IVA review I&E - Please help

Mad_girl

I have got my IVA review tomorrow and would like to know how much I can put down for food, phone, etc etc does anyone have a list of the amounts for payplan?

Choo_Choo_4

Mad Gril - it really depends on your circumstances .. single / living with partner / single parent / family of 4 ???

Is this an INITIAL IVA review I take it and not an Annual Review?

Sometimes it's best to tell them what you're spending and WHY if it's more than the general amount allowed e.g. if you use your mobile phone for work purposes then it might be more than normal.

Strictly speaking the IP / IVA Company will have guidelines and if you are below those they should allow you more to ensure that you have ENOUGH to live off but if they think that you are living beyond your means then this will be knocked down to a more realistic amount, unless of course you can give a reason for the significantly increased figure ... i.e. you are a teacher and have to wear a suit to work therefore you will have a laundry bill that other people may not have ..

or

your partner is in the army and your only real form of contact is by telephone so this might be £20 per month more than joe bloggs ...

Just be honest about what you spend each month and be ready to give an explanation if asked (obviously £100 per mont on clothing WILL be reduced significantly ) ... give me the no. of people that are in your household though and I should be able to guide you in the right direction to see if you're close ...

Mad_girl

Hi, no this is my third year review but I was told there is a set amount they will accept for phones etc, perhaps I should just tell them the amounts I am spending at the moment, we are just about managing but on paper it looks like we may have £100 odd over and I am so worried that we will have to increase the IVA by this amount! There are four people living in the house, two adults and two children (17 in college and 14)

Mad_girl

Hi again - sorry more questions, my DD2 needs braces and is 2mm out so the NHS will not pay - I have been quoted that it will cost about £100 a month to have them fixed - would this be allowed in an IVA?

Charco_2

What, for example is your grocery bill then? (according to your IVA, not according to reality which can be very different things!)

Charco_2

BRACES*** it is a legitimate expense but technically it should already have been allowed for in the IVA as say a £30 a month medical/dental/optician allowance which you should have been saving (yeah right, i know!) or a proportion of your miscellaneous/sundries...

I wouldn't panic, argue that it has to be included and see what the IP says... he can reduce your monthly contributions by 15% in extreme circumstances without calling a new Creditor's Meeting

Mad_girl

Thanks Charco, last time I was able to allocate approx £540 for four of us for food - should I just put down the same amount? I will argue the case regarding the braces as my DD1 got them for free but DD2 does not qualify (DD2 teeth are worse than DD1 were - NHS ???) I will just tell them that the allocated funding for medical etc is for our specs and contact lenses - I will just see what they say tomorrow, I really do not want to pay in more

Charco_2

SHouldn't have to pay in more... why do you think you have an extra £100?

Mad_girl

Well my hubby and I have both had increases and when I look at what we pay into the IVA and what they allocated payments to last year we actually have about £150 - £200 over but I was hoping to allocate that to DD's braces!

Choo_Choo_4

If you have something on paper quoting that the braces will cost £100 per month then just send this to IP and it will have to be included in your expenditure.

It wasn't included before for other DD as it was on NHS and wasn't an expense but now that you will have to pay for DD2 braces this must be included in your I&E and should mean that your IVA payment won't increase.

She can hardly be expected to stump up the £100 per month herself as she is dependent on YOU! That would be ridiculous ...

It's a good thing that you've had a wage increase otherwise you might have had to look to decrease IVA contributions so really there shouldn't be anything for your IP to question....
Send the quote to them anyway - if you do not have it on paper as yet ask the orthodontist to supply you with this

Charco_2

Right so your wages have increased?

The first 10% is yours (cant remember if this is the first 10% of the wage increase or if it's the first 10% of you ordinary wage) and the rest is split 50/50...

(the first way you'd probably have to bring in about £80 of the £200, the second way you probably wouldn't have to bring in any of the increase!)

I will clarify but either way, you won't be expected to bring in all of the increase (if at all!).

Your daughter's braces are important and so just incude the bill in your new I&E. The guidelines are just that, GUIDELINES... if you have an expense that is provable above that then you can argue to have it included (it's your IVA, not the IPs)