IVA Advice please

Antnshell

Hi, how long does an IVA take to set up? The reason i am asking is i am just about to start the application for an IVA with payplan but i have just found out i am due to get a one off bonus in June of around £1000 it is the first bonus i have had. Would I have to give up 50% of it? I do want to get out of debt been in a debt management plan for 2 years but need to use it to upgrade my car currently driving a 15yr old one. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

greenbrucelee

An IVA can take 6-8 weeks to setup. I am with payplan currently on an IVA and this is how the overtime bonus thing works.

If your overtime is more than 10% of your earnings (I think its net income) then you have to give 50% of it into the IVA.

You have to inform the IP of the bonus it may be considered a windfall and therfore the above applies.

delia0427

I am currently in an IVA and last year when I received a bonus payment. I was allowed to keep the first 10% and then 50% of the remainder had to paid into the IVA.

Antnshell

Thanks for the info, do you think i should delay applying until after June?

milliemonster

My IVA took 6 months to set up as there were issues with my job role changing and I took a long time over decision making plus getting my proposal right.

Once you start the process you may be expected to give up the bonus as you know it's coming, depending on the company you choose will depend on how they view bonuses, many class them as windfalls which would mean that as it is over £500, the whole lot may have to be surrendered.

If I was in your shoes, I wouldn't make that call to start the ball rolling until June

angel_rainbow

Some say 6-8 weeks but mine was a bit longer from what I can remember.
If you need to upgrade the car I think I'd be tempted to wait until after you had the bonus to start the IVA off.

shelene

I would delay in applying once your in your IVA it you would be lucky in keeping it all.

Antnshell

Thanks guys i will postpone applying, i did want to start asap however my car is already on its last legs i dont think it would last the duration of the IVA!

Antnshell

Also i am considering selling my property as i have a 50% share on a shared ownership apartment, with the rent and mortgage my monthly payment is £1120, if i sell and rent i could pay more into my dmp rather than go for an IVA, would this be a better option? At the current rate im paying it is going to take 8 years if i up it and get it down to a 6 year pay off am i better to do that than applying for an IVA?

Final question if i did stick with the DMP how would my credit file stand, would they all disappear 6 years after the first default or would they stay on there for 6 years after the debt has cleared?

dancingfairy

I'm not sure on the answer to your question (I think it's 6 years from the date of default rather than the date of last payments) but you seem to be at the 50:50 point between a dmp and an IVA.
A dmp is more flexible than an IVA but obviously there is no guarantee that interest and charges will be frozen (although obviously hopefully companies will).
An IVA is for a set period (5 years?), there is a lot less flexibility and you are pretty much required to stick to the monthly payments. You also are usually required to try and remortgage to released equity at a certain point during the IVA (or offer an extra years worth of payments).
Best of Luck with the decision - there are pros and cons for both options for you.
df

Antnshell

Thanks Dancing Fairy, having discussed with Payplan i am going to postpone IVA sell property and then apply for an IVA rather than stay in a DMP as when in a DMP creditors can still apply interest etc or even take you to court.

Incase anyone else is in a similar predicament Payplan gave me the following advice:

In a Debt management plan your creditors can send you a default notice at any time. Once they have issued one it will stay on your credit file for 6years. It tends to stay on your file 6years after you have paid your debt off but you can contact Experian to get them to put satisfied on your file which may help. With your IVA it is affected for 6years – A year after the IVA your credit file will be wiped clean.