First debt call

[billy1010]

hi everyone,

We missed our 1st loan payment on 22nd with M&S and they called within a couple of days. Gave them a load of flannel about cashflow problems and promised to contact them again on the 1st.

Don,t want to mention the IVA route to any of our creditor's until our wages are safely in our new account. Once our wages are in I am going to bite the bullet and write to and phone all of our creditor's.

I feel absolutely wretched, can't stop worrying about the next few weeks, what if they phone when our kids are in.

Please send me some positive vibes I am feeling really down about everything.

xx

[Viki.W]

Hey hun, you're doing something about your debts so you're half way there.

The creditors will not speak to your children about your debts so please don't worry about that.

You can ignore the calls until your wages are sorted out. Ask family and friends to do a secret ring so that you can answer the phone to them. Tell your family that you've been bombarded with marketing calls and that's the reason you don't want to answer the phone.

Things will be a bit tough at the moment but once your IVA is up and running you will be smiling again....I promise.

Chin up and stay strong, just post on here and we'll all support you. X

[emma_t]

Hi billy

It is a very stressful time when creditors start to call and payments are missed.

If it does get too much I would not answer the phone, easier said than done I know but they do call at unsocialble times in the evenings.
Just unplug the phone when you are at home with the kids in the evenings and have some time without the calls.

If you can phone up all creditors and upsate your phone details to a mobile and then at least you can control the calls. I have 2 phones lines in my house one is for my landline and the other is my work line which permanently has a fax plugged into it. I updated all my details prior to my iva with the fax number so at least I was left in peace at home.

Good Luck

[billy1010]

Thankyou so much for the replies,

Guess I just needed to offload to others who understand where I at. I have already decided to tackle this head on, so was surprised at my response when the first call came (I was unprepared as I had not expected a call so soon), Following the call I was a wreck.
I am also worried that I will get call's at work, I share an office with two other Manager's, one of whom is Head of Finance !!! don't think it will take her long to suss out what's going on!!! Luckily I think I have only given out my work mobile no so I'm planning on not answering any calls that I don't recognise.

Currently have everything charging round in my head and finding sleeping difficult. Keep waking up and then all these issues pop into my head and I can't get back to sleep.

Can't wait to hopefully set up our IVA.

Thanks again everyone.

XXX

[MelanieGiles]

When creditors are advised that an IVA is being proposed - but both their customer and the IP chosen to act as nominee, I cannot for the life of me understand why they engage in this nonsensical telephoning and letter writing. It must cost them a fortune, to receive very little money.

[flozza]

Hi billy1010,

I know it's difficult to ignore the calls - they make you on edge all the time. I think unplugging your phone in the evenings is a great idea.

Just think positively and that once the IVA is in place, the calls will stop.

x

[Abby]

can i just say i have just been through what you are going through, when in on my own i turned the phone off, my hubby chose to answer any calls and explained what we were proposing re-iva, he felt better doing that, when we were out, our daughter took some calls but they never indicated what they were about, they just left a number to call, if we were not in they didnt leave any messages, so i guess they are quite sensitive that way, hubby only had one aggresive call, which through advice from the forum he felt he dealt with it ok, i cant lie to you, they do become constent, i even had a text message to call one bank after i didnt answer any calls, i still did not respond. all i can say,it didnt effect the outcome of our iva, it was approved, every body deals with things differently, you need to do whats right for you, but please choose carefully who is going to support you through this journey, it is important that it is someboby you feel you can trust,because you will have to be part of that company for five years, you may have already have a company in mind to deal with, if not i would reccomend melanie who posts on this forum, she was (is) brililant with us. good luck hun, keep posting

[karenanne23]

Hi
Bit naughty this one, but just say hold on a minute and then just leave them hanging on.
As hubby and i have been in DMP's before going the IVA route we have been through all this before. I try and be polite but if they are pesistant then i just ignore the phone.
Got told the other night by CL Finanace that i still have to make payments even if i was going Bankcrupt!!!
They will try anything. When we were setting up the DMP's MBNA were by far the worst. I once argued with one of their employees for 30 minutes.
The way i view it now is that they cannot thereaten me with anything i do not already know.
We had a very interesting letter from Capquest advising they would get a walking posession order for our Goods. What they failed to point out is that they would have to get a CCJ first and then if we faild to pay that the order would kick in.

