Two important points have been highlighted here.
Firstly regarding pensions. Over the past 12-18 months it has become quite usual for creditors to ask for payments into pension plans to be suspended for the duration of the IVA. As with everything in life, there will always be exceptions to this rule. However, normally you will only be able to avoid this if you are very near retirement age. Note, the actual pension fund itself can not be touched, it is just the on-going monthly contributions which may be effected.
Secondly overtime. For the past 5-6 years creditors have asked for a standard clause to be included in IVAs which says that if you earn overtime, commissions or bonuses, 50% of these must be paid into your IVA in addition to the agreed monthly payments. It would be unusual for this not to be a standard clause in any IVA nowerdays.
The rational for this is that when you are in an IVA, the idea is that you pay as much back to your creditors as you can. However, if creditors were to take 100% of overtime, there would be no incentive for you to earn it.
All the Best
James Falla
Expert in IVA, Bankruptcy and informal Debt Management solutions, with extensive experience of solving personal debt problems over the past 10 years. I am regularly featured on BBC News, Finance Programs and Radio.