2nd thoughts about iva?

robbies_gal

hi all

me and my husband got our iva approved end of december so only been in it for 4 months but im not sure its working

this month in particular we barely have enough food for the month ive had to borrow some money off my dad because i had to pay for car tax

i thought they worked out monthly budgest including those sort of things but obviously not or i would be able to afford it

my ip phoned me the other day to see how we were going and when i mentioned all this she jsut said hmm well see how u go next month


how that is supposed to help i dont know

i thought they might let me reduce a payment because of the car but they didnt say a word-surely they know car tax and other bills come up

it now turns out my husband needs some dental work which i know they say u can mention to reduce payments, but im afriad to keep saying weve got this this and this to pay for every single month

it shouldnt be this hard should it?

am seriously thinking we should have gone for bankruptcy but i was so scared of it i thought the iva would be best but we seem worse off than ever

any advice?

thanks

Charco_2

Could you post up your monthly budget in the IVA?

Yes the IVA should allow for things like car tax and other longer term bills but you're supposed to save that £14 a month and then it'll be there when you need it. Obviously in only four months you wouldn't have had time to save up for a year's car tax

immoral_angeluk

We need to see your financial statement that was used for the IVA really. Way I see it one of 2 things has happened..

A) The figures set in your IVA were not affordable long term and didn't cover everything
B)You're finding it hard to stick to the stricter budgets set.

I have to say that A is the most likely option, as the trouble with IVAs is that all of your disposable income goes toward the IVA, so it leaves absolutely no room for maneuvre or 'one offs'.

robbies_gal

thanks for your replies

i do remember them putting down allowances but i dont know why it hasnt worked out that way i remember it said clothes 30 a month they must be joking i couldnt even afford to go to primark!

can i put the financial statment on here?

Charco_2

Yes, just throw up the income and expenses section of your budget.

robbies_gal

my scanner isnt working would you belive but i havenoticed a couple of error on the budget actually which i cant believe i didnt notice before and should have

its not majorly wrong but it does all add up -they have my dla as 10 more than i get and also, life insurance 13 pounds under and car insurance 18 under-should i tell them about this asap and will they adjust our payments do u think?

Charco_2

Definitely tell them, that's £41 missing each month before you even start!

I assume that they have the paperwork to show that the figures are what you say they are and that they simply entered them wrongly - which is a poor poor error! (hope it isn't us!)

Dont take any rubbish from them, according to the CCCS Guidelines these figures should just be entered as they are.

Is your DLA paid weekly or monthly? (Remember to get the monthly figure from weekly figures you have to multiply by 4.33)

robbies_gal

well i hope its just entered wrong but thats wot it says along with all the other terms of the iva

it seems weird to have got it wrong when they had all our bank statments saying exactly what was what

Charco_2

Then it's the IPs mistake and not yours. Let them know!

Its written down in black and white that you pay x amount per month so why have they given this a different figure? Effectively making up their own figures!

Remember, get your facts right before you leap in.
- (as i said above) check that you're calculating your DLA correctly if it's paid weekly.
- some insurances might be for the full year but you pay the premium over 10 months (so the monthly payment shown in your IVA will be the premium divided by 12 even though you're paying the premium divide by 10 - costs the same over the year but handled differently).

Dont be afraid to make your IP justify it though (in a friendly way). And if the figures ARE wrong then insist that they are changed. YOU didn't get them wrong, so it's not your fault!

If they say "but you signed it" ask them what does that mean? You didn't expect them to get the figures so wrong, or even to invent their own figures.

If they try to say that it is a huge job with a variation and will require a new vote etc which might not go in your favour and blah blah blah then
1. Remind them that it's not your fault!
2. Insist that regardless of that you want the figures to be representative of what you can afford because this has to last for 5 years AND
3. Bear in mind that your IP actually has the power to reduce your payments by a certain percantage when necessary WITHOUT having to call a new creditors vote.

So certainly ask your IP to justify why your figures are wrong. There may be a simple answer, or they may just be wrong!

robbies_gal

just to update the dla was calculated overr a calendar month so that was correct

the car insurance was wrong though but unfortunatley i dont think they'll adjust it as my last payment is next month but seeing as it has been wrong for 5 months would they adjust it anyway?

my manager has told me to send my paperwork in and they'll look at it but i cant see them adjusting it for one month

Charco_2

Hmmm not really, you managed to survived through the few months that your insurance was wrong - they're definitely not going to refund the money because now that it's collected, it has to go to your creditors.