[freelili]

Karen

That is very naughty of then, they are not allowed to lie in order to increase stress, sounds to me thats exactly what they did, saying they could take your goods.

In my opinion its not worth arguing with them, just tell them what youre doing and hang up. They are not really interested in anything other than you making a payment, the bit in the middle is irrelevent to them, unless of course they scare you into paying something.

[emma_t]

Thats why the forum is so fab as you can share any worries with people who are going through the same or have been through the same as you.

All I can say is stay strong and hang in there as the end result is so worth it[:)]

Good luck to all

[billy1010]

hi everyone,

I was overwhelmed to read all your messages of support, Abby,we are proposing our IVA with Melanie and I feel confident we are in good hands. It is just this transitional period which is a bit scary.

I am trying to take each day as it comes, at the end of this week once are wages are safely in our new Coop account I will take the bull by the horns and call all of our creditors, I will then follow up with a letter to each sent by recorded delivery.

Then I am going to unplug our phone every evening !!!

My son is autistic and will get very distressed by even the slightest change in routine, I am going to put this in my letter's to them and request that they communicate by letter, I will then send a standard response to EVERY letter I receive.

Kindest regards to everyone who has sent their support, I cannot express how invaluable it is at this time.

Just off-loading last night helped me to get a better night's sleep.
Thankyouxx

[freelili]

Hi Billy

I just wanted to say, youre doing the right thing, thats what I did as I was really sensitive and would often cry after a creditor had phoned, so I decided I wasnt going to speak with them any more. I have an autistic son also, they pick up on everything so its more important to keep the atmosphere calm. You do not have to speak with them verbally, you have to right to refuse.

Good luck with the creditors meeting, youre right about it being a scary unsettling time but youre in good hands and I am sure you will be fine.

Very best wishes.

[billy1010]

Thankyou Lily for your reply,

Just knowing that someone out there understands the concern I have for my son. Your reply made me cry, I am so worried about any impact on him. He will know straight away if we start getting more calls than normal and he always likes to try and answer the phone after 1 ring (he is noise sensitive).

Just going to be discreet and unplug the phone at the socket.

Thankyou hun for your support xx

[freelili]

I understand your concern, it is going to be better to unplug the phone then. I changed my number as my children would tense up if it rang.

Please dont worry too much, with the best intentions in the world, we cant protect them from everything, we are human beings with human failings and as much as we try to keep things in order, there are going to be times when all is not hunky dory. You cannot help the way you feel and it is a roller coster of ride right now for you. Youre doing your very best and you son is lucky to have you, looking out for him, feeling the way you do.

Take care of yourself now, best wishes.

[fifilebonbon]

Hi there Billy and crew - just been reading stuff on here - late again as cant get to sleep too well. Billy you are already ahead of the game than us and I am just dreading that next creditor hounding step too!! My husband is hoping to get new business account and current account set up this week and until that is done I am having to keep paying creditors cos I dont want our bank account affected in any way until we have somewhere for our money to go! God it is such a nightmare. I feel so up and down about the whole thing. One minute I think that its going to be great if we get an IVA approved and that we will probably be better off because everything we spend at the moment is on credit or in overdraft. And the next minute I feel terrified of the whole thing. My father in law is so uptight and keeps questioning everything which makes me feel doubtful....am living with permanent knots in my stomach. But I do get solace from this forum so thank god for that. I've also been reading about new business bank accounts and Andy said in one thread that it is virtually impossible to get one which has sent me into another panic. I've told hubby not to mention the IVA at this stage and we are going to try and get accounts for both business and personal with the coop? Does anyone out there have any experience with dealing with business accounts and the coop? My father in law giving us a cash injection for cash flow so that we dont need overdrafts or credit cards....oh dear there are so many questions and I just cant get to the answers for real quick enough......xxxx