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[DavidD]

To cut a long story short my wife and myself have a joint account with Halifax. I have an IVA and this was included in my accepted iva proposal. Today though my wife has received a bank statment with overlimit charges on it and interest added. The sinister thing is my name has dissappeared off the account but the balance is increasing. i will speak to my ip tommorow about this but has anyone else had a similar problem ?

[Hayden]

Hi David,

Welcome to the forum. If your Halifax account was in joint names with your wife you are protected by your IVA, however unfortunately she is still be liable for any debt on the account such as an overdraft. As such, the bank can still add interest and charges and chase your wife for the payment of these. Did you not receive this advice when you went into your IVA? The only way to stop this is for your wife to pay the debt or if she can not afford to do so, then take out an IVA or debt management plan herself. Its a nightmare but unfortunately she is definitly liable for the total account debt.

[Steve Jackson]

Hello there David

I understand that this is a difficult situation for you but as Hayden has already said, as your wife is not in an IVA, she remains liable for the full amount of the debt owed on your joint bank account. The best thing would have been to allow a budget for your wife within your household expenditures to enable her to make regular payments towards this debt. However, this is not always acceptable to creditors. The next best thing is for your wife (or you on her behalf) to agree a debt management plan with Halifax so that she can repay the debt in a sensible way.