IVA yearly review - What to expect?

SPELLKASTER · 8 April 2013 at 9:01AM

I've been on my IVA for a year in June.

Its been a struggle.

Debt Free Direct have asked for 3 banks statements to see what my current expenditure is.

I am slightly worried because I do play bingo online; I deposit usually between £20/£30 a week as it is my only past time and form of enjoyment.

Would they be funny with this? I know they allow so much for entertainment purposes which I suppose is what this is.

Other then that my spending is normal; I buy the food, pay bills, and my paying in matches my paying out at the bank.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

Foxy-Stoat_3 · 8 April 2013 at 10:10AM

Well done for getting through the first year !

They wont care about the bingo....there are more interested in how you run your account and your regular salary deposits. They either ask for your bank statements or payslips for the year. As long as you havent taken out any more credit then you wont have anything to worry about.

You will need to review your expenditure and increase things like fuel and food bills along with electric and or gas water/waste etc and this always goes up each year.

Your payments may be amended to suit any changes in income or expenses.

SPELLKASTER · 8 April 2013 at 10:33AM

Foxy-Stoat wrote: »

Well done for getting through the first year !

They wont care about the bingo....there are more interested in how you run your account and your regular salary deposits. They either ask for your bank statements or payslips for the year. As long as you havent taken out any more credit then you wont have anything to worry about.

You will need to review your expenditure and increase things like fuel and food bills along with electric and or gas water/waste etc and this always goes up each year.

Your payments may be amended to suit any changes in income or expenses.

Most things like gas, water, and food costs have gone up as would be expected.

I also have expensive vet bills due to my cat being a diabetic; so I am always spending money at the vets which they are aware of.

I currently claim DLA and ESA at the moment, they have asked for 3 months worth of bank statements.

I did go minus twice on my bank statement but they can see why. I didn't get charged by the bank.

Most of the time money goes in then goes out, so my income and expenditure remain consistent.

I just hope they dont increase my IVA payment; its currently £130 and bearing in mind the cost of living is forever increasing I cant afford any more increases to the IVA.

Touch would they will be fine about my account!!

And I haven't taken out any more credit; well I cant being on an IVA.

Thanks for the advice.

Foxy-Stoat_3 · 8 April 2013 at 10:37AM

Well you can afford increases as you are spending £80-£120 a month playing bingo which isn't an essential living expense but hopefully the increase cost of living will off set any increases and you can continue as normal.

As long as your money after all expenses have been included on your annual review form hasn't increased since last year you will be fine.

UpToMyNeckInIt · 8 April 2013 at 11:03AM

Hi SPELLKASTER,

I've got my annual review in July - so let us know how it goes!!!

The CCCS Budget guideleines allow you to budget for 'Sports, Hobbies & Entertainment. The 2011 figures for a household (which I believe have not been updated), per calender month are (£guideline - £maximum): £11-£17 (Single adult), £16-£22 (couple), + £6-£12 for each additional adult and child.

I therefore suggest you google 'cccs budget guidelines 2011', download the pdf document and have a look at what other luxury 'essentials' are allowed when revising your income and expenditure.

Hope this helps.

UpToMyNeckInIt · 8 April 2013 at 12:17PM

...forgot to mention.

I understand that you can spend your money on what you like, or indeed accumulate savings, if you can demonstrate that you have cut back on your other allowances.

SPELLKASTER · 8 April 2013 at 1:33PM

UpToMyNeckInIt wrote: »

Hi SPELLKASTER,

I've got my annual review in July - so let us know how it goes!!!

The CCCS Budget guideleines allow you to budget for 'Sports, Hobbies & Entertainment. The 2011 figures for a household (which I believe have not been updated), per calender month are (£guideline - £maximum): £11-£17 (Single adult), £16-£22 (couple), + £6-£12 for each additional adult and child.

I therefore suggest you google 'cccs budget guidelines 2011', download the pdf document and have a look at what other luxury 'essentials' are allowed when revising your income and expenditure.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for that will have a look.

As I dont have luxuries such as not going on holiday, I rarely to out to like ciname, and I dont have meals out as they are too expensive.

Bingo is my only enjoyment, but I do spend responsibly.

However I have cut down on it a lot as of late, mostly because I am spending a fortune in vets bills which need paying!!

Thanks to everyone for their advice!!

greenbrucelee · 8 April 2013 at 1:36PM

I had my review last month and all I had to do was to confirm everything that I stated at the start of my iva but when I get my p60 at the end of the month I have to send it to my IP.

kns_2 · 9 April 2013 at 11:48PM

I beg to differ on the bingo i would be surprised that any iva company would let you spend £120 a month gambling,when this money could be paying your debt off.
what happens when you win do you pay 50% of the winnings into your iva like you have too as it's a windfall?
when i was in an iva i was lucky to have £30 a month spare after paying everything

Max_Maxwell · 10 April 2013 at 9:24PM

kns wrote: »

I beg to differ on the bingo i would be surprised that any iva company would let you spend £120 a month gambling,when this money could be paying your debt off.
what happens when you win do you pay 50% of the winnings into your iva like you have too as it's a windfall?
when i was in an iva i was lucky to have £30 a month spare after paying everything

KNS makes a valid point. If you set up your IVA less than a year ago, how did you negotiate these spare funds at the outset?

If you were 3 years into your IVA and your salary had increased in that time then you would have spare funds for Bingo or any other entertainment. (This assumes foregoing 50% of your surplus after I&E).

I doubt your IP will look favourably on this expenditure. It shows you had more surplus income at the outset of the IVA than declared.

UpToMyNeckInIt · 13 May 2013 at 1:06PM

Thought I would resurect this thread.

I too am approaching my first annual review, and thus far my IVA company has been pretty unhelpful: I got a 4-line letter requiring that I complete a new I&E form, and send in the last 6-months payslips (which I don't have, being self-employed - granted I'll send them my accounts instead), and bank statements.

My new case officer's phone goes to voicemail EVERY time, and she never replies to emails (whenever I have sent in updated creditor statements etc).

This is a far cry from the assistance provided to me when signing up: The staff were very attentive. They bent over backwards to ensure I was claiming for everything in the then CCCS guide and some, to minimise my IVA payment. (They even attempted to 'invent' fuel/servicing for my Wife's car - she does not drive. I put them right of course, and this category was changed to 'taxi fares/public transport').

Amazing how some of these firms are so helpful when they see a few grand coming their way when you are contemplating an IVA, and then seemingly couldn't give a fig, once you are trapped!!!

Point is, that if a customer in these circumstances is not on-the-ball, they could end up under-claiming expenditure, with their IVA payments going up significantly, if not properly scrutinised by their case officer. I wonder if this is the cause of so many problems? I bet many firms are willing to simply demand the higher payment without checking that closely.

If I 'claim' all my allowances in the Stepchange Budget Guidelines 2012, I technically spent more than I took home (on paper, thanks to a decent accountant), based on the latest available accounts. Well, if my case officer cannot be bothered to engage in a quick explanatory conversation (ie: to allow me to explain that I can actually afford my IVA), I am going to do just that. Maybe it will prompt my IVA firm to getting of their backside, getting their case officer on the case!!!

(Sorry, rant over - I do wish with hindsight that I had signed up with a different IVA firm though).

Will keep you all posted of course.

IVA yearly review - What to expect?

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