Hi Chris. Seems a shocking thing that you cannot stay on when you want to given that the Armed Forces seem overstretched as it is. However, if this is the case do let us know and we will put forward a variation. Creditors are normally sympathetic to sevice personnel and I am sure that something can be agreed suitable to all. You will need to resettle and find new employment and this all takes time and money. Good luck but maybe there is a small chance that they reconsider.
I deal with a lot of Armed Forces cases - and I always specifically exclude lump sums from pension and gratuities within the proposal - I have learned from my own personal experience how unsettling it is to re-establish yourselves in civvy street as my own husband was a 22 year man, and we found it quite difficult.
As Michael says this can now probably be varied in your favour - but easier if it was provided for within the contract initially I find.
Thanks to this forum my wife and are are feeling alot more positive about leaving the Army. I have just drafted a letter to send to my IP in regard to a varience.
Officialy by 2011 the Army will be fully manned so overstreach officially should not occur[:o)]It boils down to budjet restraints. If you have specialist skills that are in need then you might be extended. On the new contracts all soldiers have the ability to extend where as the older guys have to apply to be concidered.
After such a positive start I had on this forum last week the thunder clouds have gathered again and my future now seems very uncertain.
Mc Cambridge Duffy informed me today that my gratuity would definetly be up for grabs further more they could not make a varience or an exclusion until shortly before I am due to Leave the Army in June 2011.
The information I have recieved is in total contrast to the advice from Martin's previous post and on the contray creditors do not look upon Forces personnel any differently regardless of there welfare position at the time of leaving the Services.[V]
They are only interested in getting there money back!! Understandable.
Now that I know I will be leaving the Army and how much I am likely to recieve my wife and I are planning ahead. Technically I could be unemployed and homeless!! I cannot afford to sit back and wait for 18 months and gamble with my families future that my creditors will not take the lions share of my gratuity i.e. my future home/employment.
Mc Cambridge Duffy also said that if I were to invest a large amount of the gratuity in a new home this could be seen as positive equity and potentially I would be required to arrange an equity release[V]
At this point it seems as if I'm backed into a corner bankruptcy in my last year of service with special permission is looking more favourable but is something niether my wife and I want.
We believe the IVA is a more responsible approach and the best deal for our creditors to get there money back however we have weighed up the pros/cons to the alternative and are prepared to go down that road.
Hopefully Michael will personally intervene on this on your behalf Chris, and try and sort something out. At the end of the day it is your prerogative to ask for a variation to be put forward, and knowing the hierarchy in that firm as well as I do I am sure they will be happy to oblige.
I will e-mail Michael in the morning just in case he misses your post.
Thank you [:)]and in response to your previous post I have no firm ideas as to what I would like to do when I leave the Army. I will be attending CTW in Portsmouth in Dec and hopefully I will have a better idea.
I have recently been thinking about an operations managers post or even event planing and organisation manager which would be simlilar to what Im doing now. At the moment I would go for any job that I could maintain my prescent salary for obvious reasons.
If it were possible I would really like to be a commercial helicopter piolt working in Canada or Australia however I would need about 40K to pay for the training.
Im open minded and flexible to any ideas at the moment.
He is a company director in our group, and looks after Facilities Management. But it did take him a while to get his head around being a civvy. Hope it all works out for you Chris - I am sure it will.
Good luck from me as well Chris, I hope everything works out for you.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
