Hi Emma
You have taken the bravest step to recognise a growing problem and share it with your partner. That took courage and you should be immensly proud of yourself.
Now for the easy bit - a payment of £250 per month would fund either an IVA or a DMP - the IVA would run for five years, and a DMP would run until all of your debts were paid off in full - in your case approximately 10 years. I regularly deal with the creditors you mentioned in your original post, and they are all relatively amenable to IVAs - I am not aware of their policies in DMPs as that is not my area of expertise.
Have you also considered bankruptcy proceedings, as you do not appear to have any assets which would be at risk, and if you were required to make any payments these would only last for a three year period?
They key thing to do now is to look forward rather than back. And try and select, with the help of professionals who will be willing to assist you on a free of charge basis, the solution which best gets you to where you want to be in the future. For instance if you are planning on getting married and having children, consider the differing timescales of each solution to see how they best fit into your future plans.
Good luck in your search and do post any further queries you may have her on the forum.
Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.
To have me propose an IVA for you, please visit:
http://www.melaniegiles.com/ivaEnquiry.asp
See customer feedback at:
http://www.iva.com/iva_companies/IVA_Advice_Bureau.asp
