www.iva.co.uk

Hi all, could really use some sensible unbiased advice.

I have been in an IVA for 14 months. Today I received a letter from David Sharp @ creditcruncher, I decided to give him a call to have a chat. After talking through my circumstances with him, he is advising that going BR might be a better option for me.

My debts before my IVA were around £24K which has reduced to £16K (aslong as circumstances do not change) and I have made 14 payments so far. I have no assets apart from a car that is worth approx £500 and thats about all I own. David was suggesting, that in BR I would be debt free within a year (4 more years with my IVA) and that my credit report would be cleared quicker with BR (6 years) where as at the moment it is affected during the term of the IVA and then a further 6 years after. Is this correct???? I was under the understanding that after the term of my IVA is finished it would stay on my credit report for a further year and then it would all be done and dusted.

Would BR be a more sensible option? I am already on the insolvency register so thats not a problem and everyone who knows me, knows I have debt issues so the information going public isnt really an issue, nor would it affect my job as a dental nurse. Im just not sure what to do for the best, I am currently coping with the IVA payments of £300 a month but the thought of being out of debt quicker is just soooo appealing.

HELP [:D]

Rachael - throw those mail letters in the bin - if you want some proper personal advice speak to an expert.

The fact you are paying an IVA - may indicate that because you have disposible income - you could end up with 3 years of payments to the Offical Receiver.

What is he charging for this advice ?

There is no easy /quick way to get out of debt

Hi Ginger

Apparently the company he works for is called creditcruncher personal insolvency centre, his advice was free (for today at least) but obviously there will be charges should I go through with BR. Am thinking of ringing cleardebt my IP and discussing it but I wanted to check if this David was talking a load of rubbish or if there was some truth in it xxx

Hi. He isn't quite correct. At the moment your credit file will repair in another 5 years or so. If you went BR today, it would repair in 6 years ... so will be shot a little longer now, if you go BR. You will be discharged in a year, but will, in all probabilty be making payments similar to those in your IVA for three years. So, by the time it's all set up you will shave 8 or 9 months off the term of the IVA. You will also kiss goodbye to the money you have paid into the IVA so far and also have to pay his fee and the court fee, which would eat up nearly all of the 9 months worth of payments you might have saved. If you see what I mean.

So, money - wise no better off. Time wise, will save 8 months, but your file will be shot longer anyway.

You pays yer money and you takes yer choice.

to be honest i would get advice from one of the experts on here ,if you choose bankruptcy i think its cheap enough to do yourself ,im sure someone will know how much on here.Its a tough one but why do you wanna change to bankruptcy ? surley the options were given when you set up the iva? unless your circunstance have changed? do you have a property? if not why fix what aint broke!

Thanks Foggy

Some great advice and good points, I dont mind paying back what I owe, its my own fault im in this mess but as you said I would save some time on the repayments but not on my credit file which is what I wanted, I think i'll just stick with the IVA and try and some sort of F&F in another 18 - 24 months or so.

To be honest after talking to this bloke, he gave me the impression that in an IVA my credit would be shot during the term of the IVA (which i was aware of) and then a further 5 years after that which scared the hell out of me but as thats not the case, i'll have a few strong words to say to him if he tries to contact me again, talk about hard selling, I nearly signed up there and then for BR xxx

I`m no expert but have done a lot of research. I guess BR looks good because you`ve no assets, but I agree with Foggy about the credit rating bit. If you`re 14 months of payments in I see no point, especially if you are managing with the IVA.

Hope this helps!!

hyperdrive

Its helped loads, thank you. Thanks to all who have posted replies too, much appreciated.