www.iva.co.uk

Hello to All.

This is my first posting. I have been reading the posts here for a while now, I wish I had come across this sooner as there is so much valuable advice and direction.

Well, anyway, I am nearly there, just about to finish my IVA and I thought that some people may find some help and direction from my story.

I realised I had a debt problem back in 2002, up to this point I had managed to keep things going quite well, my wife and four children never wanted for anything ( well almost anything !! ).

I was paying almost half of my take home pay ( 30% of my Gross salary ) on Credit Cards, which to a point was sustainable, but, you become accustomed to a certain lifestyle and carry on as before, using the Credit Cards to satisfy the parts that you salary cannot reach. It then becomes a vicious circle and you eventually get to a point where you no longer have any available credit and no available salary. It was stupid of me to get into this position, although it is amazing how quickly this happens.

I will be writing a blog with the full details of my story and hope that it can help other people in their decisions.

Looking back, I am not sure that an IVA was right for me, after modifications put forward by the creditors, which, I was advised to agree by my IP, I ended up paying more than I really could afford, as once this started our quality of life was poor. After about 8 months I approached my IP with a view to reducing the payments as life was becoming very difficult due to the unrealistic monthly payment on my IVA. MY IP called a variation meeting and it was agreed that my payments could be reduced by 20% less than originally agreed.

This begs the question, should you really agree to suggested modifications from the creditors??, it is difficult as it seems you are forced into agreeing so the IVA will be accepted. I will go onto more detail on my blog.

Anyhow, I feel good now as I am nearly there. It has been difficult, there have been some very upsetting periods over the years, especially with my children, trying to explain why they can't have this and why they can't have that. At least now we are through and we can get our life back on track.

Good Luck to you all.

Well done for getting through what cant have been a particularly nice episode of your life. I am sure your blog will be enlightening to many and possibly inspire others to look into using an IVA as a means to get out of a hole.

I love success stories.. well done and I hope I can post the same as you in 4 and a half years time

Well done, I'm sure your blog will hep others facing similar problems.
Enjoy being debt free xxxx

hey drg....all new bloggers are welcome. ..look forward to reading it

Hi
A great post DRG
Regards

Great post drg, welcome to the forum. Good luck, you're nearly there. Please keep posting. X

Welcome!

I think things are a bit simpler now, albeit not much easier I have to say. Basically we now have the CCCS guidelines to work on for the income and expenditure, the intention being to create a level playing field I suppose, but these do establish a fairly harsh regime and a pretty tight budget without too much room for manoeuvre. Were it not for the recent flexibility built into the generally accepted standards whereby we can unilaterally allow a small reduction in payments (albeit by extending as payback) an IVA would be harsher still.

In a "consumer" IVA If there is a substantial increase in contributions imposed by modification nowadays, then the IP has got something badly wrong. Typically now the question for creditors is much more simple: Accept or reject? If the former, then the terms most likely to be subject to significant change will be the fees charged by the IP. In the main, other modifications will tend to be routine in nature (and in many cases simply repeat the substance of what's already in the proposal) and have little if any effect on the debtor.

Hi All,

Thanks for your replies, and messages.

I am currenty preparing my autobiography, sorry I mean blog!!!, although it will be like an autobiography, so if I send you to sleep with it when submitted I apologise.

Again, thanks to all for your messages.

Ian, thanks for your information and a question to you.

Do you think that the CCCS give good or bad advice? I have a friend who has just gone into a DMP through the CCCS and although some of his creditors have agreeed to freeze the interest on his debts, one in particular, LLoyds has refused and is continuing to apply interest to an overdrawn acccount. Also, in a DMP the creditors can agree and then disagree as they please with regard to interest and how they wish to pusue the debt, as they are not legally bound, unlike an IVA.

I would be interested in your views on this and could PM details to see what you think. I am no expert but I do not think that this is the best solution for him.

Many thanks

An IVA usually provides a larger safety net for a debtor, in that once creditors have agreed (and a majority vote of 75% will bind dissenting creditors) they cannot change their minds or move the goalposts. Why do you think that CCCS have advised a DMP rather than an IVA?

Hi Melanie,

He is 34 years old and single, lives in rented accommodation. He owes just over £36k and takes home around £1300.00 per month. Why they suggested a DMP I am not sure as an IVA makes more sense to me. Maybe as he is single and has no dependants?? Don't know.

The acid test will, of course, be disposable income. Once that is known we would then have an idea as to whether an IVA would be viable. Certainly if a creditor such as Lloyds (who are generally supportive of IVAs and DMPs) are kicking up against the DMP it doesn't augur well for the current plan if Lloyds are significant in the scheme of things.

I think a second opinion might be valuable, if only to prove to himself that he's doing the right thing. Marital status does not tend to be an issue at all.