Would a personal pension count as an asset

[diane.w]

Would a personal pension count as an asset when calculating an IVA

[go_4_broke]

Hi Diane,

I think it's unlikely to be a factor unless you are nearing pensionable age and likely to be drawing an income or a lump sum.

However you may be required to suspend pension payments during the IVA period.

-Best

Please view my blog at www.go4broke.blogs.iva.co.uk

'6 years sticking my head into the Lion's mouth of debt !'

[Hunter1]

Personal pensions are specifically excluded from both IVA's and Bankruptcy. Any contributions you have made are completely safe.

You will be asked to stop making any voluntary contributions during the IVA as the creditors will want the money as they class it as savings.

[Skippy]

Pensions are a very grey area in IVA's - some people are told to stop making payments into their pension and others are allowed to carry on. It seems to depend on individual circumstances, and your IP.

Onwards and upwards!!!

[Adam Davies]

Hi
There is no hard and fast rule regarding contributions ceasing or not.It seems to vary from one IPS proposal to another,Ask you IP to exclude your pension contributions and see what they say.
As for an asset or not then I,m sure that if you were retiring soon and had a lump sum available then it would form part of your IVA.If you cannot access the money from your pension then it will be safe as Hunter rightly states.
Regards

Andy Davie
IVA.co.uk Spokesperson and site manager
(aka Neverending)

Please check out my blog: http://andydavie.blogs.iva.co.uk

[MelanieGiles]

I have to say from my own experience that I have very rarely encountered any creditors demanding that pension payments be stopped.

It is well know fact these days that there will be little state pension for any of us in the future, and with HMG's push to encourage people to make their own provisions it is unlikely that creditors will adopt this ruling generally.

Or maybe I am just lucky?!

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

[go_4_broke]

I'm sure Melanie is right.

However, I wouldn't put it past less scrupulous organizations to offer this particularly to improve the dividend in a marginal situation. There have certainly been posts in the forum from people who have been required to to this.

Also Hunter is generally right but not entirely so. In bankruptcy the OR is entitled to recover monies from pensions if they consider them to have been artificially entered to prevent them falling into the hands of creditors.

I don't know if full pension disclosure is required in IVA's but if it is and someone had one that seemed suspiciously well oiled then I imagine the creditors may well take a view.

-Best

Please view my blog at www.go4broke.blogs.iva.co.uk

'6 years sticking my head into the Lion's mouth of debt !'

[Hunter1]

Melanie,

I have been asked to stop any payments to my pension by my IP.

However this is only my voluntary contributions - there is a compulsory contribution taken by my employer and it's not possible for me to stop that.

I think people might be getting confused between the two. If you are able to stop the contributions then you will probably be asked to along with other formal ways of saving.

There's nothing to stop a 'contingency' being put in your expenditure allowance for the IVA but creditors don't seem to like formal savings plans.

[go_4_broke]

....which means that people with their own personal plans independent of any works schemes are even more exposed.

And I wish I could share your confidence Melanie but I think 'joined-up government' is even more of an oxymoron than 'ethical creditor'!

-Best

Please view my blog at www.go4broke.blogs.iva.co.uk

'6 years sticking my head into the Lion's mouth of debt !'

[Adam Davies]

Hi
I still think that it is down to your IP proposing it or not.If by stopping contributions it helps get your IVA accepted, because its a marginal case,then its well worth it.
I can,t help but feel that as time goes on more and more creditors will insist on pension contribution stopping for the duration of the IVA.
Hope I,m wrong
Regards

Andy Davie
IVA.co.uk Spokesperson and site manager
(aka Neverending)

Please check out my blog: http://andydavie.blogs.iva.co.uk

[jamesfalla]

I agree with Andy on this one. A few years ago, there was definitly no problem with pension contributions being left into someone's monthly expenditure. However I think that more and more creditors are now demanding that these be suspended for the lift of the IVA.

I would have thought that most IPs will still leave the contributions in and leave it for the creditors to decide. However, recently I have seen creditor mondifications demanding that both direct payments to persoinal pensions and contributions to employee schemes coming from wages also be suspended.

If your employer is contributing to your scheme, and this does not effect your income, then these will be allowed to continue

James Falla

Expert in IVA, Bankruptcy and informal Debt Management solutions for over 10 years.

For more information visit www.jamesfalla.com and visit my blog at: http://jamesfalla.blogs.iva.co.uk