will ex's IVA affect my credit

jillyflower

Hi I hope someone can help me.
I've found put that my ex has just entered into an IVA. We have 2 joint bank accounts he uses one and I use the other one, am I right in thinking that this will affect my credit rating, if so is there anything i can do to recover the situation.
Thanks Jill

Charco_2

Nothing you can do really to recover the situation, if either of the joint accounts are in debt and included in the IVA then your name by association will be included in the debt - worse, you'll still be liable for the joint account debts that youe ex is not paying for!

If your ex has JUST entered into the IVA then perhaps the debts on the joint accounts will not be too badly defaulted on - would you be able to keep the joints account debts up to date with out making your situation worse?

jillyflower

only just keeping my head above water as a single parent and no help from my ex. he has a £5000 overdraft on the account he uses but I owe nothing on the account I use

Charco_2

Well, that's bad news.

Because it is a joint account when one person defaults (your ex in the IVA) the other is responsible for it too (i.e. you!). So you will be responsible for any shortfall on the joint account with the debt on it going into the IVA - your ex will pay back a percentage of the debt (25p in every £ for example: £1,250) and you'll be expected to pay the rest (75 p in every £ : £3,750).

JasX

yup, should not have kept the joint accounts as you're equaly liable as he is for anything owed on either of them. Only once all joint accounts are closed and debts/morgtages setteled can you arrange to sever the financial link between yourselves on your credit file (you'll probably have to tell the credit reference agencies to remove the link)

jillyflower

I have spoken to my ex and he says he hasn't signed anything yet and as the bank overdraft is not in default yet would I be able to remove my name from the account. he has agreed to this if it can be done. Thanks Jill

Charco_2

i dont think this can be done unfortunately, certainly not easily... Why would the banks increase their risk over a debt that's already accrued?

jillyflower

i've just spoken to one of the debt charities and they have told me that an overdraft in jointnames cannot be included in a trust deed dose anyone have any more info on this? they have told me to see legal advice but i don't think i can afford a solicitor.

Charco_2

MIGHT be able to get to speak to a lawyer for free for half an hour but you'd need to ask around some of the other forums for confirmation - i think it's something a read once or twice - try the Debt Free Wannabee forum.

Just to clarify then that your ex is going into a Trust Deed not an IVA!?

The Joint Debt CAN go into the TD, works the same as described above (as in it's pointless). The Joint Debt overdraft goes into the debt solution and the debt becomes the responsibility of the person not in a TD/IVA.
(Ex enters into TD, eventually he pays a small sum to the joint overdraft but in the meantime you've probably paid most of it off anyway - technically your ex walks away from the joint debt and leaves it all to you! Are you on speaking terms with your ex?)

***Perhaps the confusion arose because you cannot have a JOINT TRUST DEED - you can have JOINT IVA where both partners in a relationship enter into one IVA for all their debts (usually with joint debts) but you cannot have a joint TD. If you're both insolvent then you have to have a TD each!***

jillyflower

thanks for that. Yes we are still on speaking terms. without the extra debt from him I am not having any financial difficulties but the extra £5000 would make things very tight for me

Charco_2

Well the only suggestion i would have at the moment - it's not based in the law and it's probably not something you would really consider - but speak to your ex and explain how this joint debt is going to affect you and ask is there any way he could see towards helping you out a bit.

When your ex's Income and Expenditure is done for the TD, it is usually done less stringently than an IVA and can leave a bit of surplus left over.

Would he be willing to contribute a little your way? OR
Would he be able to transfer some of the debt from the £5000 overdraft joint loan onto another debt?

Be careful though because option two could jeopardise his TD application... it's unfortunate, but i dont thik there is a lot else can be done.

Did you try to find a free solicitor session?