IVA Failing

ebrioney

I have had an IVA since 2009 and have struggled but still managed to make my payments, my income has now gone down but my iva payments have risen and I had to defer last months payment as I had to buy school uniforms, I have calculated that after all my bills go out I am left with about £90 per week to buy food, petrol I have already cut back drastically but I am really struggling now is there anything else I can do was thinking of going bankrupt as I cannot see me continuing to live with this IVA for another 2 years Please any advice would be appreciated

debtfreenewbie

I was told an iva is flexible so you could change payments if your circumstances changed. Have you spoken to them?

Not much help but just a thought.

Anondebtadvisor

I would speak to your IP they might hold a variation meeting to lower your monthly repayments, it would be a shame for your IVA to fail now after 3ys x

ToffeeBlue

I agree, talk to your IP. They need to be aware your financial circustances have changed. From experience, you do have to keep them informed otherwise they wont change anything.

Depth_Charge

ebrioney wrote: »

I have had an IVA since 2009 and have struggled but still managed to make my payments, my income has now gone down but my iva payments have risen and I had to defer last months payment as I had to buy school uniforms, I have calculated that after all my bills go out I am left with about £90 per week to buy food, petrol I have already cut back drastically but I am really struggling now is there anything else I can do was thinking of going bankrupt as I cannot see me continuing to live with this IVA for another 2 years Please any advice would be appreciated

Hi

I am afraid this is becoming a familiar story and with the current economic outlook things can only really get worse - income dropping & cost of living going up, its a classic catch 22 situation (from what you have put I am a little puzzled as to why the IVA payments have risen)

Bankruptcy may be the best option depending on your circumstances of course as it basically ends the debts once and for all instead of the spectre of struggling paying into something for years only to find that you could be back to square one minus thousands in fees. (many people are finding themselves going bankrupt after 'trying' the IVA route I see this all the time)

People say its a shame to have gone so far in an IVA which is true and nobody wants an IVA to fail but struggling with no money especially with children then these words mean nothing really and you have to do whats best for you and your family.

People say well if your IVA fails then you might have to pay into a Income Payments Agreement / Order anyway in bankruptcy if you go down that route which can be true but on the flip side you may not have to pay anything or substantially less than the payments in an IVA and if your situation has got worse then it is very likely to be the latter

If you go bankrupt the O/R will look at your income / expenditure & disposable income as to decide whether they think that you can pay something over in an Income Payments Agreement (max 3 years) or through an Income Payments Order

If you have no real disposable income which would obviously depend on your circumstances then you would pay little or nothing in bankruptcy with a definite end game in sight.

You can challenge the O/R (they are not the law) if you think that any IPA calculations are unreasonable as the idea is to give you a fresh start (this is happening all the time)

Like I say it all depends on individual circumstances and has to be your choice at the end of the day with full advice a must

Always speak to your IP first but maybe contact another agency who does not have any financial interest in your situation for an independent second opinion.

If you put up further details including your Statement of Affairs it could it help us assist and guide you further.

Do you rent or own your home / property?

Guide on B/R below that might help

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1056083

Genuine best wishes

ebrioney

Thanks for everyones advice, I have contacted my iva supervisor, and they have agreed to do another assessment of my outgoings, however they have warned me the payments may not reduce!! I always thought the point of a IVA was for a new start not to bleed you dry further! anyhow fingers crossed (PS depth charge I rent my home)

stecast

I was in a similar situation in the middle of my IVA (now complete)

In my case i lost my job and was certain my IVA would fail but after informing my IP who was great and managed to keep the IVA going, he pointed out to me that most of the debtors just want to be kept up to date with what is going on that he did on a regular basis.

3 month later i managed to find a new job, less pay so my IP put a new offer in to my debtors that was accepted.

My monthly payments dropped a lot (£100) and although my wage was slightly less i found it a lot easier to manage.

On the down side 6 month was added on to my IVA to make up for the short fall but i was happy with this as my monthly payments were a lot easier to manage.

Good luck and hope you manage to sort something out with your IP

Depth_Charge

ebrioney wrote: »

Thanks for everyones advice, I have contacted my iva supervisor, and they have agreed to do another assessment of my outgoings, however they have warned me the payments may not reduce!! I always thought the point of a IVA was for a new start not to bleed you dry further! anyhow fingers crossed (PS depth charge I rent my home)

Hi

Best to see what the IVA people say first.

Renting could be a plus if things go wrong, more information needed though but like I say speak to the IVA people first.

Let us know how you go on if possible, hope its a positive.

Best wishes

memberme

I agree with all of the above. I'm in a 6 year IVA and just ending year 3. I recived tax credits and under 12months old child payment for teh 1st year and then this was lost due to credit change and child getting older. All of this was known before hand but from the 160 lost I got a reduction of 33 quid. The IVA's set up 2 -3 years ago are now completely out of date expenditure wise and I was told that was going to be looked at although i note no change this year. The IVA was pushed to me as a flexible option which it certainly is not. They quickly put a note on their website as to howe litt;y the VAT change would made but never mention anything about increasing fuel bills, food, insurance, trouble with bl--dy NRAM, car repairs (can't save for them) etc etc.

Anondebtadvisor

If your need to change your IVA contributions the IP has descretion to reduce by upto 15% if any more than this they need to call a variation meeting.

Have you asked for a variation?

debtfree2016

Hi just to jump in on this, my IVA company reduced my payments by 15% when my mortgage changed form Interest Only to Repayment increasing my repayments by over £450... the 15% reduction was £167 and meant that unless i extended the period of the IVA i need to find £283 from my disposable income... HMMMH... this is my first month and on the 11.10.2012 i have £80 to cover food and diesel until the end of the month. I may end up haveing to extend unless i can make drastic changes in the life of my family... Sadly when entering an IVA with an INT only mortgage i was not asked if this would end and at the time I was not lead to believe it would until i changed it... funny how one of my creditors also happened to be my mortgage provider and i received the notification of INT to Repayment one month after my IVA was accepted... Best of luck.