legal jargon and I do not understand it.

[kay.r]

I have an IVA and i understand that each year it will be reviewed and if my pay increases I will be asked to increase the premium paid into the IVA. I am also being asked to pay 50% of any bonus, overtime or other windfall monies that I pay tax on into the account, which extra money is to be paid in a lump sum at the annual reveiw. Is this correct? It seems to me that if I have agreed an amuont and agreed annual reviews for possible rises for the IVA why are they also penalising me by taking half of any bonus I receive, and why must I pay this in a lump sum because I do not have (as you would expect) a cheque book or credit card to make the payment and basically I live hand to mouth and have no savings whatsoever so that saving this money is an impossible dream for me. I have asked my Practioner about this but cannot get a clear reply he only quotes paragraphs from the IVA Agreement which is legal jargon and I do not understand it.

[ianmillington]

Sorry Kay, but can you please type out the provisions word for word.

You will probably need to look in both the proposal and the Chairmans Report.

Ian

[SharonR]

Hi Kay
Most of us have the 50% clause on overtime.

What I do is every month I get my payslip I give my IVA company a call and pay over my 50% there and then so that I do not have to save this money up and then run the risk of dipping into it.

I know it seems hard at first to have to pay over your overtime, but at the end of the day it is our responsibility to pay out creditors back as much as we can afford.

Cheers
Sharon

[louisa.s]

Hi Kay,

As SharonR says most of do have 50% bonus/overtime provisions. Hubby earns bonus almost every month and we used to send the 50% by cheque with a covering letter and copy payslip as we were fortunate to get a chequebook prior to our IVA commencing. However now all I do is bank transfer the money to them using our names as reference and the same details that we use for our standing order and send our IVA firm a email to say that I sending the funds across and so far no probs.

It is alot easier if you can make the payments monthly as then it is out of the way. Contact your IP and speak with them about paying it across monthly.

Although at times we begrudge paying the bonus I am actually very thankful that we get to keep 50% of it.

If you are struggling with your day to day living expenses it may be an idea to contact your IP and possibly resubmitting an Income and expenditure form.

[ianmillington]

The reason I am asking for the precise wording is that you have said one or two things that are unexpected in a review clause, windfall monies for example. Whilst referring to 50% of bonuses, overtime etc, there is nothing specified in respect of ordinary pay increases. I Believe in your post you are referring to 2 separate paragraphs and so without reading them word for word I will be unable to decipher them. The overtime bit is probably how Louisa and Sharon have explained but its the rest of it that I'm not too clear about.

Ian

[kay.r]

Wording is as follows:

1.2 Annual Review

I propose that my income and expenditure be review on an annual basis and the supervisor is to obtain an increase in voluntary contributions of not less than 50% of any surplus available monies over and above the original contribution as set out in Appendix 4.

I confirm that i will provide my supervisor with copies of my bank or building society statement of all accounts covering each 12 month period from the date of acceptance of my proposals. I further confirm that i will mark each payment over £100 with its name and purpose and each receipt with its source.



3.0 After Acquired Assets/Windfalls

It is proposed that any assets which are acquired by me after the date thereof and before the conclusion of the arrangement should be made available to the supervisor for general purposes of the arrange insofar as the same could be claimed by a trustee in bankruptcy pursuant and in all respects subject tot he provisions of sections 307 - 309 of the Insolvency Act 1986.

This is the wording on the IVA document as submitted to the Court. In the latest letter I have from them he writes

"I would like to take this opportunity to remind you of certain key requirements of your arrangements with particular regard to clause 5.5 of the Proposal Document which reads 'In addition to my contributions I will pay 50% of any overtime, commission, bonus or any other additional payments received over and above that already provided for in my income calculation as agreed at the last review of my arrangement', which is £1,566. You must ensure that such funds if applicable are sent to my office with documentary evidence on a regular basis to prevent a lump sum payment being requested at the annual review of your IVA."

I cannot see a Clause 5.5 in my Proposals document which only has 5.1 and 5.2 nor in the proposed modifications which only goes up to 4.12. I do not have Clause 5.5 nor have I seen it. The letter goes on to state that this is not a request for payment at present but warns me to keep any money.

Is the annual review date the date that I first contacted this company, the date I signed the Proposal Document or the date that it was accepted by the Creditors? I ask because will they back date the review date to the beginning of last year when I first contacted them or from 3 October my acceptance date of this year?

I look forward to your reply.

kay

[MelanieGiles]

Hi Kay

There do appear to be some unusual anomalies there with regard to your proposal. Regardless of whether you have a clause 5.5 - that may just be a typo in the letter - does your proposal document actually include the same wording as has been reproduced in the recent letter you have received?

The annual review date is the anniversary of your creditors meeting date.

[marsha1]

Heck I do not have to explain anything 100 pounds or over, this seems quite srtict. I do have the 50% oertime/bonus clause, I don't get o/time but I will be getting a pay rise in April, I will need to hand over 50% of that after taking expenses into account though.

[kay.r]

Dear Melanie,

What I typed last night was a direct quote from the proposal document and also the direct quote from the last letter received. No where in the proposal document does it mention the figure £1,566 and draws my attention to clause 5.5. Clause 5 in the proposal document deals with my liabilities. This is just a summary of my liabilities to my creditors.

If you need any further details, please let me know.

Kay.

[Hull_Tiger]

That does all seem rather harsh. You have to mark everything you spend over £100 with a reason? Does that mean your IP is monitoring your spending for 'frivilous spending'?
I've always thought that whatever you saved from your I&E was yours to keep? (eg. if you have £250 shopping budget and only spend £175, the £75 is yours)
Just guessing but is the £1566 your monthly net pay? If so, it is stating that you need to pay 50% of any monies above that amount.

[ianmillington]

Kay

You need to have a chat with a local IP who can sit down with you for half an hour and go through the paperwork and advise you. It's not clear whether there are pages missing from your proposal. The latest letter seems weird to say the least if that clause was never there in the first place or you haven't seen a modification to that effect.

Somebody taking a few minutes knowing what they are looking for will probably unlock this for you. I for one am reluctant to advise you what you should be doing other than that. It would be dangerous for both of us. Hope you understand.

You shouldn't get charged for a short meeting with an IP.

ian

[kay.r]

Dear Ian,

Thank you very much for the advice. Where can I find a local IP to Bromley, is there a list on your site?

Regards
Kay

[ianmillington]

The only firm appearing to be in your town is

B&C Associates
129 Masons Hill,
Bromley,
Kent,
BR2 9HT

Tel: 020 8460 4304
According to their yell.com entry they offer free advice, although, I don't know them. They must, however, be worth a phone call.

Ian

[MelanieGiles]

I would also suggest a call to Paul Johns of Reviva who acts as an intermediary between IP and client if there is a dispute. I have only known Paul for a short while, but have been very impressed with his work, and "have a go" attitude, coupled with a desire to see the right thing done by all.