Failing IVA

razz1979

This is my 1st post so please be gentle...

I entered into an IVA with Debt Free Direct in April '08 with debts of approximately £28000 & agreed payments of £402 per month over 60 months, the creditors wanted £507 but I had recently received notice from my employers that my role would end (basically forcing me to accept a less important position & a 20% reduction in pay) about a month into the IVA.

Now comes the bit that has gotten me into a mess. My partner & I are expecting our 1st child in 3 weeks, she is now on maternity leave & therefore her contributions to running the household will reduce drastically or totally stop. I haven't made full payments to the IVA for several months & have an unreasonable fear of speaking to DFD about this.

Adding to that, work has really dropped off and I am on short working time (on 24 hour notice), so to take last week as an example, I worked tuesday & thursday and spent the rest of the week at home (I am paid national minimum wage for my contracted hours not worked).

I don't know how many days I will be working from one week to the next, what/ how much benefits we will be entitled to (due to us both having higher earnings 07/08 than our current ones) & am finding it difficult to even do an SOA.

I tried ringing CCCS yesterday & today, to get some advice before I take the plunge and finally ring DFD, but they are obviously very busy in the current climate so I left a message online.

Everything is such a mess right now (including this post! ) I'm not even sure if there is a question in this post or whether I just needed to get things off my chest.

RAS

Hi

Do you rent or mortgage?

Have you seen if she can get a Sure Start payment, made a WTC claim or considered CTC once the baby is born

Look at https://www.entitledto.com

spenderblender

I understand your problems with DFD. I informed them in December that we had lost £130 per month coming in and have not paid them since January having sent in all relevant paperwork for DFD to go through. We have not heard anything since from them and have now decided to go BR as we have no assets to protect and should never realkly have entered into an IVA.
Speak to the relevant people and get advice about where you stand.
Good luck.

razz1979

Thanks for the replies.

1) We rent our home & have no assets, no car no cash.

2) The problems with the tax credits lie in how much we earned last tax year (07/08). We would end up getting something after appealing, no idea how much though.

Also had a message back from CCCS stating that as I am already in an IVA they cannot give me any advice other than to contact the Insolvency Service.

I am swaying towards BR but it is such a life changing irreversible decision & obviously doesn't just affect me but also my partner & child.

spenderblender

We came to realise that Br was the only way for us after going through the review with the IVA and being on pins for 2 months waiting to see if all was ok. We knew we couldn't do that for another 4 years so stopped paying. Have a look through the bankruptcy board. It really isn;t as scary as it seems. I have found that no-one will talk to you if you are in a payment plan they all tell you to speak with your IP but the guys on the boards are great, they give great advice and never pull you apart as we are all in the same boat.