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I currently have unsecured debts totaling approx £11,700 to 4 creditors and a further £3000 I've borrowed from family. My income is approximately £1170 pcm after tax and my outgoings total £1040 pcm, not including food, clothing, travel to work and any other costs such as bike insurance, tax etc.
At the moment I am scraping by, making payments without exception but getting ever closer to sinking. Food and leisure take a much lower priority than ensuring I pay what I owe as I don't want to lose my house.
Would an IVA be a suitable option for me? I don't want to shirk my responsibility to my debts I just through unforseen circumstances find myself slowly getting into a deeper cycle of debt.
How low does your disposable income need to be before IVA becomes your only option? (Naturally if all payments are consolidated to a single managed payment then dispoable income rises?)

Hi dark and welcome to the forum

Your debts are a bit low to justify and IVA to be honest, so I feel that a Debt Mangement Programme is more appropriate for you if you wish to try and repay your debts. Have you also tried a consolidation loan to benefit from a reduced repayment? These can be dangerous, if you do not cancel all of the other credit cards, and you have to be disciplined and pay off the loan as soon as possible. How much are your repayments to creditors at the moment?

Bankruptcy proceedings are also an option, but one you do not seem to desire as you say you do not wish to shirk your responsibility.

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

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk