Iva

Annshorty

Good evening all

I'm currently in my 5th month of my IVA. I applied for IVA so my payments were all in 1 place and my outgoings were less for the month as I'm currently on maternity leave. So from paying nearly £300 out every month this has been reduced to £80 a month for 5 years. The council also stopped paying my rent and council tax and hit me with an overpayment from 4 years ago! So I was able to include the council tax bills to my iva. I asked the company if I was able to include my rent, they said I could, I approached my land lord and they said I wasn't able to, eventually I asked the company to contact my landlord (l&q) they agreed eventually the arrears can be added. Contacted them today to let them knw tht I wasn't getting any money from tax credit as they believe I've had an overpayment! How I do not knw as all I did was add my daughters to my claim for my son. So they have said I'm not getting any money until April. Income support have said they haven't recieved my paperwork yet and I'd have to wait a further 17 days for acknowledgement. My landlord are talking about taking me to court for the arrears on my account even though I have an IVA in place. Has this happened to anyone else can they do this? Sorry its very long winded, just tht my daughters are coming up to 1 and my son is 15, I live in a 2 bed flat and they are not going to move me if I have arrears. I don't knw wht to do. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you:o

sourcrates

Rent is a priority debt.

If you don’t pay, they can evict you.

Annshorty

I have been paying towards my rent, I'm currently on maternity leave and haven't been receiving my full wages so I can only pay what I can afford. I'm now not receiving any money and now I've had an increase in my housing benefit which has left me having to pay £5 towards my rent. I contacted my landlord and told them I'm not getting any money so I'm unable to even make tht payment. I understand rent is my priority but I can't pay with what I don't have.

sourcrates

Annshorty wrote: »

I have been paying towards my rent, I'm currently on maternity leave and haven't been receiving my full wages so I can only pay what I can afford. I'm now not receiving any money and now I've had an increase in my housing benefit which has left me having to pay £5 towards my rent. I contacted my landlord and told them I'm not getting any money so I'm unable to even make tht payment. I understand rent is my priority but I can't pay with what I don't have.

I understand that, but that doesn’t change anything.

Rent is a priority, as I said, an IVA isn’t, are you claiming all the benefits you are entitled to ?

If your paying towards an IVA at the expense of other priority debts, you need to consider if that’s the right course of action to take.

Unsecured debts are last on the list to be paid, a debt relief order may of been more suitable for you, or even bankrupcy.

Annshorty

I did say in my original post tht i was paying towards my rent never disputed tht playing my rent is a priority, however my tax credit have been stopped so I have no sort of income coming in at all. The arrears tht are on my rent acct are included in my iva, im getting housing benefit to cover the majority of my rent which leaves me £5 to pay. My original question was can my landlord still take me to court if I've already committed to the iva with my arrears included?

sourcrates

Annshorty wrote: »

I did say in my original post tht i was paying towards my rent never disputed tht playing my rent is a priority, however my tax credit have been stopped so I have no sort of income coming in at all. The arrears tht are on my rent acct are included in my iva, im getting housing benefit to cover the majority of my rent which leaves me £5 to pay. My original question was can my landlord still take me to court if I've already committed to the iva with my arrears included?

Sorry, usually if you are in arrears with your current landlord then generally speaking this debt cannot be included in an IVA especially if you are renting from a private landlord, unless advice has recently changed, normally the landlord has to give there permission, your IVA company were wrong.

Previous arrears from another property can be included.

I would double check exactly what is included in your arrangement and what isn’t.

If you are renting from a social landlord such as your local Council or Housing Association then there is a possibility that your rent arrears could be included as these types of landlord will be less able to evict you if you can show that you can maintain your normal rental payments going forward.

However even if you can show that you can maintain your rent payments going forward if you do not offer a plan to repay the arrears that you owe most private landlords will be inclined to ask you to leave their property.

Annshorty

I live in an l&q property. They were reluctant to agree to the arrears to go into the iva. Have accepted it now but everytime I contact them, instead of the person read my notes they look at the balance on my acct and keep telling me about court. Now I don't think a judge would kick me out of my flat with 3 children.

sourcrates

Annshorty wrote: »

I live in an l&q property. They were reluctant to agree to the arrears to go into the iva. Have accepted it now but everytime I contact them, instead of the person read my notes they look at the balance on my acct and keep telling me about court. Now I don't think a judge would kick me out of my flat with 3 children.

I would get advice on your situation from one of the debt charity’s or citizens advice as these things can escalate quickly.

Good luck with it.

Pixie5740

I would also recommend getting housing advice from Shelter. Just because you have children doesn't mean to say that a judge won't grant a possession order if it goes to court.

fatbelly

The questions 'can I be evicted' and 'can they enforce the debt' are two different questions.

The answers may be 'yes' and 'no'