Hi zoe
Northern Rock are not the easiest creditor to deal with at the moment, and a lot of IP companies are saying that they will not take cases on where they are owed money.
Do not let this put you off. Find an IP who is willing to look at your case. From my experience, so long as there is a dividend of at least 35p in the £, Northern Rock can be negotiated with, although they do quote a 45p minimum. I have only lost one case to Northern Rock in the last 8 years, but my gut feeling is that it's getting tougher. Some of these banks should look at their lending policies in the first place!
In proposing an IVA, you must be absolutely sure without any doubt that you can afford the payments, and do not be persuaded to accept one more penny than you know you can afford.
Whilst a lot of the creditors are giving adverse comment to IVA's at the moment, this does not mean that they are not the right option for a lot of people - and if the bank's do not want to recover their money they will have their shareholders to answer to in the event that more money is written off to bankruptcies.
Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.
View my IVA blog at:
http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk