www.iva.co.uk

Hi,
I need some help and advice if you can!
I stupidily agreed to help a former partner by taking out a joint loan which she would then repay month by month. Six months ago, I discovered that she had defaulted on the loan and the bank were now chasing me for repayment, which I cannot afford.

Added to my own personal loan and credit card debits, I owe approximately £41,000. For the past 6 months I have paid back a small amount to the bank but today they have demanded that my repayments increase which is beyond what I can afford.

I can't see any way out of this situation, and I think an IVA is my only option - I don't own any property, my car is probably worth less than £1,000 and I want to sort my situation out so I can look forward to a brighter future.

Any help gratefully received.

Hi there and welcome to the forum

There are several options which are probably available to you such as an IVA, DMP or bankruptcy proceedings. In order to receive full advice with regard to the options I suggest that contact an insolvency practitioner - or perhaps a couple of firms to get a balanced picture.

Thanks for the welcome, I've spoken to the National Debt Line people who were very helpful. They've sent me through an information pack and after reading the details, I think an IVA or a DMP are my options.

If I'm honest, I'm really stressed about the whole thing and I'm actually quite frightened about this.

Hi and welcome to the Forum. Please do not be afraid you are taking the right steps by addressing the problem. May I suggest you also check out www.iva.com as there are all the reviews for the major IVA companies to give you an idea who to go through. As Melanie suggests please do contact an Insolvency Practitioner asap.

Hey Northstandultra, welcome to the forum. I know it's all scary at the moment but there will be a way forward for you. You're in a great place here for advice and support so please keep posting. X

Hi, and welcome from me too.

Why not give Melanie a ring? She comes highly recommended by a lot of people on here and she will give you advise on all the options open to you to decide which is the best.

Hi all,
Thanks for your messages of support, I feel like such a fool for getting in this situation in the first place.
I've spoken to a couple of IP's today, both believe that at the moment I am better off entering a DMP, so that's seems to be the plan at the moment - I know it's not ideal but if it helps then so be it!

Best of luck with the DMP Northstandultra. Keep posting, we're all here for you and you're NOT a fool! X

Good luck for your DMP, I hope it all works out.

Me again!
Just been thinking, I currently pay £229 a month to my creditors and having worked out a personal budget I left myself £241 a month - would this not be enough for an IVA?

I just want to be debt free having got myself into this stupid situation and I fear a DMP will not give me any light at the end of the tunnel.

Hi noethsandultra

I am sorry that youre feeling so stressed but we all felt like that at the begining, its so easy to just constantly beat yourself up, a voice in your head saying stupid, stupid stupid, you feel out of control and in a panic. Forgive yourself, you have fallen down a black hole like most of us here and its really hard to figure out how the hell it happened. It does and its so easy.

I dont know what a professional financial expert would say but a DMP for 44K seems a bit of a long road to me. It may be due to you having certain creditors that set a bench mark that you cant reach with your current disposible income. Have you looked into bankruptcy? I know the very word scared the pants off me but it isnt as bad as most people think. Try reading Skippy's blog and have a think about it.

We all know how really dark and stressful this time is. Hang in there, there is a solution to every problem.

As Melanie suggested earlier, you need to speak to an IP or a couple to find out your best option.

My personal view is that with your contribution and debt level you will find a DMP a very long hard slog - 14+ years assuming all interest frozen and zero cost so probably it will take at least 16 years.

So we then come to Bankruptcy v IVA. Which is best? an IVA will have a chance of working but whether it, or bankruptcy is best will depend upon a holistic approach to your debt, taking all your personal circumstances into account, as the numbers themselves only tell part of the story.

I would suggest you have a couple more calls to make.

ian

I thought I had read that the poster had spoken to a couple of IP's and was advised that IVA isnt possible.

Yes, Lily, I have noticed that, but the raw figures do indicate that it's possible to do an IVA. That's why I think before a proper answer can be given the wider picture needs to be known. For example, nature of job (will bankruptcy affect it) and make-up of debt eg is there a dominant creditor who is anti-IVAs, is the I&E surplus realistic etc etc etc.

We don't know who has advised the poster previously but presumably that advice was based upon the information the poster gave to the advisor. If the advisor did not ask all the right questions, or does not really know what they are doing (far more common than you might think) then there is the potential for the process to be flawed and for the wrong advice to come out the other end. This is why I will never come off the fence until I know all the facts.

Hope this helps.

ian

Oh of course, I so should have realised that, I spoke to the clerk when I phoned and not directly to an IP, I must admit to being told different things myself. When I did finally get through to an IP it was a different world.

Apologies.