www.iva.co.uk

Hi all

I have an IVA and I'm coming to the end of my second year in July. I pay £478 per month. When the IVA was arranged, my husbands income was also taken into consideration to ensure that all the household bills could be covered as well as the IVA payment.

On the 28th Feb, my husband left me. It seems he has no intention of returning and I am devastated. we have a 10 year old daughter who has stayed with me in our family home.

He is already reducing the amount of money he offered initially and I know that I won't have enough coming in to cover everything and feed us. I have a mortgage on my house for £475 per month and a secured loan for £450, that is crippling me. I think settlement for both the mortgage and the loan would be around £80k.

I accept that I will probably have to sell my house and I'm making arrangements to have it valued, but with the current climate, I don't know long I can continue to make the full payments if it takes months to sell.

my question really is, am I able to try and get another mortgage whilst in an IVA so I can part exchange my house for some of the deals around at the moment from builders who are struggling to sell? My IVA payments have to continue, IVA failure is not an option for me but if I can move to a smaller home and have a mortgage thats cheaper than my current mortgage and secured loan together allowing me to continue to pay the full IVA amount, is this something you think an IP would consider? Where do I start? A smaller home would also have cheaper running costs as I have a large house which is getting old and needs regular repairs and maintenance.

He's walked away from all this responsibility and I'm trying to sort the mess and this extra worry and stress is making me ill. i can't eat or sleep. Any advice on a way forward would be appreciated. none of my family know about the IVA, they all assume that because I have a fairly decent secure job, that I'll be OK. My current income is just over £2000 per month.

I know from other posts that there is a guy on here who specialises in mortgages / financial advice for people in IVA's, does anyone have his details?

Thanks
Lulu77

Hi Lulu,

I am so sorry to hear about your personal circumstances and I do hope you find a resolution.

The person you are talking about is welshboy (forum name) and you can get hold of him via http://www.allmortgageproducts.co.uk/

Hope I am not advertising just trying to help [:)]

Hi Lulu
My heart goes out to you, I am so sorry and understand how you must be feeling.[:(]

The priority here is you and your daughter. Worry and stress on top of the emotional crisis will make you ill. I understand you don't want the IVA to fail, and neither will your IP.
Obviously the practical side must be dealt with to at least alleviate that stress and you will find experts here to advise over the house situation. You didn't say who your IP was, but that would be a first port of call, talk to them about the changes and that may at least give you a breathing space. Variations and payment breaks are all possibilities, but you need to tell them the changes in your circumstances.

Take care hon and if a virtual hug can help they are sent.

I am so sorry to hear of your situation but please stay positive and you have a lovely daughter to look after.

First port of call is to talk to your IP and sort out a temporary payment break whilst you sort out the house. Is there any equity in the house. Also are you able to transfer all or part of the mortgage to a new home?

You need to seek professional advice both on the separation/house and maintenance.

Hopefully Welsh Boy will be looking at this post as well.

Let us know how you get on.

I am saddened to read your post Lulu, and firmly agree with David that a payment break is essential in order for you to sort your ongoing finances out.

Purchasing a smaller property would seem to be a sensible option, however mortgage funding is still difficult to come by without a substantial deposit. If you have equity in your property you can transfer this to a new house, and the final year equity release provision will also transfer across. Just as long as you do not dissipate any of the equity this should be fine to do.

Have you also thought about renting a property? Perhaps it is not your first choice, but as I always say a house is bricks and mortar but a home is where the heart is - and you and your daughter could live very comfortably and perhaps more cheaply in a rented property. Worth a thought, and do seek the suppport of your IP at this very difficult time, as well as all of your new forum friends of course. I am sure one or two of them have been in a similar situation to you, and can probably also offer very good advice.

Hi,
On the housing situation it may be worth speaking to your local council they can often offer advice on housing issues that you may not know are available

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I have arranged the payment break and completed a new I&E, but there's more going out than coming in. Does this mean I'll be forced to go bankrupt? The house is in negative equity and Picture, who we have the secured loan with are reluctant to let me sell it. Would voluntary repossession be a solution? If i go bankrupt then the house would have to be sold anyway wouldn't it? Can someone help me? My whole life has fallen to pieces and I don't know what to do next.

Lulu77

Voluntary possession is an option, but will give rise to a mortgage shortfall which will be included in the IVA but you might have to get the terms of the IVA varied to accomodate the inclusion of a larger creditor.

I think that you should chat the options through with your IP to see how this would affect the current arrangement. Keep your head up and try to smile a little. Every day further on is a day further away from the badness, and things will beging to slowly improve for you although it probably doesn't feel like this right now.