new to this and have lots of questions

[strugglingtocope]

Hi, we are new to this and have lots of questions, we are just starting to consider an IVA but not sure where we stand on a few things. We have apx £25000 of unsecured debt and each month we struggle to make payments on it, borrowing from one credit card to pay another and withdrawing cash from a credit card to put in the bank to pay bills, the debt is escalating and we are failing to see light at the end of the tunnel.

Our house has no equity in it as we have already remortgaged to repay unsecured debts in the past, would an iva include a secured loan on the house, our income is currently less than our outgoings however if the unsecured monthly payments were taken out of the equation we would have apx £150 dispoable? - any ideas, can an iva be in joint names as our debts are.

[Beans on Toast]

Hi strugglingtocope, welcome to the forum, a secured loan will not be taking in as part of your IVA, this is to protect your property. You will apply as individuals but you can do a joint/interlocking IVA which means you only pay one total payment per month, you wil still both be classed as individuals when your meeting is called.
An expert will give you a more in depth answer I'm sure soon. Good luck.

[Viki.W]

Hey strugglingtocope, welcome to the forum. An expert will be along shortly to advise you. This is a great place for support and advice so hang in there. You can't include secured debt and there are certain criteria to meet for an IVA so if you want to post a few more details about each of your debts that would help. X

[abc]

Hi

Any secured loans / mortgages would not be included in the IVA, you will have to continue to pay these.

For some IVA firms, £150 would be too low to propose an IVA. But would recommend that you speak to an insolvency practitioner to make sure that your income & expenditure is correct. It may go up or down slightly.

You can do what is known as interlocking IVAs, in otherwords you have one payment to make to your IVA and your debts get grouped together.

[loubylou10]

Hi STC,
Your problem sounds alot like mine. When I spoke to Melanie Giles office they told me that at the moment I may not have enough to propose for an IVA so am looking at starting a debt manangement programme (DMP) with a company called Bright Oak. STC, look out for Melanie Giles on this site, Mel and her team will give you expert advice for your next move - good luck and keep posting

[strugglingtocope]

have had a good recalc on our finances and also remembered that part of our mortgage (30k)is unsecured (it just gets better and better)!!! - total unsecured i think we are looking at is apx £55k with disposable income roughly of £340 per month but that leaves nothing to live on whatsoever so would need to reduce that abit for car maintenance etc, does an iva sound feasable based on this would anyone say???

[abc]

You need to complete a full income & expenditure allowing for food, car maintenance etc and see what is left to offer creditors. An insolvency practitioner can advise you on this and then give you ALL your options.

[strugglingtocope]

thanks for all the replies so far, its great of everyone to be so helpful so quickly, have thought of another question, once we speak to an ip, if it is decided that a iva is best for us how long do they take to sort/get set up and running??? thanks again.

[indebtforever]

usually 6-8 weeks

[abc]

That depends on the IP and how quickly you provide information which the IP will need. It takes 1-2 weeks to finalise the proposal and the meeting of creditors would be approx 3 weeks later.

[strugglingtocope]

great, thanks for letting me know, does anyone have any advice as to how we get started with requesting an iva, my hubby is self employed if that makes a difference, i work part time employed, how do we know which IP to use for the best???? - ahhhh so many questions. thanking you in advance x

[indebtforever]

speak to some ip`s on here melanie giles comes highly recommended


good luck

[strugglingtocope]

thank u so much for such a speedy reply, will do that, x

[Soulgrowth]

Just wanted to say good luck [:)]

Debbie

[indebtforever]

you will need to sort an income and expenditure list of what you are paying out and what you have left as £150 is on the low side but having said that 25k isnt as big as some[:)]ahh sorry i have just read your other post more funds [:D]

good luck