IVA - nearing end of 1st year worries

[600andy]

IVAs are meant to bring comfort back to your finances, and allow you to maintain a reasonable standard of living. If they are too punishing in terms of your finances, they will probably fail - and no-one wants to see that - particularly your IP. So at the time of your review, do make sure that you advise your IP of all the expenditure items you need allowances for, so that they can take this into consideration in terms of your review.

Melanie,

Thanks. I think at the time when we were going for the IVA - there was a sense of panic with myself and my Wife as we literaly had creditors snapping at our heels. I wont say we were given bad advice, but I felt we could have been told more. We took everything we were told by our IP Co. as gospel and didnt want to challenge anything too much for fear of delaying anything. Lots of things were said, like " dont worry about the detail as long you keep up your payment" and so many expenses were in our opinion left off the proposal almost to make the figures look good. For us whatever, it was a god send, but no where near as comfortable to manage as we thought, although I know things are not meant to be too comfortable. One of the issues we have/had was things like running a car. The HP on the car was accepted as was tax & Insurance - but we overlooked maintenance, breakdown cover, MOT's etc etc - and when we asked about it, we were told "well you never put it on your proposal form so its not our fault" Yea, OK, fair enough, but I would have expected a little more support from the IP as well as some proactive challenging of our submission. When we were going for this, we were desperate, scared and I think perhaps not thinking so straight and so it was shardly surprising some things were left off. Even now, I can think of some misc. costs that are pretty much certain to come up in an average year that will not have been allowed for. Trouble is, if you literally try and cover every base, your IVA proposal doesnt look such a good deal and may be rejected - at least that was how we were made to feel. Anyways, we are now comfortable even if on a tight budget. We have corrected the majority of the omissions on the proposal and getting along alright - but I dont think we will ever be 100% happy with our IP.....I am sure the IP himself is OK, but his company I feel didnt do us the service they should have and I felt that were just after the sale......

[600andy]

If you click on Blogs at the top of your page, you'll see a list of all the blogs. Read through as many as you can to give you an insight on others experiences.

At the bottom of the blog page, there's an option to register. Follow the steps, you'll get your username and password and way to go!

Its not for everyone but it does me the world of good to get my emotions and feelings out, good and bad! By reading others, I know I'm not alone.

Please give it a try as its great to read how others cope. Moretolife is the moderator and she'll give you blog advice too.

Good luck xx

Thanks Swans_girl - yea, I may well give it a go as I am good for a bit of keyboard diarrhea and if it helps others,all well and good.

Andy
x

[drg]

Hi 600Andy,

I had exactly the same experience as yourself and in the end had to get my IP to review and arrange a modification. As you say, the initial proposal, on paper looked OK, but did not take into account a lot of, which at the time, seems minor expenditure, but turns out to be essential to live a poor, but manageable life.

After being mauled by your creditors for a period of time, you feel that the relief of no calls,letters and visits demanding payment is heaven, which it is, although this feeling is short lived in my experience.

I managed to get my payments reduced by 20% with no extension on the IVA, which made it easier, although still difficult as with everything in life, if it can go wrong or breakdown it will!!

I also had a £50.00 per month contingency allowance built into my I&E.

The reality is that it is very difficult whichever way you look at it, and if you are honest you should not expect it any other way. We all have to take responsibility for our debts and have to accept that things will be tight, although you should be able to maintain a reasonable quality of life for yourself and your family.

I hope it all works out for your and wish you and your family the best of luck.

[MelanieGiles]

These experiences ought to be headed up "What not to do when proposing an IVA". For other posters currently considering whether to try this solution, or looking to choose an insolvency practitioner to act for them, I cannot stress enough the importance of fully understanding what you are committing to before you sign on the dotted line, and do not be bullied or coerced into accepting anything that you do not fully understand or cannot afford. It won't work in the long run!