Stressed out Newbie, Please Help.

[Blueleon]

Hi There,

Having been in unmanagable debt for the last few years I am now finally considering an IVA as it would be so much easier to pay one consolodated payment and not have to deal with all my creditors personally.

I have previously tried to arange my own repayment with these creditors direct but due to there being several creditors the payments have just been to demanding and I find myself promising money I cannot afford just to stop these companies harrasing me.

I have several Creditors totalling around 12-13K although I do have a student loan that would definately take me beyond £15K.

I would just like some advice on the following;

How much am I likely to pay a company to arrange an IVA?

What companies can you recomend for me to approach to arrange my IVA? (preferably the cheapest & most helpful)

Will I be able to arrange an IVA if my Debt is arround £12-13K although it might even be around 15K once I do a thorough investigation of what I owe?

If I was to be out of work for a month or two as sometimes happens with my line of work, how will this affect the IVA?

I would appreciate any advice as I am at my wits end. Hopefully some of you have been in the same position and know the stress the situation puts you upon you as I dont know how long I can keep my head above water so to speak.

I hope to be a regular on this forum now that I have decided to down the IVA route.

Many Thanks,

Leon

[MelanieGiles]

Hi there blueleon and welcome to the forum

Could you firstly let us know how much you owe to the Student Loans Company - as they can be a tricky creditor in IVA proceedings.

You should not have to pay anyone any money up front to propose an IVA for you, but the insolvency practitioner will have costs which will have to be paid from the monies you introduce into the arrangement. These will be tailored to your particular case, but a nominee's fee is usually on average £1,750 and supervisory fees are generally chargeable at 15% of realisations received after the nominee's fee has been paid.

I cannot recommend a specific company to you, as I am an insolvency practitioner myself and we are not allowed to promote our services on the site, but you may like to take a look at www.iva.com - an IP firm comparison site - which will give you client feedback which ought to indicate how well a firm or an individual IP is performing.

An IVA really should only be proposed if you have regular income with which to fund regular repayments, but don't let this put you off as anything is possible. I suggest that you have a chat with an IP to see what options there are available to you to deal with your current indebtedness - and well done to you for addressing this before it gets too serious.

[David Mond]

Hi and welcome:

Yes there are firms that can do an IVA for you at the level of debt you have quoted if that is the appropriate advice. Visit www.iva.com for reviews on such firms.

To answer your other specific queries:

You would not have to pay anything - fees come out of the contributions you make

One or two IVA firms have a policy to cover for illness and redundancy that would continue making the monthly contribution if you are in an IVA

Don't be stressfull - you have recognised the problem now act on proper sound advice and speak to a IP. Good luck.

[Blueleon]

Thank you both for your very quick response.