Few urgent IVA Questions

jessie179

Hi

My husband and I are in Debt over £25000. He is in full-time employment working in retail with a basic of £600 a month and works on commission in the car industry. These last few months the market has been really bad and his take home pay has been £1200 + a month.
I am unemployed but a Registered Childminder and hoping to stary few hours a week from September which will give me just under £600 a month (contract signed already). Been unemployed since January.

He originally agreed that we can try and get an IVA as we have a little girl who is almost 2 and would love to have our 2nd and last baby, but with the debt right now we cant afford to live let alone pay debts or have another baby.
Since last night he started refusing for an IVA saying that the moment you earn slightly more then they will just increase your payments.
Now my questions are as follows:
1. Right now I am not earning but hopefully over the next few months that would increase, will they then re-evaluate our income and just increase when they feel like it.
2. I dont own a car right now but would need one in the near future would it be a problem me then getting a small car as well.
3. The amounts for the IVA is it quite standard across say under or over £200 a month or does it really depend on what you earn.
4. Can I go bankrupt and leave him to sort out his own debt meaning once I start earning over the next few years I can have a stress-free life

Please if someone can just help me and tell me what is the pro's and cons of an IVA or should be stick to a DMP and if so how long would we be able to pay that off?

Thanks

thecableguy12

jessie179 wrote: »

Hi

My husband and I are in Debt over £25000. He is in full-time employment working in retail with a basic of £600 a month and works on commission in the car industry. These last few months the market has been really bad and his take home pay has been £1200 + a month.
I am unemployed but a Registered Childminder and hoping to stary few hours a week from September which will give me just under £600 a month (contract signed already). Been unemployed since January.

He originally agreed that we can try and get an IVA as we have a little girl who is almost 2 and would love to have our 2nd and last baby, but with the debt right now we cant afford to live let alone pay debts or have another baby.
Since last night he started refusing for an IVA saying that the moment you earn slightly more then they will just increase your payments.
Now my questions are as follows:
1. Right now I am not earning but hopefully over the next few months that would increase, will they then re-evaluate our income and just increase when they feel like it.
2. I dont own a car right now but would need one in the near future would it be a problem me then getting a small car as well.
3. The amounts for the IVA is it quite standard across say under or over £200 a month or does it really depend on what you earn.
4. Can I go bankrupt and leave him to sort out his own debt meaning once I start earning over the next few years I can have a stress-free life

Please if someone can just help me and tell me what is the pro's and cons of an IVA or should be stick to a DMP and if so how long would we be able to pay that off?

Thanks

do you have any assetts? if not tou income is to low, consider bankruptcy

Nargleblast

With an IVA you add up your total income and subtract your total outgoings - the IVA company help you draw up a budget and tell you what is allowed for food, clothing etc. What is left is your surplus, and that will be your monthly payment. They tell you what you are allowed to earn each month and if any time you earn more than that you send 50% of the surplus to the company with a covering note and photocopy of payslip as proof. Hope this clarifies things.

putty71

Nargle thanks for that. I am in a similar situation, mainly my debt, but need to know if my wifes credit rating would be affected if I had an IVA. Is it worth closing and joint accounts to overcome this?
Also with 3 children, how do we go about things like xmas and birthdays?
Anyones help would be appreciated.
Thanks

Nargleblast

I'm no expert but I am signed up for my bank's security service where they monitor my account for unusual activity and tip me off. I also get a free Experian credit report from them and regular updates to it ( not pretty reading I can tell you). Although your wife's credit rating should not be affected, a search on her account might reveal a link to you in respect of joint accounts and some lenders might take that into consideration when dealing with applications for credit.

As far as Christmas or birthdays are concerned, make sure the budget you have drawn up contains a bit of slack, ie overestimate cost of groceries, clothing etc, the IVA company will have guidleines re the maximum allowance for these things and it is in their interest to make sure you have a budget that you could stick to.

putty71

Thanks Nargle.
Do you think it would be best to close the joint accounts?

Nargleblast

Might be an idea to change a joint current account to two separate accounts, but I am not sure about loans and I would not want to give you wrong information. You may find somewhere on the site a link to ask one of the financial bods a question, or one of the experts lurking around might be able to advise. Alternatively a phone call to CCCS or a look on their website might give some answers.

Charco_2

Why do people keep recommending the CCCS?

Is it because it pretends to be an independent and charitable organisiation?

lily333

re Charco's last post:

I was under the impression that CCCS is a charitable org. Isn't it? and why do you not rate them? - not wanting to be rude but have dealt with them today and curious as to know more.......

Nargleblast

I and many others who visit this site have dealt with CCCS and are more than glad to have them on our side when dealing with debt issues. Suggest anyone who is curious to know about this organisation visits their website and has a look at what it is about. It is certainly one of the organisations recommended by MSE, which should be recommendation in itself.

Charco_2

I'm not exactly saying anything bad about them either, I was merely curious as to why they were mentioned so much?

They'll do a job for you much like many other IVA/DMP/TrustDeed companies out there, i was just wondering why they were mentioned so often on this site.

They earn money just like any other company dont they?

Lots of companies will provide free advice and in fact if any company tries to charge you before discussing your options or providing a tangible service then walk away.