Help from my Parents

[loobylou]

I am currently in communication with a company with regards to setting up an IVA, I am around £18,000 in debt to about 12 creditors and most of my debts are quite advance (They have been pased onto Debt Collectors etc) I have only just this week plucked up the courage to admit to my parents just how bad my problem is (Something I should have done a long time ago) My father came with me to see the Citizens advive bureau last week, and after the meeting he said that he could possibly lend me the money providing that I can get the interest etc knocked off, how do I go about contacting my creditors and does anyone know how i should word everything to them to get the best final settlement figure (A lot of my total debt is actually interest and charges etc) If this doesn't work out my only other avenues will be the IVA Or Bankruptcy in either case they are either going to actually get very little of the money which I owe them back or wait a long time for it,

[Adam Davies]

Hi
You will find it almost impossible to negotiate a settlement figure with each and every creditor.
Your best course of action,on the info that you have provided,is to enter into a full and final IVA where you offer a lump sum to your creditors.You will need to use an Insolvency practitioner to do this and suggest that you offer around 70% of your total debt as a figure.You will need to add on IP fees to this.
Your IP will need to state that all your disposible income will be used to repay your father.
Good luck

Andy Davie
IVA.co.uk Spokesperson

About me:
http://www.iva.co.uk/andy_davie_profile.asp

IVA Helpline: 0800 197 4838
http://www.iva.co.uk/iva_helpline.asp

[Oliver]

Depending on your creditors and the amount of money disposable to you, an offer of £10k could be enough to secure a full and final settlement through an IVA.

Best Regards
Oliver

Thomas Charles and Co Ltd.
Experts in personal debt solutions.
Read customer feedback at: www.thomascharles.com/about_us.asp

[lily]

Hi

Your debts are (I know it does not feel like it) quite low and it would cost around 5K for an IVA. If your father is prepared to leand the money you could try approaching the creditors yourself. Try contacting the cccs and they will talk you through the process. They even have sample letters for you to use, sure its a bit of work to do but I am sure your creditors would settle for 80% of what you owe without too much trouble, they may come down more if you are prepared to stand your ground. You could always try an IVA if this does not work.

I hope this helps.

Good luck and keep posting

lily

[loobylou]

Andy,

Why do you think that it will bedifficult to get all of my creditors to agree, Surely this way would be more beneficial to them than either an IVA or Bankruptcy and also please can someone explain to me what a Full & Final IVA is as I have never heard of this.

[Adam Davies]

Hi again
You will just find that some will want the full amount,some a reduced amount and some will not reply at all.
A full and final IVA works in the same way that a normal IVA does in that creditors have to agree by voting and you will need a 75% majority by way of debt owed from the creditors that vote on the day.Instead of paying monthly payments for five years you will make one lump sum payment.The plus side for you is that it is a legally binding agreement and you will have a date to work towards.
Regards

Andy Davie
IVA.co.uk Spokesperson

About me:
http://www.iva.co.uk/andy_davie_profile.asp

IVA Helpline: 0800 197 4838
http://www.iva.co.uk/iva_helpline.asp

[Oliver]

There is nothing stopping you attempting to make an informal agreement to pay off all your creditors with a lump sum but as Andy says this can sometimes be a very dificult task. An IVA would allow someone to do this for you.

Best Regards
Oliver

Thomas Charles and Co Ltd.
Experts in personal debt solutions.
Read customer feedback at: www.thomascharles.com/about_us.asp

[lily]

If you write to all your creditors and make an offer enclosing details of the total your parents are making available to you PLUS a list of ALL of your debts you might be able to reach a settlement. You can set a time limit for them to reply, ie six weeks from the date of the letter. Send them all reg post. It will cost you nothing to try. Yes a full and final IVA someone will do all the work for you but you will pay for that, 5-7K and on debts of 18K it seems that the creditors will not get as much and its an insolvency proceedure. You could even put this to your creditors as your next option. I am not an expert, its just an opinion. I feel that its worth a try. A full and final IVA sets out a date in which all of the creditors agree or not to your proposal. That is the only advantage that I can see, I am sure that the experts will correct me if I am wrong. If you owe less than 15K you would be unlikely to be accepted for an IVA so 18k is just about acceptable but very low debt in IVA terms.

The choice is yours

lily

[Skippy]

I agree with Lily that it's worth contacting your creditors yourself, pointing out the advantages of them accepting your offer rather than you entering an IVA.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is the present - a gift to make the most of.

View my blog at http://skippy13.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[scaredkez]

i would also agree although it doesn't feel like it to you, but your debts are relatively low and to enter an iva on a F+F would only incur costs, as lily said there are places out there such as the CCCs who will provide sample letters for you to use to write to your creditors, entering into a F+F iva will only incur more costs which will result in your creditors receiving a lower dividend, i should think by doing it your self they would get more, just make sure you have and keep everything in writing that you receive off them.

good luck
kerri

Please view my blog at: http://scaredkez.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[lily]

Fantastic point Kerri

Make sure you communicate in writing and they put the settlement in writing, do not pay anything on a verbal aggreement.

lily

[loobylou]

I spoke to the CCS Yesterday and they said that I could ring my creditors and ask them for a final settlement figure and explain to them what is happening but they did say not to pay anything until the creditor sends me the figure that they are willing to accept in writing, Do you think that it would be better to write to them or ring them, I want to get everything sorted out ASAP.

[lily]

I would write the decision makers are not likely to be readily availible on the phone and whats more you need a paper trail of your efforts should they start to threaten you with legal action. Furthermore if they change DCA you can keep track of it yourself. Make a folder for each creditor so that you can keep on top of which DCA youre going through as they can change several times. Send the letter recorded / reg delivery so that they cannot deny recieveing it. In the meantime work out what you can afford as token payments,and maintain these payments, treat all the creditors equally. I totally understand that you want to get it all sorted ASAP but if you maintain dialogue and maintain the token payments there is not much they can do. They will threaten but these threats are empty and many of the letters are computer generated. One thing to bear in mind is that your credit rating will be affected. Dont worry I am sure you are doing the right thing, its a little daunting but well worth a try.

Good luck to you

lily

[cynth]

a

[daisy may]

My IVA Company has now got all of my paperwork and they have sent it off for my proposal to be drafted, if I do contact my creditors and ask them for a settlement figure will this affect the Creditors Decision if I do decide to go with the IVA, Do you think that I should speak to the IVA Company first or will they just recommend a full and final IVA