www.iva.co.uk

Hi All. We are new here and looking for advice. We have been working for ourselves for approx 7 years. All was going well, employing staff growing etc until the housing market collapsed and recession set in. Also wife has a back condition and couldnt work for over a year, and she is still struggling. Any way last year we approached Payplan who advised us to go DMP and started to negotiate with creditors on our behalf. We thought an IVA might be more appropriate. We have approx 85k unsecured debt. House has mortgage and second charge so about equal to value of house, approx £270k. We are currently paying £243 a month towards our DMP but charges and interest are still being added to most of our accounts so they are growing. We were also in arrears with our tax bill and we were paying £450 a month towards that. So about £700 in total. We were told we could not do an IVA because we were not paying enough a month at £243 and would have to be paying at least £360, but if I understand correctly the advice given on these pages the Tax arrears could have been added to the IVA and then we could have afforded the monthly payment. Which way do we go as nearly a year on we are further in debt and feeling really frustrated. We cant carry on as we are, as our money available each month seems to be getting less and less, but we dont want to go down the bankruptcy route either.

We found this site a couple of weeks ago and have been reading the excellent advice given on a daily basis. Please advice us on which route is the best option.

Hi
your situation sound similar to ours. I believe that your tax bill can be added to IVA but I am not 100% sure. I am sure one of the experts will be along to confirm this. (I will be looking out for the answer too)
Kath

Hi Cuzzy 101 and welocme to the Forum.
First of all you are correct in that tax debts are included but unfortunately some of the larger so called debt charities do not have the experienced staff required to deal with self employed insolvencies. It is often easier to recommend an unsuitable DMP rather than advise you correctly.

Speak to an IP firm for advice quickly as an IVA is certainly an option. Be sure that whoever you speak to has experience of self employment and the relevant issues and hopefully your situation can be resolved.

Hi
Pretty poor advice given the circumstances that you have outlined. As Michael has stated speak to several companies/experts and discuss your situation in full to see if an IVA is a better option
Regards

I agree.

Visit www.iva.com for a list of companies and reviews and give one or two a ring. You will receive free and impartial advice as to all the options open to you. Be aware that as you are self employed you will need to have a face to face interview with your chosen IP.

Why on earth were you given such advice - to be frank I am horrified that this would have been provided to you.

If they cannot deal with self-employed cases properly, and give appropriate advice about the choices available to their clients, then perhaps they should say so, or make recommendations to firms who do specialise in these areas. I would not be one bit suprised if you find out that you owe more now than you did when you started the DMP.

Hmmmmmmm.

I am not convinced that bad advice has been given here, as we have one side of the story from the poster, and nothing from the Payplan side.

Payplan are a reputable organisation, so I suspect that this case has far more to it than originally appears.

Regards.

I took the poster's comments to be truthful, in that a year ago they entered into a DMP with £85k of debt and do not appear to have entered into an equitable debt solution. It would, however, be good to hear the other side of the tale.

Hi all. Thanks for the quick replies. This is a truthful account. I was initially put in touch with National Debtline because CAB would not deal with us as we are self employed. National Debtline took the initial figures and put us through to Payplan. We assumed that after we were told to go DMP then it was either that or Bankrupty. So we fight on.

Hi Cuzzy. I believe you that the advice you were given was wrong and the fact that you are self employed meant that the advisors did not know how to handle your case.

To go from the CAB to National Debtline to Payplan and not to have even at least tried an IVA is really poor and reflects very badly on the 'free' sector. Most IP firms will give you free, no obligation advice and at least if bankruptcy or DMP is the correct advice all options would have been discussed and not just those that the advicors had heard of.

Contact an IP firm and try and resolve your financial troubles properly.

Thank you Michael. We will contact a few and see which way is best. I think we do need to sit face to face with an expert who can assess the case properly.

That is certainly advisable and the fact that you are self employed means it is actually a regulatory requirement. I hope you get sorted out soon and at least have some light at the end of the tunnel.

I hope you find the solution for you and by contacting 2 or 3 IP's will certainly give you that free impartial advice specific to you.

All the best from me x

Just to update. Spoken to some one from Melanies team and set up an iitial phone conversation for Monday. Lots of work to do this weekend in preperation. Feeling nervous.

Hi Cuzzy
There is nothing to feel nervous about we spoke to Tina last monday and she was lovely. Really friendly and not scary at all.
Good luck with all your preparations.