Reducing IPA?

simplesibbo

Hi all,

Thanks for all your invaluable advice so far guys. I was wondering if it's possible to reduce my monthly IPA payments...originally I didn't factor in holidays, Christmas etc - just resigned myself to 3 barren years in those departments. I'm getting married next year:j and need to save LOTS of money - is that a valid claim or will they tell me to take a running jump...?

wherediditallgo

To be honest, I don't think you've got much chance of them reducing your IPA for these reasons.

Firstly, the only reasons for reducing/suspending an IPA are related to changes of circumstances, such as having moved home & having more outgoings, loss of a job, family size increasing/decreasing. Those are things that could affect your income, things that you may not have been able to foresee & plan for. Your circumstances haven't changed, you've just realised that you might not have claimed for all the things you could have & that you've got a lot of expense ahead.

Secondly, there were opportunities before the start of your IPA for you to review your SOA before committing to the agreement. You had the chance before going to court, before & after your interview with the OR (if you had one) & when they sent you the IPA agreement to sign (you usually get 14 days to sign it). For all those reasons, I think the OR will probably think "Tough luck".

The only way I can see the OR allowing you to reduce your payments because you want to save for your wedding is if the person you're marrying is the OR. Having said that, if you change address or other circumstances change either before or after your wedding, you have to let the OR know of that anyway within 21 days & it's possible that your IPA might be reduced at that point when those changes are taken into account. Until then, a "running jump" of Olympic proportions is very likely, so I personally wouldn't be raising the subject.

Look at this way, a lot of people spend far too much money on weddings & get themselves into massive debt as a result - you won't have that to worry about. Friends of mine got married last year - my friend wanted the big wedding with all the trimmings, but her OH went BR in 2005 & they simply couldn't afford it, even with some help from family & friends. They decided to start off as they meant to go on - they got their rings from Argos, made their own invitations, her OH did some unpaid work which got them flowers from a florist & meat from the butcher, her mother made the cake, her sister did everyone's hair & make-up & friends sorted out the catering. They thoroughly enjoyed the day. They'd thought about having a bigger do in a few years, but had such a good time that they've already changed their minds about that & will just get themselves better rings next year when they can afford them, keeping the Argos ones for sentimental reasons.

You've got time to think about where & how to save money, so have a look at the Old Style board or just ask people for suggestions. I'm sure you'll be able to sort things out, & have a memorable day.