www.iva.co.uk

Hello

I am new to the forum and having sleepless nights.
My IVA was rejected last week. I'm with payplan who reassured me that not many IVAs are rejected but then mine was. I let my wife control the finances for a long time. I was aware we had been getting into further debt over the years so it's my fault too. However my wife had a traumatic experience which lead to ptsd and she started gambling online bingo sites, then she lost and tried to win the money back on slots. She told me about this and I admire her honesty. She can't work due to agrophobia. Anyway the debts are all in my name. They come to £62000. Not all of this is due to my wife's difficult time but around £15000 is which she was taking out in cash and depositing in her account to gamble. She has not done this in over 3 months so none of this is on recent bank statements although they have not asked for my bank statements as yet.
Anyway my iva was rejected. My IP told me this is due to the budget offer of £178 not covering enough debt. I have a mortgage and around £60k - 70k equity if I sell. So I'm afraid they may try to make me bankrupt. This would be so detrimental to my wife as she has agrophobia and is emotionally attached to the house if that makes sense. All this is due to domestic abuse from her ex husband who has been released from prison early this year after serving half of 9 year sentence.
The creditors are holding another meeting Dec 2nd. They have asked for proof of my wife's vulnerabilities and proof that loosing the home may be detrimental to her. I have sent proof via payplan of my wife's diagnosed anxiety, proof of many therapy sessions and crime reference numbers of what her ex put her through. The creditor said that this proof "may" lead to them looking at our case differently.
I understand the offer is low but I had to base that on my flat wage. I work overtime almost every month, and my wifes son soon turns 18 so he won't be relient on us for the next 6 years and the payments will go up.
My absolute fear is being made bankrupt when I only have 6 years 7 months left to pay my mortgage, owning my home outright was on the horizon and now it looks like we might lose it. It's a modest home only worth £100k at best but we love it.
Sorry for the essay. Hoping for some positive stories and trying to stay calm until the next meeting but really I'm so worried.

You could "sweeten the pot", so to speak, by offering an extra year on the term, making the IVA a 6 year arrangement with the possibility of a further extension due to equity release provisions, rather than a 5 years with the same possibility of extension.

I'd like to add that I have brought up my wife's 3 children to her ex. 2 have grown and moved out, one having recently finished uni and working with his own place, the other left college and is settled too. One still with us and in college. I've had to support them over the years with no child maintenance payments due to the father being in prison. I earn just over the threshold for any type of universal credit and such so we've had to get by as a family on my wages only. This has massively contributed to our current debt situation. My wife has reluctanty applied for child maintenance recently since the ex is now out of prison, he is on benefits and is going to pay just over £6 per week starting December, with an extra 20% charge due to criminal charges against my wife and the child maintenance having to be a middle man for payments. So he's got away with so much whilst we are in debt and my wife is so unwell.
I don't expect the creditors will be sentimental about our situation, but I do wonder if I will have a case in a bankruptcy court.
I love my step kids and do not resent them for the debt I'm in, I never want them to find out about it. I just feel like the system is wrong. If a father is in prison, especially when he's been convicted of terrible crimes against the mother of his children, the government should step in when it comes to child maintenance.
A question I have is - my mortgage is in my name only, so if they make me bankrupt and force a sale will my wife be entitled to half of the equity? Thank you

Sat Nov 27, 2021 5:35 pmFoggy wrote:

You could "sweeten the pot", so to speak, by offering an extra year on the term, making the IVA a 6 year arrangement with the possibility of a further extension due to equity release provisions, rather than a 5 years with the same possibility of extension.

Hello Foggy, I expected the IVA would be 6 years as I'm 55 and will be unlikely to remortgage in 6 years time. Also payplan put aside £20 a month savings and I've asked them to offer this to the creditors also.
I've worked out that with the overtime I'm allowed to keep, I'd probably pay them between £20 to £50 extra each month providing I stay fit enough to keep doing overtime at this rate

Sorry to read of the initial rejection. Hopefully the mitigating facts and details of the impact to your wife should you be faced with losing your home will support your case and your creditors will reflect differently on your iva proposal. Let us know how you get on .

Mon Nov 29, 2021 12:07 amluluj wrote:

Sorry to read of the initial rejection. Hopefully the mitigating facts and details of the impact to your wife should you be faced with losing your home will support your case and your creditors will reflect differently on your iva proposal. Let us know how you get on .

Thank you very much. Only a few days of waiting now

Any news ? Has it been accepted?