www.iva.co.uk

Just curious as to why people chose an IVA?
obviously the right advice should lead you to the best solution but i remember thinking i wanted to pay something back as i recognise the part I played in getting here... A dmp didn't feel structured enough and bankruptcy made me shiver...

If I could go back I would have gone BR as I had no assets to protect, it would all be over, now still saddled with over 2 years to go.

At the time BR was scary but I know now, its really not.

We were at the point of spending more than our income and just taking more credit to pay for credit, then i had a job scare and it shook us, what if!!! I heard a friend talking about an IVA that his parents were on and did some research found this forum and because we wanted to protect our house we took some advice from 2 different companies and bit resulted in an IVA being the best option, I can say it's the best thing we have done and thank god IVA's are available we are a stronger family unit because of what we have been through and what we nearly lost, we don't want for anything anymore, we are not as materialistic we have food on the table and the bills are paid, we might not have much left at the end of the month but we have just had our second Christmas and not had to worry about the bills afterwards and how we are going to pay them it's a great life for us. Our credit file would have been shot anyway due to missing nearly all our payments in the final month, paying back as much as we can and enjoying life together without too much worry, a credit file shot for 6 years is a small price to pay for that.

I think too many people worry about the stigma of bankruptcy. Plus as iva is often thought of as a less serious option when really they have similar problems attached regarding credit worthyness.

Plus if you phone up a company that caexactly what yiu several thousands of pounds from you for an iva where is their incentive to suggest that bankruptcy may be a better option?
For years we saw people being pushed towards neverending dmps by companies who took fees for a year ir 2 then said actually maybe an iva would be better!!

Thats why you should always seek advice from 3 sources. And make sure you know exactly what you are signing up to.

Paul

Hi a good question. We first recongised we were insolvent several months prior to sourcing help. We kept thinking something will come along after Christmas then Easter then Summer and before you knew it we were back to Christmas.

Eventually we admitted to one another we were in trouble. Hubby first suggested IVA I said NO...looked into DMP didn't like the idea of no guarantees of interest/fees freezing. Eventually someone came to the house, rather pushy but I'm a strong character so got rid of him quick. Found the forum and Melanie and never looked back.

Bankruptcy - it was the stigma for me as they advertised them in the local paper - now they don't. What would I do if it were now? maybe bankruptcy.

Just hope I never have to make the decision again in the future.

I'd been in a DMP for a year or so which was going to take forever to pay off, plus we'd taken out further credit as well and were sinking. I kept it from my husband and just told him everything was ok. I used to go to the cashpoint, use the credit card to take out cash and then go and make my mininum payment. Of course that couldn't go on forever.

We approached Payplan as we were with a fee paying DMP company and they said we should try for an IVA which is what we did and that was almost five years ago.

Bankruptcy was never an option as there is too much equity in the house.

A few months before hubby was made redundant (the reason we are in an IVA) someone at work mentioned someone who used to work with us has been made bankrupt and the news spread through the place like an Australian bushfire, with everyone having an opinion on it. So when it was mentioned to us I just didn't want that, as everyone would be talking about me like they did her.
I can only imagine thinking about it now they got the info from the insolvency register although at the time they said it was in the evening post, but I have found out since it isn't mentioned in the local paper now like it used to be.

I stumbled on an IVA somehow whilst searching the internet. I didn't want BR as I wanted to try to pay back as much as possible ( after all, I did borrow it and spend it -- Lord knows what on!). BR is an option for me, I rent, my car is worthless and if my job wouldn't allow it the job can whistle! But a, possibly mis-placed, sense of honour drove me to an IVA. DMP was out of the question -- much to informal, liable to be reversed at any time and would tale me about 15 years to pay off.

My first enquiry was with CCCS --- talk about pushy !!! I was bombarded with texts and emails for a while, so they were crossed off my list! I had heard good things about RSM Tenon, and eventually went with them. After 18 blissful months they sold me to Grant Thornton, which, I admit, was a disappointment (as GT know ) as they were also crossed off my possibles list early on. Just going through my first review with them now -- so we will see how things go.

I am at the stage where, if I went BR now, a 3 year payments order would not make any difference to my "term" .... but, in view of all the closure hassles, at least I would KNOW when it was going to end --- the thought of waiting for 20 months to close is a bit daunting and I hope everything is sorted before then.

Anyway -- here I am in my IVA. Ups and downs like everything in life, but the relief from juggling creditors and robbing Peter to pay Paul is enormous! I also think I have ( am ) readjusted to a simpler life all round -- almost feels like stepping back in time to an era where there weren't credit cards and all the associated hassles ---- if you haven't got the money, you don't buy whatever it is ... and .... do I rally NEED that !?

All in all, it was a good move. My only regret (apart from getting into the mess in the first place) is not finding the forum sooner.

The truth finally dawned on me outside of A&E with a injured knee on the phone to some finance company realising that my final (and in hindsight) stupid idea of debt consolidation (45K over 15 years or something like that) was not going to happen.

I really didn't want to go bankrupt, just a personal view so an IVA was route. I'd also ruled out DMP as I liked the legal protection from creditors in the IVA and read enough horror stories about never-ending DMPs.

