If I enter into an IVA do I have a duty to tell my employer ? I have gone through my contract of employment and cant see anything in there relating to IVA's but I work for a bank and not sure if I am obliged to tell my boss ? I can only imagine that if I did I may open a can of worms ? Also although my Contract does not suggest antying around IVA's could I be dismissed for entering into an IVA ?
If it doesn't say anything in your contract, then I wouldn't mention it.
My employers don't know and I have no intention of telling them.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
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You would be well advised to make a call to your HR department, you can do this anonomously if that is easier for you.
Give them a brief outline of your situation and see what the response is. Some banks, for example, will not countenance IVA but will be happy to accept a DMP.
Let us know how you get on.
Regards.
Cert DR
23+ years in debt advice
I do not post for anyone other than myself
Hi
I would have thought your contract would state about an IVA etc if it was going to affect your employment, as it doesn't then I think that you have no duty to disclose it to anyone at work.
However if you can talk to your HR dept anonymously then I would do as Size 5 advises.
Regards
If you do not get anywhere with HR you could speak to the union rep who has surely come across this thing before. I agree with Size5 that it is better to cover yourself so there is no comeback in the future.
Size5 Can you explain to me why banks are so against IVAs as opposed to DMPs. To my mind and IVA is a serious step for a debtor to take and one that is not taken lightly. Surely that shows the debtor is determined to do what is considered best to all parties ratified and (if accepted) supervised by a heavily regualted professional.
Not all banks are anti IVA but some creditors clearly are. I believe the main issue is an accounting one. If someone enters into an IVA the creditor must make an immediate provision for the debt whereas in a DMP the debt can still be shown as an asset on the balance sheet even if the debtor is only paying £1 a month.
This is plainly misleading to investors and I often wonder how much debt is shown as an asset on the balance sheets of banks which is obviously irrecoverable.
It isn't that they are against IVA's per se (see Michaels post above for a list of cogent and legitimate reasons why they may prefer IVA's over DMP's even though they may get a lesser return potentially) it is just that I have found that, in the vast majority of cases I have come across with this scenario, they would prefer it if their own employees went onto a DMP rather than an IVA.
The banks, in the case of their own employees, seem to view a DMP as a more responsible way of dealing with the problem as they are making a commitment to repay all of the debt.
Whatever my opinion on that argument is, and certainly it is an interesting debate, in the majority of cases, but not all of course, that seems to be just the way it is. One of the reasons I always encourage bank employees to contact HR anonomously is so that they can hear their own employers standpoint on this from the horses mouth, as it were.
Regards.
Cert DR
23+ years in debt advice
I do not post for anyone other than myself
Just be careful if your mortgage is also with your employer. IPs have to write to mortgage and secured loan companies as well as your unsecured creditors, and they might put two and two together. This happened to a client of mine this week, and it is certainly something I will be very careful to mention in future.
Thanks Mel, My Mortgage is not with my employer - although that now raises another question in my mind. I have an £8k credit card debt with a bank who is ultimately owned by the larger bank that I work for. it would seem unlikely that this would be identified ? Wouldnt it ?
Right - I have anonymously called the HR Support line who were as much support as an extra £50k of debt on my head. Basically they have said that I am obliged to report any "financial Irregularitys" or "financial problems" I get into to my line manager. In respect to a DMP or IVA, my manager would need to be told and report this to HR who would basically look at the circumstances and decide whether to 1) Retain my employment or 2) Dismiss me for "Gross Misconduct" having got into debt. I questionned how my boos or the bank would find out about my IVA and the HR Guy admitted this would probably only come up under a search if one was carried out. The other matter they threw into play was that as I have a debt with a part of the bank ( i.e I work for HBOS and I have a £8k debt with Intelligent Finance) who are part of the group, that when the IVA is put in place and creditors are notified of my employer that whoeevr looks at the case for the bank may decide to notify my boos about the IVA. Thus I was told to tell my boss now. I dont think thats a great idea as I could be putting myself right in the firing line, when in reality he may never find out !!!!!!!!!! Help !!!!! Mel - I appreciate that creditors will need to see I have a job but are they told who I work for ? Also any views on my predicament would be appreciated.
Normally a proposal will say 'I Joe Bloggs am a 37 year old joiner working for High Street Carpentry' but I see no reason why your employer's name could not be left off. We have done it the past when a client was working for one of the very agents of the banks. Wait and see what Melanie says.
Regardless, Intelligent Finance must know who your employer is as it would be on the application form but whether they would inform your boss is a guess. Having had no success with HR why not speak to the union?
