I would appreciate your thoughts.

[alan.sn]

We have been getting advice from a debt agency. Having spoken to 2 other companies they seemed the most honest. Someone from a marketing company came round on Monday and went through our expences. 2 adults, 2 children. 2135 net pm income, 30K debt and around £170 pm spare after expences. Having since spoken to our advisor we were initialy told that although we had put £400 pm for shopping we could only put £350 and our monthly payment to an IVA would be £225. Firstly £170 + the extra £50 would still only be £220. Initially they had not taken into account our £18 pm pet insurance. We dont even have life insurance which I know we should. Also we have put £0 for entertainment but £47 for Sky TV which is our entertainment. They are saying that we cant have it on the IVA as we wont be left with enough money to make a substantial payment. They have now said that we can pay £200 pm. They are saying that we need to pay back at least 40p in the pound when I have seen that 25p is a benchmark figure. Our main creditors are MBNA and Barclays. I would appreciate your thoughts.

[jpj]

Sounds like they are reasonably right to me!... You are only allowed the basic sky package for starters.On a salary of your amount,if you handed over less than £200 a month i doubt it would be accepted!

[luluj]

Sorry I agree to - on face value you have insufficient to offer the correct level of return for an IVA.

[emma_t]

Hi alan

While I agree that you need to cut down things like sky to a basic package you are allowed this in an iva and internet charges, mobile phones etc. Creditors do allow you to live a certain standard of living and pay for your family.

My warning is agreeing to an unrealistic income and expenditure. This is a recipe for disaster and will almost certainly lead to faliure of an iva. You need to be honest and accurate with every expense as this will set the standard for the next 5 years of your life. Don't leave anything out and don't be pressured into utting down false figures to satisfy creditors.
Having said that I believe the minimum that most pay into an iva is £200 per month.
Maybe you should try another opinion to make sure you are getting the right advice for you.

I am sure an expert will be along shortly to give you accurate advice
Good luck
Emma

[MelanieGiles]

Just be careful if you are dealing with a "marketing" company rather than an insolvency professional. It sounds to me as if they are trying to make an IVA fit, whereas your circumstances would suggest that this is really unaffordable.

No point in agreeing to a commitment you cannot pay in the long run. Have they also discussed a DMP or bankruptcy proceedings with you?

[rachellxx39]

Why are you only allowed the basic sky package in an iva? in mine i have an allowance of £60 for landline/internet and sky.Is mine wrong then ?

[emma_t]

alan take another look at your figures as when I first thought of an iva I was adament that I could only afford £200 per month.
When my income and expenditure was worked out properly it all changed and I found I could afford £390 payment and still maintain a good standard of life.

Sit down and work everything out and have a good look as to whether its affordable or not.
you could check out Debt Management Plans and do that for a while and look again at iva's when you have enough disposable income.

[alan.sn]

Thanks for all the advice. I am aware that we are not on the basic Sky package but as we have put nothing aside per month for entertainment then I thought this would be OK.

Anyway as I was so unsure about the figures I was being presented with I have decided to go the DMP route for now.

Better to be safe than sorry.

[emma_t]

Good luck alan, I think manny people try to 'conform' to what they are told is acceptable for creditors and then run into problems further into an iva, I am confident in my income and expenditure as made sure it was accurate and everything covered from the start.

Good luck for your dmp and you can revisit the idea of an iva at anytime. Also iva's are 'individual' so everyones i&e will differ and have different things accomodated within that creditors will allow.

Good luck and best wishes
Emma x

[alan.sn]

Thanks Emma[:)]