www.iva.co.uk

Hi everyone.
Im new here and hoping you can advise me.
Me and hubby are at the start of this journey to sort our debt out.
We have realised we have £46000 in deby (2x loans, 6 credit cards and an overdraft each)
We are on good wages but have got into the spiral of all salary goes on repayments then use CC for living. We have taken loans out to repay CC but never admitted to ourselves full amount so never took enough (through fear of being blown out) and it has spiralled.
We have 2 children and another on the way (not ideal i know but please dont judge)
We had a finance plan in place and have been saving towards when I go on maty leave but then the banks got involved and have started to reduce OD which has left our plan up in the air and not able to afford life essentials now as all money going towards meeting the reduced OD.
I have contacted payplan (on recommendation from family member). We have had initial phone call and gone through budget with fine tooth comb but because of my maty leave and drop in pay it is causing some issues.
I am waiting to here from the lady (hopefully today) about a plan for us. I will be on £1400 from Jan until July but then income drops to just £500 due to only getting SMP until I return to work end of Oct 2013 when I will go back onto £1600. My hubby earns £1582.
Unfortunately we had a letter from our childcare provider to say fees going up in Jan! Not helpful! Childcare will be £388 til Nove then £666 a month once I go back to work!!! Its absurd but theres no other choice as I have to work. Our mortgage is £517.
I am hoping we get offered an IVA because although it will hit our credit rating I believe 5 years with tight purse strings is worth it and credit rating cant get any worse than it is now.
Can anyone advise me as to whether a IVA is better for us based on our circumstances? A DMP is an option too i guess but Im not keen on the choices creditors get in regards to freezing interest. I dont want to still be paying this off in 9 years time and then find weve got thousands of fees added on.
The problem they seem to be having is coming up with a plan due to my sudden drop in income but as its only for a few months can we not have a lower plan for the next 12 months then when it is reviewed increase our payments to the IVA??
I cant surely be the only family who need to sort things out and be on maternity pay? Its not forever its only a coulple of months of reduced income then jump straight back to £1600.
Sorry fdor long post Im just worried/panicking about future and as gutted we are to be in this situation the thought of an IVA with tight budget for 5 years then be debt free and build up Credit rating again is a nice thought.
Any thoughts welcome. THanks for your time.

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Nobody will ever judge you on here - we've all got into debt for various reasons and the forum is here for advice and support.

I would suggest that you speak to a couple of other companies as well as Payplan. Either visit www.iva.com for a list of companies and reviews or speak to one of the experts that post on here whose details can be found on the 'Ask experts a question' link on the left hand side of the page.

Congrats on the impending new arrival!!

I agree with Niobe, you will not be judged on this forum everybody on here will offer you help and support and offer their experiences

Having returned from Maternity leave myself last year i understand that this is a worrying time. Seek some advice as suggested above and try not to worry as there will be a solution for you, we regularly deal with cases with maternity leave and SMP involved without any problem

Hello and welcome. As said above, we don't judge here -- we are all in the same boat, either as crew or survivors

I would echo the advice that you have a chat with a couple more firms ( it's free and without obligation at this stage). You will be entering a long term and financially intimate relationship, so it is important to suss out who you feel comfortable working with.

And don't hesitate at all in coming back here to ask any questions, have a rant or a giggle, there is somebody here most times -- even our resident insomniac, Mel, at silly o'clock during the night

Hi and welcome, I personally don't see why it should be an issue that your pay is going to reduce substantially for a few months, even if that means that you wouldn't be able to afford anything towards your IVA while you are on reduced pay as many people in an IVA already who then fall pregnant can usually take a payment break and make up the payments later?

I would speak to another few IP's, as it is a known entity when you will be on mat leave and when you will be going back to work, this could be factored into your IVA payment schedule anyway and as long as your disposable income is enough to warrant an IVA from the start and you accept you may have a few months tagged on at the end to cover no payments during mat leave I am sure it can be worked out.

Hi

It is hard to give difinitive advice without all the circumstances and figures but an IVA can be arranged to take into account your reduction in income for several months

Payplan are an excellent company but do speak with one or two more companies/experts to get firm advice and options before deciding

Regards

If I were acting for you abbiesmum, I would suggest that you make no payments into the IVA for the period when you are receiving SMP only. This would leave a gap in your payments, but so long as this was part of the agreement and acceptable to your creditors then I can see no issue with this.

I have successfully proposed IVAs on a similar basis in the past - and this does seem the most sensible way forward.

Hi, I hope the above posts have reassured you, none of us judge, we're all here for a reason.

Do take the opinion of a couple more companies though is my best advice. x

Congratulations on your pregnancy. As everyone has said nobody on here judges anyone else and I have found the forum a Godsend. I'm with Payplan and although I havn't had any problema with them, I wish I'd found this site before I signed up to them. With the advice and information available on here I would probably have chosen a different company.

May be an idea to speak to another company before you commit if you read through topics on here there are a few standouts!Good luck

Thanks for all your replys. really appreciate it. Mel i dont see why a temporary reduction in income is such a major hurdle considering in November i will go back to work and earn £1600!! surely by being honest from the start about ALL our incomes and outgoings we are doing best thing. Are there any other companys any of you would suggest we speak too? have gone to payplan as several people we know have used them so gone on recommendation. Thanks again. I spoke to a good friend today and told her our financial situation and she admitted had a dmp for last 3 years!! and knows 4 other mutural friends on some kind of plan! I felt so relieved! my lady from payplan rang this evdning to clarify childcare costs now and with baby when my mum was here. as id missed the call over weekend i went ahead and discussed it with mum here so have now confessed to her too. she doesnt get it but least ive opened up a bit about things. Thanks again.

Why not give Melanie a call? I'm with Melanie and been more than happy with the service I've received? x

Have a word with one of the experts on here - Mel is one of them. You can find the details under the 'Ask experts a question' link on the left hand side of the page.

Abbiesmum2003, since you ask ...... I would suggest you chat to Mel's company as a must speak to, also McCambridge Duffy. These are not large "IVA factories", and they will both treat you as a person first, and a client second.

Hi All I am entering year 3 of my IVA.. I have never missed a payment and have always communicated promptly when required to. However I am currently having a few issues with my IVA provider. I have started earning performance related bonus each month (Probably wont last) However my IP has said that I need to pay them 50% of anything earned over our combined monthly income. OK so for arguments sake I earn my full potential bonus each month and pay them the required 50% that means I will be overpaying my original debt amount not the amount agreed to pay by over 10K ??? Can they actually do this?