Hi
*sigh*. I never thought I would say this but my husband and I are reconsidering entering into an IVA.
We owe about £36k. We had an IVA with Debt Free Direct and they were bl**dy awful.
We voluntarily failed our IVA in June 2008 as I am pregnant (due in December) and unemployed and we couldn't afford the monthly payments.
We know we can enter into a 2nd IVA so long as we prove why we failed the 1st and I have documents from DFD which prove an ongoing dispute and their inability to provide a service I paid for.
We are being hounded by Creditors and we are obviously very unnerved. A DMP just wouldn't suit as it would take 30 years to pay the debts back with what income we have.
Is there any advice from someone who did a 2nd IVA and any ideas of on how we can go about it?
I don't know of anyone who has done a 2nd one, but I do know they can be difficult to obtain.
I would suggest giving another IP a ring, Melanie for example, and getting some advice.
Do you have any assets? If not, could you consider BR?
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
I think it is fair to say that if you voluntarily failed your own IVA then it would be safe to assume that you won't be starting from a position of strength to propose a 2nd one.
I copy a passage from your own post here....
"We voluntarily failed our IVA in June 2008 as I am pregnant (due in December) and unemployed and we couldn't afford the monthly payments."
If you couldn't afford the payments in June for the reasons given, and the baby has not been born yet (due December) how can you afford the payments now?
Good news? A 2nd IVA proposal from a failed 1st one CAN go through, but creditors will generally want to see that there is a genuine reason for the 1st one failing, and also that there are compelling circumstances to suggest that the 2nd one will succeed where the 1st one failed. I am not sure that, given what you have said, you start from a strong place.
Whatever happens though, I do wish you the best of luck.
Regards.
Cert DR
23+ years in debt advice
I do not post for anyone other than myself
We couldn't afford the payments originally because DFD screwed us out of £478 a month when our disposable income was only £300 AND DFD failed to add certain Creditors to the IVA when I told them every month for 2 years so one of our Creditors demanded repayment so with DFD's £478 we are paying out an extra £250 a month to this Creditor.
I have letters from this Creditor saying that the were never contacted by DFD and yet DFD say they did!!!!
We were spending a total of £700 a month on debts.
We were starving and couldn't afford our energy bills or travel costs.
This was all DFD's fault. They never, ever offered us a variation and I begged and begged for one. They ignored me time after time.
Our bills went up, hubby's job location changed and our petrol costs doubled and yet DFD gave us the finger.
We hope another IVA company would be more professional.
* DFD filed the IVA documents with Bristol County Court on the 12th May 2006 and we received the final documents on 15th May 2006 detailing the £478 payment. When we disputed this they said 'Too bad. We have filed the paperwork'. We were locked in.
Please don't think that my previous post was meant to be negative for you in any way, just more a realistic assessment of where you stand now, certainly from a creditors perspective.
Maybe it is a salutory warning to others that signing up to an unrealistic proposal to get to where you feel you need to be is fraught with danger. I posted yesterday on the need to question and query everything expenses wise before you take any step forward. If it looks wrong then it probably is.
That is not to decry my colleagues at DFD who are a very reputable company, but it is to be remembered that from a personal perspective I can only act on the information given from the individual(s) concerned.
Hope this helps.
Regards.
Cert DR
23+ years in debt advice
I do not post for anyone other than myself
On the contrary I appreciate your honest and clear advice.
I'm sorry but I have nothing but hate and contempt for DFD. I find them theiving liars.
I have emailed a few debt management companies with a view of picking their brains. I hope to hear from them on Monday.
DFD forced us into the £478. We were tricked and bullied into it.
The IVA calculator provided by MYVesta says we should only have paid £275 a month on our debts not £478!!!!!!!!!!
A DMP for a few months, whilst you get your personal finances in order and can demonstrate a payment record based upon an affordable payment is clearly more sensible than leaping straight into a second IVA - even if you could find a firm prepared to represent you. Second IVAs are actually pretty rare, and my their very nature open to suspicion from your creditors.
A dmp for a few months woould give some breathing space and allow things to calm down a little and would show creditors that you can provide a monthly payment. This thread really does highlight the need to ensure you are happy with things prior to an IVA beginning. Am I not right in thinking there is meant to be a cooling off period(like HP agreements),where you can decide to change your mind???
Discharged today the 8th feb 2012. View is much brighter now.
Continuing to rebuild our credit worthiness.
You're not tied in to anything until the creditors meeting, then it becomes legally binding.
By that time, you should have had plenty of time to think about whether it is right and manageable for you to do.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
As the debtor is in control of the IVA process - ie you do not need to actually sign the documents until you are ready, you can set your own "cooling off" period if you so desire? This ought not to be necessary with a properly prepared individual, who has had regular meetings and discussions with their IP personally over the course of the preparation of the proposals.
When my IVA was approved I wasn't told that I could ask for an adjournment to consider the modifications. I think that if there are any modifications the meeting should be adjourned to give you a chance to think things through, rather than being made to feel that you have to agree there and then.
I have received advice from MyVesta and they say I can enter into an another IVA.
MyVesta intervened a year or so ago when I fell out with DFD massively and a rep from MyVesta challenged Derek Oakley of DFD and he stepped in personally so I do like MyVesta.
My husband and I have worked out that if we enter into a DMP with £40k worth of debt it could take 10 - 15 years to clear and we will be in our 40's then so we are reluctant to do that!!
It's funny really because our IP from DFD wrote to all of our Creditors and advised them of our IVA failure and recommended that they write the debt off because as I quote 'Mr and Mrs * are not in a position to settle any debts at any time in the near future. Mrs * is pregnant and with no child care facilities and Mr * impending redundancy it is suggested strongly that you do not pursue Mr and Mrs * for the debts'...and yet they are still writing to us.
We have -
Hillesden Securities - £12, 158.83
HBOS (Max Recovery) - £8032.00
First Direct - £12, 213.00
Natwest - £3052.00 (although our credit report says its's now £6058 which I intend on seriously disputing).
Total - £40k.
The HBOS debt was bought after the IVA started and I believe that Hillesden owned it before the IVA started.
Is there a possibility that a) they might write the debt's off if I ask and send them a copy of our expenditure or b) if I ask them to offer a settlement and then enter into a DMP based on that?
