I entered into an IVA in December 2007 when I had debts of approximately £50,000 and I was struggling to pay back nearly £900 a month. Two of my loans however, were for smallish amounts and in hindsight would have been paid off fairly quickly leaving me with approximately £600 a month in debt repayment. After seeking advice I entered into an IVA and my repayment was set at £550 a month. I found your website on Saturday and out of sheer curiosity I enetered all my details into the IVA calculator and was very surprised with the results it gave me, saying that on the details I provided my estimated monthly repayment would be approximately £386. This is a huge difference to £550 that I am currently paying and i wondered how accurate the IVA calculator is and whether my repayment was set to high. Again, with hindsight I feel I would have been better off struggling through for a few months and getting my smaller loans cleared leaving me to concentrate on clearing my larger loans. I can't help thinking that I was perhaps mis-advised into entering into an IVA and other alternatives would have been better for me. Am I stuck in my IVA (which has 3.5 years left to run as it is over 72 months not 60) and why is there such a significant difference between what i am paying on my IVA and what the calculator estimates I should be paying? Your advice would be appreciated.
Hi Tony and welcome to the Forum.
If you are struggling you should speak to your IP and you may be able to get the payments reduced by up to 15%. This would help a little but any further reductions would likely require permission from creditors.
It is possible that you have not claimed all the allowances in your IVA which may explain the difference between your IVA payments and the debt calcultor so contact your case manager for a review. It appears that your IVA have payments have not changed since the IVA began and if your income has not increased either things are bound to be tight.
The regulations in place should ensure that your IVA payment be agreed at the correct level and this payment should be one that you can afford. If you are struggling with your repayment then speak to your IP about your concerns and by all means share any updates on here and industry experts and people who are in or have completed an IVA will be here to offer advice and help
The calculator is only an indicator and it may be, as Michael says, that you didn't claim all your allowances, or they have been set too high.
Are you actually struggling with your payments?
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
