Is it a good idea to take out an IVA

[Leanne.m]

Ihave alot of debt i pay all my bills but i have nothing left so i use my credit card for personal use. I have a minimum equity of £5000 in my properety which is shared with my partner. Is it a good idea to take out an IVA i have debts over £30000 we have an interest only mortgage and i dont want to involve him in my personal debt. The mortgage is tied in till 2010 and i dont want it to have an affect on trying to find a new mortgage. What is my solution?

[MelanieGiles]

Hi Leanne and welcome to the forum

You certainly cannot continue to use your credit card to fund your repayments to creditors, as this is just causing your debts to increase even more.

Unfortunately whichever option you choose is likely to affect your partner indirectly - and with an IVA your creditors will make the assumption that he has benefitted from your debts and should therefore contribute. You will also be required to get your property revalued during the final year, and raise equity based upon lending of 85% loan to value, so he will need to agree to that - although if you only have £5,000 at the moment it may be unlikely that you will actually need to raise anything at that time.