Finally decided to take our head out of sand and sort our finances out. Went to see CAB a few days ago and they feel an IVA may be the most suitable option in our circumstances. They are going to arrange for a Debt and Insolvency consultant to meet with us. The consultant is not an IP, we will therefore be paying 2 sets of fees, we obviously feel that CAB know best and that we should do whatever they recommend.
Any advice would be really appreciated as have made so many wrong financial decisions already in life, just want to get it right this time.
Whilst the CAB do a stirling job, they do not usually have qualified debt consultants.
You do not have to pay two sets of fees - you can go directly to an IP company and avoid this.
Visit www.iva.com for a list of companies and reviews. Give one or two a ring and you will receive free and impartial advice as to all the options open to you and the best way forward for your circumstances.
Alternatively, you could click on the experts link on the left hand side of the page and use one of the professionals who post on here and come highly recommended.
Which company have the CAB put you in touch with? Make sure you are happy with the company you choose - 5 years is a long time to be with someone.
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 am new to this site as well and started posting only yesterday. If you click on the experts on the left you will be able to get advice from firms direct instead of paying 2 sets of fees. I then went through to size5/cleardebt site and thier is lots of advice on there of how iva's work.
Thanks for you advice. I want to go direct to IP but my hubby wants to follow what CAB are advising us, debt consultant not coming to see us for 10 days, just want to get things moving now. I think i will contact a few IP's though. I have today sent token monthly payments to all our creditors, feel sick, we have never missed a payment yet, I am dreading the phone calls starting.
Try and persuade hubby to look at some of the firms on here - you will get excellent service and the professionals are on here most days to answer any queries.
You will get a much better, and cheaper, service.
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
Not all debt advice firms charge seperately for their advice - just check with them how they get paid before you involve them. Some IPs will use debt advice firms to 'introduce' and pay them for the work they do to help the client resolve their debt problem, so the client does not pay any extra for the service they receive from the initial debt consultant, it will be paid from the fund created by the IVA payments.
At the end of the day, IPs are running businesses too and having work introduced to them can be cheaper that other forms of advertising. It also means that they are nearly always dealing with problems they can help solve as the introducer has helped identify whether the individuals problem can be helped by IVA/BR/DRO/DMP etc.
Kind regards,
Angela Rosler
Insolvency Manager
Helping people with their debt problems for nearly 10 years.
Contact me directly for free, impartial, confidential help and guidance.
I must admit I am only assuming we will be paying 2 fees. Perhaps I will wait until we meet with the debt consultant, 2 wks, not going to make alot of difference to our situation now. The money advisor at CAB will be writing to our creditors, so thats something.
If you speak to one of our professionals, you can get the ball rolling in a lot less than two weeks.
When we first got into real trouble a few years ago, we had someone come round to the house to go through our finances with us, he reckoned we would be ok for an IVA. A few days later the company phoned back to say that bankruptcy was our only option! We ended up with a different company and a DMP.
Now we are in an IVA and quite happy.
If you speak to any of the companies on here, you would be told whether or not you are defnitely suitable for an IVA within a very short time.Now we are in an IVA and quite happy.
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
2 weeks is a lot of sleeps before getting advice though even if the CAB is writing to your creditors.
I speak to many people like yourself and refer them as appropriate for insolvency solutions and I can speak to someone within a day or 2. You have access to the internet so there's no harm in making some enquiries - there are a lot of tools available to identify IPs or debt advice companies. You can conduct your enquiries over the 'phone or check in in your local area if you want face-to-face advice. It should always be confidential and without obligation.
Keep posting if you have any concerns - there's loads of lovely people on here with good advice to anyone who has a question to ask.
Very best of luck.
Kind regards,
Angela Rosler
Insolvency Manager
Helping people with their debt problems for nearly 10 years.
Contact me directly for free, impartial, confidential help and guidance.
Good idea, it will give you plenty of choice then.
Let us know how you are getting on and any queries you have, someone will be able to answer them.
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
