I made my first payment on Christmas Eve. I just wondered if there are any of you out there that haven't told a soul about your IVA? The only people that I have spoken to about it is DSA. I have 2 young children, a boyfriend of 4 years and a soon to be ex husband.
Just wondered if you'd been able to keep it all to yourself for the duration?
Hello and welcome. The only people who know about my IVA, aside from creditors and IP company, are my ex ( who was in one too ) and the readers of this forum
I have never told anyone and, touch wood, it has never arisen.
Sometimes I am bursting to talk about it -- and this is where this forum comes in handy
My opinions are merely that .. opinions based on experience. Always seek professional advice.
IVA Completed 23rd July 2013 .... C.C. 10th January 2014
Me too. I did on occasion hint that I had taken out a big consolidation loan to pay off debts. That way people understood why I had less money than they thought I should have. Holiday time was the worst as people couldn't understand why I had stopped going away.
My husband and I are in IVA's and other than the forum followers and my IP, my in laws know about it. We had to discuss this with them when they discussed with us about buying a very large property abroad for us to co-own, and we couldn't afford to do so.
It is a relief as they've had financial issues in the past and see us as sensible for sorting them out asap.
Started IVA 27th Feb 2012 - Due to complete 27th Jan 2018 !!
Full & Final submitted and accepted 30th March 2015, paid 10th April 2015 - 3 yrs 1 month into IVA
Completion Certificate received- 30th April 2015!!
My other half and I (I found out later she'd told her mother but never told me about it!) kept things to ourselves during our IVAs. I told my ex-boss as I knew he'd been through debt problems years before when a hotel business he'd run failed, but didn't tell anyone else.
The day we got our completion certificate I took my parents out for dinner and a bottle of bubbly and told them.
Thanks for your replies guys. Don't feel as guilty now!
To be honest I am really struggling with it all and I think gears tipped me over is that natwest have changed my select account to a basic. I pay for my child care by cheque and not sure how I'm going to pay them in the future...
I have only told my mum and partner. My dad, brother, sister etc have no idea.
I just say I have one final big loan which is gonna clear my debts in progress and leave it at that.
I am now 40 months in.
Me and my partner both have an IVA and we are the only ones that know. I can't face telling people that we have let our problems get this bad, but we are happy we are dealing with it and to be honest its nobody else's business. I like it on here as everyone understands what and IVA is and that it isnt the end of the world. Like a couple of others I have mentioned that we took out a large consolidation loan over 5 years as my mum was wondering why we didn't have access to credit cards or my next account anymore. She was very proud that we had been strong enough not to use them…I did feel a tad ashamed.
Before we entered into our IVA's (we both have one) we were going to have a "family meeting" and tell my mum and my brother/sister in law but by the time we had them approved, we decided not to tell anyone. We have told my 21 year old daughter who is at Uni so she is aware of how serious our financial situation is and we can't keep paying her money(!) but apart from the forum obviously, nobody else knows. We have spent several years "with little money" anyway according to everyone else so the next 4 years or so living on a restricted budget is not going to make any difference. If a situation arose when we simply had to say that we couldn't afford to do something/buy something, other people will just have to be satisfied with that.
With regard to Natwest, tryingmybest, we opened a basic account but managed to open a select account a few months later as I often use cheques. I have also got a cheque book account with Lloyds so maybe try them (if they aren't one of your creditors!) I pay my childcare directly to the provider through salary sacrifice which means that my employer pays the money from my gross pay which saves me around 30% on my childcare payments and they are out of my salary and on their way to the childcare provider as soon as I get paid. If you can't do this either, could you not pay by cash? Good luck with everything.
We both had IVAs and decided that our immediate family (parents and siblings) would be told. Within a few weeks this had extended to our closest of friends - we never looked back from telling people as the support we received was immense - however I can fully understand people not wanting to, or being able to tell anyone.
Now almost four years on, I speak freely about it and am proud to say we resolved our debts - our lives have changed significantly and for the better - we are far better people having gone through the experience.
Just tonight my mum spoke to me on the phone and asked if everything was ok - I questioned why - she said she wanted to make sure we weren't in debt again ....
when I told her we had savings of over £12K and saved over £1000 of our salaries each month, had no overdraft and no debts on any cards - she was quick to say ok - I hear what you are saying - you learnt your lessons.
When the time is right you will I am sure be able to speak about it - just give it time. In the mean time - talk to us on the forum about your concerns at any time.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
There is a solution for everyone .... Just need to stay positive !
