www.iva.co.uk

Hi all

30 months in going well.

I've not posted for a long time but I need some advice.

I'm due out of the Army in June after 22 years service with very little hope of extending[:(] in the current climate. The advice given by Resolve UK at the time was to extend for 3 years unfortunetly I will have to leave the service with 2 years of the IVA still left to complete[:(]

We will obviously need some where to live and would like to purchase our own home once again but appriciate that this could be difficult so we need advice on prime mortgages and specialist brokers.

Before our problems started we had a very high credit rating and succesfully paid off 2 mortgages so I hope this might add some weight to any mortgage application.

I only recently discovered that we might even have problems with the rental market[:0] if we are forced in to renting which we feel is a complete waste of our reasources.

Difficult times ahead I feel but at least the IVA has done its job allowing us to live a half decsent life[:)]

I look forward to hearing from you all!

Chris

Hi Chris and welcome back!

It's currently extremely difficult to get a mortgage while in an IVA. We have a specialist broker who says the same, and as soon as he finds someone who will regularly supply them I'll be shouting it from the rafters for you.

Am I right in thinking that when you leave the Forces you are entitled to a lump sum?

If so, what does your IVA proposal say about that?

Regards.

I believe it is offered to creditors as a windfall but treated similar to redundancy in so far as a proportion can be kept for living expenses for a certain period of time until new employment/ pension kicks in.

I am very suprised that you were advised to bank on ETR, when this may have been very unlikely asnd an opportunity completely out of your control.

Which IP firm did you get referred to, and what does your proposal say about the treatment of your gratuity and pension. Is this going to be lost as a windfall?

I agree and am dissapointed with this advice from Resolve(short sighted). At the time the Army needed soldiers to stay on to fill the short falls so it seemed a reasonable solution. Not much discussion about pensions or gratuity other than to only take the smallest sum, certainly no mention about having this excluded from the IVA.

I really should have gone through the what if senarios but I was more concerned about our dire finacial situation. My main concern was the effect an IVA would have on my ability to accuire a mortgage the only responce was to extend and you should be ok.

After 22 years service and having been in some tough situations I see my grautity as mine by right. In the current economic situation I will need every penny up front for resettlement, relocation and rehousing.

I spoke to Micheal at Mcduffy quite some time ago, unfortunetly I will lose a substatial proportion, the only trade of is that we will be debt free. The exact sum is yet to be determined but I expect it will reach into the thousands!!

If I were you Chris, I would work out how much you need to retain for rehousing and retraining costs. I know from personal experience how difficult it can be after 22 years in the forces to adjust to civilian life, and this is far more important than covering a few debts. See if you can persuade your IP firm to then negotiate retaining that sum with your creditors by way of a variation.

Good luck with your variation. Do you have any idea what you want to do in your new career?

I'm going into Fibre Optics and Telecoms. The course starts in Feb for 5 weeks the company is called CTTS based in Lincoln.

Some bolt on course will be High Ropes Access, Welding and Sea Survival.

You must be ex Royal Signals! Me too - I am an ex-YofS, so best of luck with the new career.

Sounds exciting. Best of luck x

Good luck from me as well. Hope it works out.

Melanie I'm in the Infantry so its a complete career change!

MelanieGiles wrote:

If I were you Chris, I would work out how much you need to retain for rehousing and retraining costs. I know from personal experience how difficult it can be after 22 years in the forces to adjust to civilian life, and this is far more important than covering a few debts. See if you can persuade your IP firm to then negotiate retaining that sum with your creditors by way of a variation.

Hi Melanie

This will be difficult to achieve because I cannot predict what will happen in the future or how much security I will need. My wife and I would dearly like to own our own home once again. If it was possible to secure a mortgage while in an IVA we would probably need evey penny of my gratutity for the deposit.

You won't be able to mortgage while in an iva and probably not for a few years after. Best to base yur circumstances on renting. It sucks but it's something lots of us are having to get used to. I will be nearly 40 before i can even contemplate being eligible for a mortgage...pants. I do sympathise.