Two Questions for the Experts

[Skippy]

At the end of April I received a pay rise to take effect from the end of May. The increase works out at about £60 per month after tax, NI and pension deductions. By the time I had my payslip and the money was in my account I had received a letter from the OR advising me that my paperwork had been passed to Clarke Willmott so the IPA could be set up by them and to contact them directly with any queries.

I phoned CW when I knew how much I would be receiving each month and they asked me to send them a copy of my new pay slip (which I did) and they would look at it to see if my IPA needed to be reassessed. I haven't heard from them, and I'm paying the original amount of £186 per month to CW.

My question is, should I have notified the OR as well as CW? I was under the impression that as CW are dealing with the my IPA but for some reason I am now worrying that I have done the wrong thing!

That brings me on to my second question (sorry about this!) - I have recently discovered that I have some premium bonds in my name that were bought for me when I was christened - they were still at my mums. As I had completely forgotten about them I didn't declare them as an asset on my BR application form. Do I need to contact the OR and tell them, and if I do will it be looked on badly? It was a genuine oversight on my behalf, and there are only £12 worth (showing my age there!) which have sentimental value to me - the lady who bought them for me died a few years ago.

Thanks in advance for your advice x

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is the present - a gift to make the most of.

View my blog at http://skippy13.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[MelanieGiles]

Hi Skippy

Your are firstly only obliged to advise about pay rises until you are discharged from bankruptcy. I think in your case this is April next year, so until then you are doing the right thing in advising the OR of this matter. It is then up to them really to deal with Clarke Willmott - but there is certainly no harm in you advising both parties at the same time. They may then enforce an increase in the payment - I personally feel that this is unlikley - and this will remain the figure for the rest of the IPO, unless of course you have another payrise before your discharge.

Do make sure that you are also taking any additional expenditure into account as well. Mortgage interest rates have increased, and therefore your contribution to that may well have increased - also council tax etc.

Re the premium bonds - get Dave to give you £12 to hand over to the OR. This has been a genuine oversight, is immaterial and perfectly understandable. You will not even get a slapped wrist from the OR, but are doing the decent thing by declaring them and realising the asset.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

[Skippy]

Thanks for your reply Melanie. I received a letter back from CW acknowledging my letter stating that they didn't need to see any more pay slips from me so I'm presuming that they don't want any of the pay rise. I didn't inform the OR about the pay rise, only CW, so do you think I ought to send a letter to the OR? My main reason for not doing this was because when I spoke to the OR about my IPA they said they couldn't tell me anything, I would have to wait to hear from CW! Also, when I spoke to CW they didn't mention informing the OR, only sending them the payslip.

I will write a letter to the OR offering them the £12 from Dave for the premium bonds. I hope they don't want them, but if they do they do.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is the present - a gift to make the most of.

View my blog at http://skippy13.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[MelanieGiles]

For the price of a stamp, and to cover yourself, I would drop the OR a line. They will not want the bonds, only the monetory value of them.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

[Skippy]

The letter about the premium bonds is ready to go.

I had to speak to CW today (if anyone else has to deal with them, don't worry about it, they are lovely) as there was a problem with my IPA payment so I thought I would mention the payrise issue (I've never plucked up the courage before in case I got into trouble!). They told me that I don't have to notify the OR, they do it. The only problem is, they haven't told the OR! They have my payslips and IPA form on file, but not the covering letter so nothing was done! The girl I spoke to asked me to send another letter advising them of the pay, so I have done that and enclosed a copy of the letter I sent in May. Basically I have worded it so that they have all the info without asking them to contact the OR! Hopefully I won't end up paying any more, but at least I've been honest.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is the present - a gift to make the most of.

View my blog at http://skippy13.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[MelanieGiles]

Sounds like you are the one doing the chasing here Skippy - but well done and you are absolutely doing the right thing!

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

[Skippy]

Thanks for your help Melanie. Even though I am now BR (and much happier!) I still panic every now and then, usually when I've had time to think!

I agree about me doing the chasing - I had to ring the OR in the first place to make sure my IPA was being set up. People are probably thinking I'm a mug, but my view is the sooner I started paying the sooner it's over and done with. I hope I don't end up having to pay more for being honest!

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is the present - a gift to make the most of.

View my blog at http://skippy13.blogs.iva.co.uk/