up for review thought the stress was gone but no

[andrea]

i am just up for review it is the first 12 months my daughter left home and my son as just lost his job so i havent got there income the trouble is they are saying because my son cant contribute they will not let me have money for his food to keep him can they do this and also because my contribtions have had to be lowered the are extending it another twelve months can they do that and finally they tell me they dont touch your annual rise unless it is over 3% well they have added all of our rises for last year and not give us any extra for food and petrol could you get back to me asap please i thought the stress was gone but obviously not.

[jamesfalla]

Andrea

Before I offer any advise on this a question - do you rent your property or pay a mortgage?

The reason I ask is I am trying to understand the implications if you decided you can no longer continue to make the payments into your IVA and it were to fail

James Falla

Expert in IVA, Bankruptcy and informal Debt Management solutions, with extensive experience of solving personal debt problems over the past 10 years. I am regularly featured on BBC News, Finance Programs and Radio.

Visit my blog at: http://jamesfalla.blogs.iva.co.uk

[andrea]

we do pay mortgage and are just managing and dont want it to fail but all i want to know can they do what they are doing especially not allowing money for my son

[neverending]

Hi
Try to continue with your IVA as you will lose all that you have paid in if it fails.Yes they can extend your IVA but this has to be agreed by your creditors AND YOU and will be put to them via a variation meeting proposed by your IVA provider.I presume that your sons payment to you was included in your original proposal,if so, and you have lost this income, then it is perfectly acceptable to request a lower contribution until he works again and to extend your IVA to compensate for this.
If they stated in the IVA agreement that they will not touch pay rises upto 3% then they must keep to this.
Finally have you completed a fresh income and expenditure form ?
Did you increase your petrol and utilities in line with inflation ?
Your IP has to try and return to creditors the original dividend that was proposed but obviously things can change in 5 years,you need to try and communicate with your IP but try to keep corrospondence to a minimum as this can increase the costs and reduce the amount available to the creditors.
In a nutshell the IP has got you by the you know whats and it is best to keep a good relationship with them.
Try to hang in there

[MelanieGiles]

Hi Andrea

I suggest that you call the IP personally and have a chat about your circumstances. He/she cannot change the goalposts without a formal resolution from creditors which, as Neverending rightly points out, must also need your agreement. So the extension of 12 months cannot occur without the agreement of all parties.

At the end of the day you will put your family before the creditors any day, but I would try and encourage your son to get back to work as soon as he can. Is he receiving any state benefits? And ensure that you submit a statement of income and expenditure to the IP in writing - I always send out a standard form to my clients which gives them last year's figures and a blank column to complete with current costs. Additional expenditure must be taken into account, before seeking any increase in payments.

Good luck with the review

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

[andrea]

regarding my sons contributions i have asked them to lower it becuse he isnt working they said they cant becuse he isnt contributing so what do i do regarding the 3% rise they said they only take anything over the 3& but the figure now from last year that we both contribute is the full rise but still no rise for food and petrol even though that has gone up with inflation can they do this as they said we cant increase this as this is all you get please help me i dont know what to do. the last thing regarding extending the iva he hasnt said we have to agree they can just do it

[MelanieGiles]

Andrea

If you do not believe that your IP is being reasonable in your annual review, you have the right to apply to Court under Section 263 of the Insolvency Act 1986 to seek a judicial decision.

I suggest that you rework your monthly budget to ascertain exactly how much you can afford to pay, and then ask your IP whether he/she feels a variation of the IVA terms would be viable.

I do not feel that your IP could just increase the term of your IVA without creditor approval, but you will need to check the exact wording of your proposal and terms and conditions. Ask your IP to advise you where he/she gets this authority from.

Who is the IP firm?

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

[andrea]

my ip firm is dept free direct

[MelanieGiles]

Andrea

Debt Free Direct are a very large IVA processing company who do a lot of IVA's every month. In order to cope with this volume of cases, they obviously employ a lot of staff to support their insolvency practitioners.

I am sure that you have a dedicated case manager who you can talk to, however if you need to speak to your insolvency practitioner directly, do not hesitate to insist on this as at the end of the day we are the ultimate decision makers.

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