Creditors’ representative TIX making life more difficult for disabled debtors.

We are appalled. Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) are supposed to be accepted by creditors when they are affordable, achievable and represents the debtors’ best efforts. They are supposed to be the best a person can do to repay as much as possible of the debts. It’s a five year commitment (usually) and its pretty fair for both sides – but it isn’t supposed to be set at a level that makes life horribly hard.

Well, we are appalled at the behaviour of the biggest organisation representing creditors in IVAs – TIX: They have decided that a person with Disability Living Allowance (DLA), or who has a dependant family member with DLA, needs to have the whole of that allowance added to their disposable income available for the repayment of debt, unless they can prove where every penny of it goes. The problem is that for many, it just goes on caring – needing to look after a loved one means you have compromised your ability to earn and so DLA becomes a poor substitute for earned income.

TIX’s attitude, in our view, is crass. DLA varies from £17.10 per week to £64.50 per week and is is a tax-free benefit for disabled children and adults who need someone to help look after them, or have walking difficulties. (See the following link: Disability Living Allowance). A person receiving the highest rate needs constant care. Often the allowance pays for specific services. Sometimes it helps the carer have more of a life.

What TIX are demanding is that they can take every penny that hasn’t been allocated to a specific service funded by the allowance. It isn’t enough that the person has already signed away a substantial portion of their family’s earned income for five years, apparently. These are amongst Britain’s most stressed families, in debt AND disabled, or with a disabled family member.

The heart of the scandal is this: People who sign up for IVAs really want to pay as much as they can of what they owe. They sign up for five year’s effort. IVA holders who get DLA are also struggling with the burden of caring for a relative who needs constant care: TIX aren’t just greedy, they are short-sighted too – support these people and they will give creditors a fair return, penalise them like this and their arrangements will fail.

For people who feel they may be entitled to DLA, visit the government’s web page about Disability Living Allowance for further information.

Since this was written – we’ve had the following comment from TIX:

“We wish to correct the inaccuracies in this article. The actions of the Insolvency Exchange (TIX) are fully compliant with Consumer Credit Counselling Service expenditure guidelines and if there are exceptional items we ask for full disclosure to understand a debtor’s financial position and make appropriate decisions with the benefit of all the facts. We take a very sensitive view to any special circumstances of debtors – TIX never asks a debtor to reduce exceptional areas of expenditure that are funded by benefits such as disability. This did not happen in this case and it is not our policy to do so.”