Hi, I am new on here and have spent hours reading all the really helpful advice and general friendliness. I wonder if anyone can help me with a few questions?? My husband and I have decided that an IVA is our only real option we enqired about one last year but decided to see if we could manage on our own, after reading the scare mongering that IVAs recieve. My questions are as follows,
1 we have a northern rock together mortgage with 18,000 unsecured running alongside it, will this cause us any issues?
2 should we set up a bank account with a new bank before we start the iva process, as we owe our bank a loan an overdraft and a credit card?
3 what happens if you cant release equity in the fourth year, i dont think we will have enough equity to release any ( as re mortgageing is only up to 85%) and also who will want to touch us mortgage wise?
4 my husband is self employed in a partnership with his father will the business overdraft be affected?
Finally 5 Can we have a joint IVA most of the bigger debts are joint but cards and bits on credit are in separate names.
Oh and finally finally we have just changed our car as the previous was on hp with a large balloon payment so we have changed to a 5 year hp deal with no balloon, i need a car for work so its essential i keep it. The car we have changed to has the same monthly payment as the old one but much lower running costs.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read this and this site has proved a salvstion in making me realise we are not alone!
Hi and welcome to the forum. the best thing you can do is pick a few IP firms and have a chat with them about your situation. You wont go wrong contacting any of the IP firms that regularly post hear.
They will be able to discuss all the options open to you and should quickley set your mind at ease.
An IVA should be affordable, realistic and Individual, they are all different, but are based on your disposable income each month.
I'm sure an expert will be allong shortley if one hasnt already pipped me to the post whilst i've been typing.
Hi Beansontoast and welcome to the Forum.
First of all there is nothing to be afraid about and most IP firms will speak to you and give you advice without cost or obligation. Ignore the IVA scare stories as most are put about by dubious firms and vested interests.
N Rock normally look for IVAs to be extended to six years and may even ask for you to switch to interest only to improve the dividend. They have criteria which need to be met and if they are over 25% of the debt you will have to agree to their requirements and meet those criteria.
It is advisable to open a new account as quickly as possible regardless of what you decide to do. First of all your credit file may not be damaged and you could get more than just a basic account and secondly if you are insolvent you need to protect your income and use it for priority expenditure alone.
If you have equity and it cannot be raised your IVA will be likely be extended by up to twelve months and then you will be discharged. There are very few lenders offering adverse mortgages at this time but that may change in the future.
Any debts your husband has will have to be included and this includes partnership debts, HMRC and trade creditors. There may be implications on the partnership agreement but there ways to resolve any such issues and your IP can explain these.
Tecnically there are no joint IVAs but where two parties are connected such as husband and wife and separate IVAs are not viable it is possible to propose interlocking IVAs which are normally referred to as joint IVAs. Your IP will look at each of you as an individual before giving any advice but an interlocking proposal with your husband may well be an option.
Hi beansontoast - welcome to the forum and thanks for the reminder about lunch!
I'm glad the forum has helped you so far, you won't believe how "not alone" you are. Many many clients who have IVAs have a Together mortgage with Northern Rock so it should not cause you a problem as long as the disposable income you have left is affordable for an IVA. It is important that you get advise about what your realistic affordability is and to understand what all the options are available to you. Once you have gone through everything properly you and your husband can then make the best choice to get your debts under control. If you have any form of debt attached to your current bank then yes you will need to change your bank account but you do not need to do that before speaking to anyone. There is usually a clause to extend the IVA term if equity cannot be released but the terms of your proposal will be dependant on your circumstances so this would be discussed with you in your meeting with your IP. Yes, an interlocking IVA can be proposed to encompass both your debts. You would not be expected to be without a car so as long as the creditors accept the payments on the car as reasonable you will be fine keeping it. You will only continue making the payments if the finance is definitely an HP agreement and not a credit agreement but that will be discussed with you when you seek further advice as will the business debt which should not be included if your husband is not a sole trader.
I'm off for some beans on toast of my own now!
Regards,
Regards, Tina Shortland, Debt Advisory Manager for Melanie Giles at Debt Advice TV.
If you’re looking for effective debt related information, articles and news, then go now to our on-line advice service at www.debtadvicetv.com
If you’re ready to ask us for specific advice or help, then get in touch at www.call-me.debtadvicetv.com so you can start to free yourself from the stress and anxiety of overwhelming debt.
Thanks for everyones quick replies! I have taken the first step and spoken to Clear debt. They have answered lots of my questions and i am now sure an iva is the way fwd. I am off to the bank in the morning to set up a new account and then i am going to cancel my direct debits to the creditors.....Let the phone call harrasment begin. Thanks again for all the support to everyone on the forum!
Hi beansontoast,
we are about to get our proposal any day now, but like you we were a bit unsure at first, I would suggest that you call a few more IP.s as well and see what other advice you get, we were lucky and found this forum before we jumped in with one of the first ones we contacted, but after the sound advice on here to try more we got much better advice and a more realistic proposal. so do get a few to advice you it will be free and to your own benefit to get it right from the start.
good luck
many a mickle makes a muckle ...... if only I hadn't spent all the mickles
Good advice from Darkdog, just to make sure you can compare things for yourself.