Can't recall if I searched the internet or chose one off the telly, but rang cleardebt, was very happy with the call with them, person at the end of thephone knew exactly what they were talking about, non-jugdemental etc, just perfect, signed up but due to a more complex IVA than they would deal with (I was partially self-employed at the time) I was introduced by them to McCambrdige Duffy who again after just one phone call kept my mind at rest.

The rest is history, 5 years of prudence now all done and dusted.

I was in it up to my neck following the bank taking our business to the cleaners and bringning it to its knees. We were in a credit to pay credit situation and the speed of the snowball effect was unbelievable. Very scary times. One afternoon I had received over 20 calls on my mobile from various creditors and I just snapped, the poor girl from MBNA was reduced to tears by my tirade but I was at the end of my tether, i couldnt look myself in the face let alone the family and we were in one hell of a hole. I took the plunge in late 2005 and a few moths later off we set on our IVA jorney. It is all behind us now but I will never forget how I felt in those very dark days and that is something that will never leave me. I would really like to get involved in debt advice or counselling through the CAB but finding the time is a challenge. Ironically I overheard some work colleagues bemoaning the fact that their christmas credit card bills were keeping them up at night.... I know hw they feel.... i was that soldier

Our story:

Both had very well paid jobs, and paid off a lot of credit card debts, but had some debt that we had tried to consolidate from previous relationships. We went to buy our first home, and got the consolidation as an attachment to our mortgage. We were paying everything fine, even overpaying some debts, until Hubbys company without notice dropped his salary by 25%. This caused us a lot of stree and worry. We spoke to our creditors and explained everything so they were happy for us to do a DMP.
We found a DMP co that had been recommended on a few websites and felt that this was what we needed till he either found new employment, or until we cold save up enough each month to add to the momnthly payments to clear the debts. We did manage to clear 2 debts with the DMP, but the DMP Co did not pass the other payments on to the creditors, so they added charges and interest etc. We confronted the DMP Co who told us that the creditors had not cashed the funds which is why, but we later found this was a lie.

I spoke with a family friend who lost her job, as well as her husband losing his and she was in an IVA and said they felt this to be the best thing they ever did as it helped them manage their debt. With that, I spoke to the CAB who put me in touch with Payplan, who were nice enough, but I found this forum and got chatting to many of you and especialy Tina, who was and is just great.

Given that we were given options of DMP, IVA or BR - DMP - not ideal as waste of time I felt, BR - scary and EVERYONE knows about it somehow, so we took the plunge for the IVA.

The IVA has taught us about budgeting again like we used to and how to make every penny count, as well as knowing that we are paying back what we borrowed so we are not shirking our responsibilities.

At the moment I feel this was the best decision, but have my review next month which is giving me a bit of anxiety, so may feel different after that lol !

Ultimately the debt was our own doing although the banks did not help by throwing money at us.Every time we were at the end of our limits and thought its time to do something about it one of them would up our limit. This went on for years until i one day tallied up and realised we paid out more than we earned. We chose IVA as it meant we would pay some and also the leanders would ultimately end up paying some, this seemed fair to us as they all played there part.

I got into serious debt over a number of years for various reasons, admittedly over extravagence being the major one, so my debts are completely my fault.
I kept on transferring debts from card to card on those `0% for so many months` balance transfer offers but kept on using my cards and eventually the zero percent offers all expired and over time the card companies kept on bumping up the interest rates to very high percentages...I recall my Halifax card account APR for example being 8.9% when I opened it years ago, when I eventually commenced IVA proceedings it had reached 32.9%.
I found myself at the stage where I could only afford to pay the minimum repayments each month and all that covered was the interest, so the debts never reduced....I would have never paid off the balances in my lifetime.

The final straw for me was notice from my employer of a cut in hours which would have meant a £10k a year wage cut, I had no choice but to find a solution that wouldn`t have involved the possibility of losing my house.
I thankfully found this forum, and through it Melanie and her superb company and here I am halfway through my IVA.

As it has turned out, my employer `temporarily` revoked the notice to reduce my hours and I am still on the same hours as we speak.

I am still glad I took out my IVA though, as I just wouldn`t have ever paid off my debts, and as I have not yet had my working hours reduced I have been able to, and continue to pay far more into my IVA than was anticipated.

One thing is for sure we have come a long way! I was in over my head supporting a looser boyfriend, was jilted on wedding day, lost my baby and almost my home when he walked out! I still remember dropping to my knees totally over whelmed the rest is a blur of living off credit until i had to do something! My creditors meeting saw me jumping everytime the phone rang! I think the IVA definately saved me from a much darker place! Didn't kill me but has shown me how strong I can be, same goes for all of us we survived being given credit until we actually needed it! Pats on the back all round

Didn't want implications of bankruptcy for work and wanted to pay back money that had been taken foolishly by hubby for gambling.

I feel guilty as had to default on 2 loans I had taken online through bank to help with money issues and for cars - our bank had always been good and I never dreamed I'd not repay the loans.

At the time is was horrid and the past 3.5 years have been far from easy but we're here - one more IVA Christmas to go!!!