New here - going for an IVA

[couple31]

Hi

We are a couple, aged 31

We have about 90k of debts through education ( 3 degrees between us) and ill health. A lot of the debt has been run up borrowing to pay off other debts and following a disasterous house move with a never ending chain!)

We are both in stable jobs now and we are desperate to get ourselves straight as we have a baby due in a few months

We have met with a IVA practionner and put together the following proposal

These are our creditors

HSBC Graduate overdraft 1.5k
First Direct overdraft 1k
Student Loan Company(wife) 7.8k
Student Loan Company(husband) 6k
Marbles Credit card 11.1k
Amazon Credit card 4.7k
MBNA Credit card 6.9k
Citi Credit card 1.9k
Tesco Credit card 2.7k
Sky Credit card 4.8k
Barclaycard Credit card 4.6k
Sygma Credit card 2.4k
HSBC Credit card 7.5k
First Direct Credit card 6.7k
Morgan Stanley Credit card 2.4k
Egg Credit Card Credit card 9.9k
Egg Money Card Credit card 1.8k
Goldfish Credit card 4.1k

We have 23k of available equity (based on 85% iva remortgage value in final year) and can afford 6 monthly repayments of £500 and then 54 monthly payments of £400 ( once childcare costs start)

This gives an offer of 40p in the pound to the creditors

Do you think this has a reasonable chance of success and are any of our creditors renowed for being awkward against IVA's

Many thanks for any advice

[mikebdomain]

Hi Couple31 and welcome to the forum - at least you have taken the first steps - please do keep us informed on how you get on

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[aguise]

Hi there couple31 and welcome
Only my opinion as I am the same as you, someone in debt. It looks like a good offer to me. i think HSBC like 40p in the pound or more so you are offering that and no one holds 25% of the vote so that is good too. Ask anything you arer unsure about, you will get good advice on here.

All the best
Ang

Ang

Please visit my blog at http://aguise.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[MelanieGiles]

The Student Loans Company currently appear to have a policy of rejecting all IVAs with dividends of less than 90p in the £! So do be sure that they do not represent more than 25% of either of your aggregate debts.

Apart from that the rest of the creditors are relatively commercial, and the voting representatives will largely be Grant Thornton and The Insolvency Exchange, so do ensure that your IP has a good working relationship with both firms.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

To have me propose an IVA for you, please visit:
http://www.melaniegiles.com/ivaEnquiry.asp

See customer feedback at:
http://www.iva.com/iva_companies/IVA_Advice_Bureau.asp

[couple31]

Thanks all for replies and welcomes so far

Melanie, re SLC - does that apply to the earliest types of student loans - we're going back to mid 90's here as I know the government changed the rules on student loans and insolvency for later loans

If so, would it better to remove them from the proposal and keep deferring them - we earn just about beneath the repayment cut off mark at the moment?

Thanks

[Adam Davies]

Hi
A quote from Melanie

Income Contingent Student loans (which were used from c1997 onwards) can not be included in an IVA and would be payable outside of the IVA. Student Loans (old style) taken before this can be included in an IVA (but not bankruptcy) but are often kept out if they form a big percentage of the dent as Student Loans Company will sometimes demand a high dividend (up to 90p in the £). This is usually allowed by the IP and then in turn the creditors.
Regards

Andy Davie
IVA.co.uk Spokesperson

About me:
http://www.iva.co.uk/andy_davie_profile.asp

IVA Helpline: 0800 197 4838
http://www.iva.co.uk/iva_helpline.asp

[couple31]

Many thanks Andy

I think I shall get in touch with our IP and suggest removing the slc loans if as seems the case, they ask for a very high dividend

Ours are the old type but they account for 16% of the total debt when combined and if they say no, that leaves 9% for other creditors to say no

It would only take somone like Marbles (12%) to say no and we'd be sunk then

Plus it would allow us to offer a greater dividend ?

Thanks

[Adam Davies]

Hi
Good point and I,m surprised that your IP did not suggest this.
Regards

Andy Davie
IVA.co.uk Spokesperson

About me:
http://www.iva.co.uk/andy_davie_profile.asp

IVA Helpline: 0800 197 4838
http://www.iva.co.uk/iva_helpline.asp

[MelanieGiles]

I personally would leave them in if they only represent 16% of your individual debts - but do remember that the percentages work on an individual basis and not across your joint debts. So long as your IP secured positive votes from the others, student loans are bound and the remainder of the debt will therefore be written off once the IVA has concluded.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

To have me propose an IVA for you, please visit:
http://www.melaniegiles.com/ivaEnquiry.asp

See customer feedback at:
http://www.iva.com/iva_companies/IVA_Advice_Bureau.asp

[sonyse2t5]

There is no overall controlling creditor stake as you debt is spread over evenly...just like in my case..so this looks very postive.

[couple31]

Ok fingers crossed

I've mentioned the sla and their high dividend requirements to our IP by email so i'll let you know what he says

Our card repayments are all due between the 1st and 5th October, we've been advised not to make any of them and have cancelled our dd's

From people's experience, how many missed payments does it take before they start harassing you on the phone?, my wife is heavily pregnant and we want to get this sorted out and in place as soon as possible to avoid as much stress or upset as realistically possible for her.

[cb246]

Hi couple31
Welcome to the forum. I found this forum a godsend to help me through the months leading up to our iva hearing. The advice is good and the people are great. Everyone is in the same boat so understands how you feel. To answer your last question, we stopped paying our creditors in June, had never missed a payment until then, things were realtively quiet for the first 4-6 weeks after that we had the odd phone call through July but we just explained that we were going for an IVA. August we had 3-4 phone calls a week, some nice, some not so nice but at the end of the day that's their job and if you just explain calmly that your IP has instructed you to make no payment or to show no favouritism they usually go away. Our hearing was on the 14th of this month and we have had a couple of letters from mercers who are a debt collection agency, threatening door stop collections but it has never happened so providing your Ip works quite quickly you shouldn't get too much hassle.

[couple31]

Many thanks CB for the information.

Yes, we have found a wealth of information on the forums so far and it is very reassuring to chat with people who aren't going to pre-judge you.

We'll just have to try and move things along as quickly as possible, we've opened a new bank account with smile and switched all utility based direct debits to there from First Direct as advised. We won't be sorry to leave them to be honest.

Just looking forward to getting ourselves straight. I'm self employed and the business is doing really well. It's obviously hard to move forward while this hangs over you though.

[aguise]

We were the same as you up to date and our first payments were missed in oct too. some creditors are fairly quick off the mark when a payment goes through quite often they are alerted when you cancel the debits. Be strong dont be pushed into paying anything just give them your ref and refer them back to your Ip firm. Out of 17 creditors I only had one that was really bad and kept calling but it is something you have to put up with for a short while I did find that once they received the proposal and the meeting date that it all went quiet, but it can vary. Dont worry, dont let them be rude if they are then just say you are ending the call.
All the best you are nearly there.

Ang

Please visit my blog at http://aguise.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[couple31]

Can I ask them to hold for 15 minutes whilst perioidically stating that their call is important to me before eventually speaking in a incomprehensible foreign accent [:D]

Just kidding, I know it's important to be polite and explain the situation to them and what we are doing whilst we get through this.

Many thanks for all help so far.