Glad to hear you have taken the first step.
Regards,
Regards, Tina Shortland, Debt Advisory Manager for Melanie Giles at Debt Advice TV.
If you’re looking for effective debt related information, articles and news, then go now to our on-line advice service at www.debtadvicetv.com
If you’re ready to ask us for specific advice or help, then get in touch at www.call-me.debtadvicetv.com so you can start to free yourself from the stress and anxiety of overwhelming debt.
Good luck with your application. I have many self-employed clients with similar circumstances to your own in IVAs, and the issues you have raised - which have been already well explained by Michael and Tina - are easily dealt with.
The fact that you have changed your car now is sensible, as hopefully it will be reliable right through the IVA.
As your husband is self-employed he will need to arrange a face to face meeting with his IP or a senior member of the IP's staff experienced in personal insolvency. Don't be put off by this - it is essential that your IP personally understands the nature of the partnership's trading and how profits are earned and therefore distributed. If the partnership's trading accounts are not up to date, this will need to be done before proposing the IVA, so the value of his capital and current account have been assessed - as these may be potential assets to disclose to creditors. I assume that the Cleardebt advisor will probably have already gone through all of this with you - so now I will shut up!
Best of luck with it all, and let us know how you get on.
Thanks again for all the support and advice! On reading this advice i decided to ring a few more IVA companies to ensure i was confident with my chosen one. I have now settled with cleardebt (the first one i went to!) and have just recieved my pack and started to get all of the paperwork together. I now feel super stressed and really guilty that i have stopped my direct debits to creditors, I plan to transfer all payments in to the bank and all my live direct debits over to my new account and then try and live to my budget according to the I and E we completed. Hopefully we will then have some money saved in the account (from not paying creditors) which i am hoping to use to pay off arrears to Npower for gas and electric!
I am now really worried thogh that alot of the debt is in my name and my husband earns a lot more than me. will his creditors look at this unhfavroubly? When most of the debt was taken out i was in full time employment but i now work part time due to having two little children.
Thanks again to everyone and so glad i have found this site, i now feel more able to face up to my money troubles and I am hopefuly on the path to sorting themout rather than burying my head in the sand and hoping they will just dissappear!
Hi beansontoast (great Name)
your situations sounds almost identical to mine - the only difference is that i am the self employed one yet my husband still earns a lot more than me.
Our touble started after i had my first child (now almost 5) and got made redundant - even though we have managed since then my salary took a hit from £30k a year to max £10k a year and living off credit cards ended up the norm every month - it took us a while to admit to their being a problem and by then the problem had just got a lot worse!!
Good luck - we have just been in contact with our 2nd IP and provided all our information - let's see how it all goes xx
Debt free by 2015 xx
Wants to thank this great forum for the help so far
To beansontoast - if your husband has a higher disponsable income then his creditors will benefit from this and not yours assuming that your proposals will not be interlocking.
If you seek to interlock the proposals to your husband's creditors detriment, they may raise objections - but take your IPs advice on this point as they will be familiar with the criteria where interlocking proposals are generally accepted.
Thanks again!, Yeah we are proposing interlocking ivas, if we were to do single i would not have any disposable income i dont earn enough to cover mortgage and bills etc!
Would that mean that BR would be best for me and if so what would happen with the mortgage ( joint ) and joint debts?
Beans on toast, similar position here. Most of the debt was in my name and I earn a 1/3 of what my hubby does and by no means are we high earners and our interlocking proposal was accepted.
I too considered BR for myself, but I really wanted to at least pay back as much as we were able.
The other thing is that although it was mainly in my name, by no means was it all spent by/on me (the whole family was indebted really) so hubby needed to cough up his part in the parcel too!
7 year IVA completed in December 2016 - there is light at the end of that tunnel
Beans on toast, similar position here. Most of the debt was in my name and I earn a 1/3 of what my hubby does and by no means are we high earners and our interlocking proposal was accepted.
I too considered BR for myself, but I really wanted to at least pay back as much as we were able.
The other thing is that although it was mainly in my name, by no means was it all spent by/on me (the whole family was indebted really) so hubby needed to cough up his part in the parcel too!
7 year IVA completed in December 2016 - there is light at the end of that tunnel
Thanks cath, i feel a bit better now knowing that it is at least possible!
We seem to have quite similar situations as like you my debt was spent on all the family, e.g next directory clothes for all and credit cards to buy the weekly shopping!
Just waiting for my husbands accounts now then we can send everything off. At the min i am juggling money as i cant tell the bank about the iva, they are one of our creditors until the mortgage has been paid on thursday as i dont want them to empty my account! After thursday i can move all money and direct debits to the new account, and hopefully i will never feel as scared when letters come frotyhe bank in the post as i do now!
thanks again to everyone it really helps to know we are not the only ones!
