with log book loans as I needed repairs done to my car (without which would make it extremely difficult to get to work) Ive also run up a debt with the bank of £2000 which they have agreed to accept £75 a month to repay.

God this is a mess, I was also lucky enough to be able to earn more money for about 4 months which I did not inform my IP about, as this was only temporary. Also spent a bit of money gambling online in the hope I would win enough to get out of this situation, which of course is never the answer and never happened.

To top it all off my annual review will be due soon and when they ask me for all my paperwork all this will be visible to them and my IVA will fail. I have very little equity in my house maybe £10k if that, what happens if my IVA fails and I have to enter into bankruptcy. Sorry this is so much of a mess but I needed to get it all out as the stress is killing me.

Already claimed my marriage what else will my son and I have to lose.

sara,sorry to hear about your marriage failing(sigh). Gee, you've had a rough time of it. I am not an expert just someone who cares and was working towards an IVA. I have a question for you. I am not being judgemental or haughty. I want to know why did you and hubby not make an appointment with the IP of your IVA before you two seperated?

Then whilst under an IVA you took out credit with the bank for £2000?
Again why not see your IP? Gee, you took out credit. You and I both know that no credit is allowed unless approved by the IP. Gosh, what a desperate act. You are suffering. I can relate to your pain.

My heart goes out to you my sister in debt. We as women do what we have to do in order to survive and take care of our families. Don't we? Well, blow your nose and wipe the tears. You were under alot of strain financially and was probably too afraid to contact your IP. But, sara, you know that day is coming sooner or later. Either at the yearly review or sooner. AND the sooner the better.

Stop staring at the telephone. Come on, girl. You are made of strong stuff. Pick it up,depress the telephone number and cry out the whole miserable story if that's the only way you can explain it.Not all IPs are insensitive professionals. Sara, your IP is the only one who can assist you now.

Think about it carefully. Who else can help you now? The worst thing that can happen is a bankruptcy. And how bad would that really be compared to what you are undergoing now? Your son sees your emotional turmoil. He's already missing his dad. You are all he has. If you are engulfed in your emotional pain, who is there for him to share his pain? Who is there for him to talk to, sara?

My sister in debt place the helmet of strength upon your head. Stand up straight. Dry your eyes (so you can at least see the phone). Talk to your IP immediately.Move beyond the pre-conceived consequences of your actions. Talk to your IP and know what action to take.

You correctly said it (financial difficulties) has already claimed your marriage. DO NOT let it claim your son or your emotional sanity.

Take care and please post as your experience may help someone else.
Remember, you are not alone. We are here for you.

BTW never apologise for rambling here. We understand.

[:)]

All I have left is my humour.

That reply made me smile. The reason I took further credit with the bank is not because they let me but because they paid my bills while I was unable to after already going overdrawn, they tried to help, but with the charges and everything I had to pay well lets just say I was stupid. Then when I thought that was it I went to see my bank manager and explained everything and she kindly offered me an agreement where I pay back £75 a month til its cleared

sara

Ahhhhh, a smile. [:)]Now you take that smile and remember to do it often. Things can only get better.

All I have left is my humour.

sara t

Rather than telling you off, your IP should compliment you on the adult way you and your husband have managed your finances over the last year, which has enabled creditors to receive their payments on time.

There is too much emphasis of the additional earnings, no credit rulebooks. Yes, they are there to ensure that people adhere to the discipline of IVA's, but sometimes some flexibility and actual common sense should prevail.

If I were your IP, I would not be happy by the fact that you have taken out unauthorised credit, but I think I would understand the reasons why. I am sure that there have been many times over the last year when you have felt like throwing the towel in, but you didn't. You need to take some "credit" for that too!

Your IP should conduct his annual review on the basis that you have erred from the straight and narrow, but realise your mistakes. I am sure that you will not repeat them. So long as you and your husband are able to maintain payments at the levels required under the IVA, then I cannot see anyone wanting to fail the arrangements. That would be counter productive for all parties concerned!

A careful explanation to creditors of what has happened over the last year is all that is needed here. To cover himself, your IP will need to give creditors the opportunity to request a general meeting of creditors to consider these issues. I would very much doubt that they will want to bother, and now you must concentrate on the future of the IVA and ensure that you are fully compliant in future.

Let us know how the review goes in due course.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.
View my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

Hi sara[88]
We can all do things to offer cold comfort during times of extra stressors, and break up of relationship is akin to bereavement.
One thing that crossed my mind is do you gamble frequently or was it a one off cos in bankruptcy if it came to it i understand they can penalise you for gambling, but i guess if it was a one off then they may be more lenient.Communication at times of change to your IP has got to be key.I would make contact and say your head was muddled and sorry it won't happen again. Surely there is such a thing as human forgiveness,once anyway![:)]
keep in control razamataz_

sara_t wrote:

Hi, sorry if i ramble on but this is going to be a bit long winded i'a afraid. My husband and I entered in to an IVA January 2006 with the first payment to creditors being made in May of that year. Due to the stress after this had all gone through my husband and i decided to split amicabily and both wanted to still try and make the IVA work, without giving too much thought to the IVA we continued to have both our wages paid into the same bank account and all payments of £500 a month have continued to be made to our IVA.

However during this time as you can appreciate two sets of living expenses, I have lowered my mortgage payments to interest only to enable my husband to pay rent where he is living, also without thinking I have taken out credit with log book loans as I needed repairs done to my car (without which would make it extremely difficult to get to work) Ive also run up a debt with the bank of £2000 which they have agreed to accept £75 a month to repay.

God this is a mess, I was also lucky enough to be able to earn more money for about 4 months which I did not inform my IP about, as this was only temporary. Also spent a bit of money gambling online in the hope I would win enough to get out of this situation, which of course is never the answer and never happened.

To top it all off my annual review will be due soon and when they ask me for all my paperwork all this will be visible to them and my IVA will fail. I have very little equity in my house maybe £10k if that, what happens if my IVA fails and I have to enter into bankruptcy. Sorry this is so much of a mess but I needed to get it all out as the stress is killing me.

Already claimed my marriage what else will my son and I have to lose.