IVA Pay off advice, please

[Oh to be free, we 3!]

Hi

First time poster here having found this group tonight.

I could really use some advice regarding our IVA, please.

We've (my wife and I) been paying our IVA for just over a year now. Since the IVA began, both my wife and I have been struck with ill health and are both unable to work for the foreseeable future (this is very alien to us both but completely out of our control).
My wife’s mental health is a serious concern. She’s being treated for Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (as a result of her abusive childhood), Chronic Anxiety Disorder, Agoraphobia, Panic Attacks, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome to name but a few. She’s always dealt with our finances and looking back, we can trace the decline in our finances with the beginning of the unwinding of her mental health. I blame myself also for not being more involved so that I could see how badly things were going. This is something she’s really struggling with – blaming herself for us needing the IVA which brings down her mental health even further. She’s also struggling with a kind of paranoia and hates having ‘strangers’ (the IVA company) needing to see our bank statements etc. She’s only recently been discharged from the mental health home care crisis team due to her suicide risk so I’m trying to sort out as many life issues as possible as quickly as possible.

Whilst chatting with my wife’s step father, he has offered to loan us a small lump sum to try to pay off the IVA so as to help improve my wife’s struggles. Problem is, I don’t think the amount he’s offered will be nearly enough to pay the IVA off! I don’t want to approach our IVA company to ask them because of any adverse impact it may have upon us!

So, my question is, how much would we need to offer to have a hope of it being accepted to close the IVA? We’ve made about 14 out of the planned 60 payments off the projected total payment of £5,460.
Please, don’t hit me with any negativity – this isn’t easy for me to post – but I could really use some advice if possible.
Many thanks in advance

[Foggy]

Hi -- your creditors are looking to get around £4186 more over the term. I would suggest an offer in the region of £3,000, in these circumstances, with, I am afraid, a detailed explanation as to the health issues. Creditors are not ogres and, with the help of your IP ( hopefully sympathetic) the offer should get a fair hearing. Might I ask who you are with ?

[Lisa Thomas]

Who is in the IVA as there is no such thing as a joint one, only interlocking. So do you have one each or is it just one of you?

Dependent on this your wife could propose a variation that her payments to date are accepted in full and final settlement due to her health problems.

You could then put an offer forward for your share of contributions, which might reduce the settlement sum needed by up to 50%.

What was the original reason for entering the IVA instead of Bankruptcy - do you have assets to protect or are you Directors of a Ltd Company or have a job that prevents you from going Bankrupt?

[Oh to be free, we 3!]

Hi -- your creditors are looking to get around £4186 more over the term. I would suggest an offer in the region of £3,000, in these circumstances, with, I am afraid, a detailed explanation as to the health issues. Creditors are not ogres and, with the help of your IP ( hopefully sympathetic) the offer should get a fair hearing. Might I ask who you are with ?

Thanks for the reply.

I'm pleasantly surprised by the figure you quotes, so perhaps there's more chance than I'd hoped!

We're with Aperture, formerly Grant Thornton. We've had very little to do with them (as expected) since setting up the IVA and them asking for yearly accounts.

Providing details of health issues wouldn't be difficult and we can provide medical contacts if they're deemed necessary.

Thanks again, I appreciate your time.

[Oh to be free, we 3!]

Who is in the IVA as there is no such thing as a joint one, only interlocking. So do you have one each or is it just one of you?

Dependent on this your wife could propose a variation that her payments to date are accepted in full and final settlement due to her health problems.

You could then put an offer forward for your share of contributions, which might reduce the settlement sum needed by up to 50%.

What was the original reason for entering the IVA instead of Bankruptcy - do you have assets to protect or are you Directors of a Ltd Company or have a job that prevents you from going Bankrupt?

Thanks for the reply and information, Lisa.

We're with Aperture, formerly Grant Thornton. All of our debtors were listed as one list, though it was noted whether the account was in my name or my wife's. The header has both of our names followed by 'List of unsecured creditors'.
Our income and expenditure were both listed as one entity and we each had to sign the agreement. The monthly payment we make is just one sum, not two. As far as we were concerned, it was a joint account, but realise we may have this wrong?

We have no assets, rent our home and are both unemployed due to ill health. My wife is due to begin some therapy later this week and it's expected to last for a good couple of years. This may change if her mental health deteriorates again and is considered too fragile for her to continue in which case therapy will cease until she's considered stable enough to continue.

The loan would be coming from a small insurance payout my wife's step-dad is due soon.

Thanks for your time, it is certainly appreciated.

[Lisa Thomas]

It sounds to me that you each have an IVA that are interlocking.

Can you remember why you chose to go down the IVA route rather than Bankruptcy?

You could ask that creditors accept payments to date in settlement of both IVAs and if they reject consider terminating them and entering Bankruptcy instead.

I would not be offering a lump sum as this seems like it would be unnecessary unless there is a particular reason why you want to avoid Bankruptcy - I cannot tell without more information.

[Oh to be free, we 3!]

Hi Lisa,

From what I remember, we were put off bankruptcy by the long term impact it had and having to tell employers etc. I think we were lead more along the IVA route too.
My wife especially struggled with the whole idea of not paying what we owed and it's having such a negative impact upon her mental health now.

I've not approached Aperture about this at all yet. Could you advise me what I should put to them, please? Do I just message them outlining the negative impact having the IVA is having upon my wife's mental health? Should I mention a potential lump sum at this point or not? They're asking for our bank statements at the moment, and will see that we can afford to continue with the monthly payment out of our benefits....that is not the main issue, it's the negative impact it's having upon my wife's mental health. Since she's struggling with the IVA and the perceived 'intrusion' into our finances, I'm not sure I feel able to suggest bankruptcy for fear exacerbating things. She's due at the psychiatrist again in two weeks and I envisage she'll be put under the care of the home crisis team again.

Your time and advice is very much appreciated, thank you.

[Lisa Thomas]

Bankruptcy will draw a line under the whole thing but you should take advice as to whether it's the best option.

Do not mention the lump sum to your IP just yet.

Send them the information they have asked for - they should realise that you are unable to afford your payments any longer. Send them evidence of your wife's poor health then start a line of communication about perhaps a variation accepting payments to date and see what the see what the IP says.

[Oh to be free, we 3!]

Hi Lisa,

I did say that when they look at our bank statements, they'll see that we CAN afford the monthly payments. The issue isn't about that, it's more about the negative impact upon my wife's mental health.

Does this change things?

Many thanks

[Lisa Thomas]

Yes I'm afraid so because if you can both keep up your contributions then there is no reason for them to accept payments to date in full and final due to you not being able to afford to continue. This probably means a lump sum settlement or Bankruptcy might be more suitable in the circumstances.