www.iva.co.uk

What is the upper limit on allowance for fuel and vehicle running costs?

I currently spend approximately £190 pcm on fuel and the vast majority of my milage is taken by commuting to and from work. I harldly use my vehicle socially any more.
My car tax is currently £235 per year.

My IVA gives a fuel allowance of £130 pcm and an allowance of £20 pcm for motor running costs.
I am therefore overspending on fuel by £60 pcm and after paying car tax am left with £5 to service, MOT, and maintain my vehicle.
My vehicle is important to me as there is no public transport available from home to work.

My IP told me that the £130 pcm allowance for fuel was the maximum allowed. Is this the case, is there an upper limit?

I am fortunate that for the first year of my IVA I have had lots of overtime (and not much of a life) and have managed to subsidise vehicle running costs from this. Due to the present financial climate, it is unlikely that overtime will be so readily available in the future.
I worrry because without the overtime, where would I find the extra £60 for fuel and extra monies for vehicle running costs.

I have kept all fuel receipts for the past 3 months, so can prove what I spend.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Regards, J.

I would think that if your vehicle is vital for you to earn money to pay your IVA then with receipts etc., surely the amount should be granted? Wait around as on of the professionals will be along very soon but I always put what I spend and so far no problem. x

This again shows the stupidity of travel allowances. The CCCS prepare what are supposed to be 'guidelines' and anything outside of these guidelines needs explained. Contact your IP and produce the receipts for travel. The fact that you are using your share of overtime is unfair and given that your review is due, you should insist on being given the correct allowance.

Hi, £130pm is the upper limit of the GUIDELINE. This figure is not set in stone. I'm not sure how tax, mot and maintenance costs are calculated as everybody's proposal is different so I only have my own to go by.

I have a fuel,road tax and maintenance allowance in my IVA.

Same here. I can't remember what we claim for fuel but it's never been queried.

The actual maximum guidelines for fuel and parking are £167 and £22 for servicing so you should be able to get the allowance raised anyway.

As Melanie has once said I really don't understand how you can produce a guideline for fuel, as everyone is different.

Keeping receipts is a good idea if an advisor in the practice is being difficult. You should request that your I&E is brought up to what you actually spend, and produce the receipts if necessary to prove your case.

My insurance is going up this year for no apparent reason- I hope that it's not happening across the board or I fear we'll be quite busy with variations this Christmas.

my car insurance has just gone up by £20 a month so i went on go compare and the other sites and actually got insurance for £10 less than what im originally paying

As others have said, the fuel figure is a guideline, not a maximum.
I am with CCCS and have a figure of around £200 per month for fuel (£45-£50) per week, argue your case with mileage and receipts.

For me, if I use the car a tank of fuel for the week is around £60 or for the bike around £28 but has to be filled again towards then end of the week, I use the bike as much as possible, by preference as well as saving money.

What a stupid use of allowance guidelines by your IP!! Surely what you use is what you use,end of story?!?


Paul

Guys - even CCCS themselves do not insist that their clients stick to the guideline figures! Higher than average expenditure must be backed with documentary evidence, in which case creditors cannot and will not enforce a lower sum. Any IP who insists on clients sticking rigidly to CCCS guideline figures, does not deserve to hold a licence.

Thanks all for the replies.
I will take this up with my IP at my review this month and will present all evidence to them.

My main concern here is that if the overtime dries up as it is expected to in the present financial climate, then I would not be able to afford the extra £60 pcm for fuel, and other motoring costs and my IVA would more likely fail. Having come this far, that is the last thing I want to happen.

Hi
You must have the allowance for the fuel that you have to buy each month. Ridiculous to have an allowance lower than your actual spend, a recipe for disaster
Regards

And your IP can reduce your payments by up to 15% without needing to run to creditors for approval, if your expenditure does unexpectedly increase.