IVA Advice please - mid year payment increase

lumpfish67

Hello All

We are into year 2 of a joint IVA. Our first year anniversary was in December 2010.

Its all been going well up until recently. My husband got a new job and a good increase in salary. He started in February but didn't actually receive his first pay until mid March.

I informed our Supervisor of this increase as a courtesy (I thought). They now want to increase our payments to take up the full 50% of the increase. This is without taking into account the extra expenses of living away from home that the new job requires. Effectively this means we are no better off in terms of money in our pockets.

I am currently trying to challenge this as in our agreement it says that any salary increase does not get considered until the next anniversary. The supervisor is saying that because we have told them about the increase they have to increase our payments. I can't find anywhere in our agreement that says this.

We're not trying to shirk paying or anything. As it is our creditors are in line to get 100p in the pound anyway. We just want some spare money in our pockets for the next few months to allow for some long overdue household repairs and furniture replacement. The payments will increase in December anyway as part of our 2nd review.

My questions are:

1. Is there anything official to back me up on this? Surely they can't 'add' rules to the agreement that weren't there in the first place??

2. Who regulates the agreement if we think the supervisor is acting unfairly?

3. The supervisor said that if we hadn't informed them they would have backdated the increase :eek: is that right???

I'm wishing I'd just kept my mouth shut:(

Any thoughts and/or advice would be most appreciated.
Thanks in advance

FoggyBrain_2

Hi -- try speaking to your IP direct, as this minion seems to have it all wrong ( as far as I understand it). If you get no-where ask them for details of their regulatory body as you wish to pursue a complaint (that normally gets their attention). Increases are dealt with, as per your agreement, at annual review. It IS NOT backdated. If they are told in advance it doesn't matter .... if you see a red traffic light 300 yards down the road, you don't stop there and then

---

you wait until you get to it!!

I would imagine chatting to the IP direct will get this sorted. Who are you with ?

lumpfish67

Hi FoggyBrain

Thanks for the response. I knew I wasn't going bonkers! :T

I don't really want to name them in case they look at this and it sours the relationship.

Do all IP's have a regulator?

We were thinking that we'll put our case together in writing and send it to the Supervisor. I get the impression they're trying to make us feel greedy or something.

We've no problem with an increase in line with what's in the agreement. But they can't just make up new clauses as they go along can they?

Would we have to take them to court or something if we can't reach an agreement?

In the meantime we've just been keeping up our normal payments and ignoring the increase they've asked for.

We're planning to trawl through the agreement on the weekend, get all our ducks in a row and tell them that we're not backing down!

"Hold my wig - I'm going in!!!" :mad:

FoggyBrain_2

Hi --- yes, they are all regulated. the trouble is there are several regulatory bodies, hence the need to ask them which is theirs. However, asking the question usually gets a response to the problem. Don't send it to the supervisor -- he / she will merely turn it around with the previous answer. You need to speak to or email the IP direct. They are often surprised at what some of their staff are saying and might feel the need for a little refresher training to be handed out.

You won't need to go to court -- the regulator should be able to straighten it out, if it gets that far.

When checking your proposal, check the Chairman's report too -- this often has clauses (modifications) that override the proposal.


LOVE the wig line :-)

lumpfish67

Thanks for your support - I'll post the outcome.

Foxy-Stoat_3

I think you will find that if you have an increase in salary mid way through the year 50% of the extra income WILL become payable after the annual review. If you havent put aside the 50% EVERY month and are unable to pay the extra at the annual review then it will go down as a non payment. I would think your IP is keen to collect the extra in order to avoid this happening.

If your living expenses go up mid way through the year, like changing jobs and extra travelling then normal procedure is to contact your IP and get them to reduce the payments to compensate for the increase cost.

I would talk to them again and come up with an amount to cover you for the additional travelling and pay them the 50% extra. Either way, if you have extra income, you have to give up 50% now or later.

Good luck !!!

Max_Maxwell

Unless there is a specific clause in your agreement pertaining to a salary increase mid-term then, as Foggy states, your increased income only comes into question at your next annual review, and then it takes effect from the next payment due date and is NOT backdated.

When you come to your next review and report an increased income, you are also entitled to report on increased expenditure too and this will be taken into account. If you can show that you have to incur additional expense for travelling etc, then this is a justifiable reason for offsetting some of your increased income.

The only thing I'm not 100% certain - and please anyone feel free to jump in here - is whether you get to keep the first 10% of the increase and the remainder is split 50/50, or whether the 10% rule applies to bonuses and commission payments only.

Foxy-Stoat_3

Just going on my experiances when I got a jump in salary, I had to pay the difference at the annual review after all my payslips where sent in.

They will treat it as if you got a bonus mid year, half of that will need to be paid. In this case the additional living expenses will have to be taken into account tho.

Let us know how you get on.

FoggyBrain_2

Foxy -- unless that is what was specifically stipulated in your proposal, you have overpaid ! My IP was definite in telling me that any rise will be dealt with at review, will not be backdated and the new payment ( after additional expenses have been taken off) comes into force 30 days after the review. I tried to tell him about my paltry pay rise and he said he wasn't interested until my review (December) and ALL the extra in the meantime was mine.