www.iva.co.uk

Hi everyone,

Has anyone had any experience of changing their mortgage deal/rate withe the Halifax while in an Iva?

Are they sympathetic to people in an Iva? We've been with them for many years and have never missed any payments.

We were on interest only and this changed to SV rate about a year ago, as they said we can't stay on interest only for an indefinate period (not sure they said this because of Iva!)

I should also add that Lloyds TSB was oneof my main creditors..

Thanks in advance EP

The change from interest only to repayment - is happening across most Banks,speak directly to the Halifax and see whats on offer - however as this may affect the amount you can pay into the IVA you will also need to speak to your IVA company

Thanks for the reply Ginger.

Does anyone else have any experience with Halifax or any other banks for that matter!

Halifax are doing a bit of an RBS it appears, but not on business, on some homebuyers that were on interest only, which are being converted back to standard SVR and then won't extend the term to make the payments affordable, under the guise of affordability which is just a contradiction. I hope the national papers pick up on this sooner rather than later and give them a right kicking.

My wife has 80% equity in the house and looked to extend the remaining three years to six when switched back to repayment ie half the payment it is now and they said no, as I couldn’t she couldn’t afford it, I know laughable so have to stay over the three years as is n pay double…words fail me

I'm with Halifax and secured a new fixed rate during IVA.

Give them a ring. I found them friendly and professional.

Good luck.

Thank you for your replies, albeit a little late!

This is a timebomb which has been waiting to go off for the last five years or so - and anyone who is on an interest only mortgage ought to right now be looking at their finances and trying to plan for when their lenders require them to revert to repayment terms. This may well affect a lot of property owners who are already in IVAs, but may mean more people will be looking to enter into on in the New Year, as rising mortgages put more pressure onto the rest of the family finances.

Thanks for the reply Melanie.

I'm hoping to make an appointment in the new year (in branch). Looking at their webpage, they do a fixed rate for 2 years at 2.99%, so I could save around £180 a month.

This will be offset by the loss of rent from one of my sons, who will be moving out.

Let's hope they are sympathetic!

Merry Christmas all.

EP

Hi emptypockets,

My mortgage is with the Halifax and about 2 years ago my tracker deal with them was ending.

I phoned the mortgage centre and was offered three fixed rate deals over 2,3 and 5 years at relatively reasonable rates (though not 2.99%), that would have increased my mortgage payment by different degrees.

I contacted my IVA case manager and gave him the information and he got back to me to tell me that I wouldn`t be able to take up any of the deals offered to me as they would impact on my IVA payment amount.

So, when my tracker deal ended I automatically reverted to the Halifax`s SVR (which is currently 3.99%) and my mortgage payment increased by around £30 per month, which was dealt with in my I&E at review time.

Good luck.

I thought that if you were in an IVA then the creditors preferred you to be interest only so as to maximise the distribution to creditors?.

I've only ever been on Nationwides SVR and interest only. Hope to keep this until IVA finishes.

I suppose there are two ways to look at this from the creditors point of view: Put the debtor on interest only which will increase the disposable income marginally, or allow the repayment to continue which would increase equity in the long run.

Do they put that much thought into it -- and which would pay off ??

Thanks Goosed, that's quite encouraging.

It won't impact my payment amount, because the reduction will be counter-acted by my son moving out (a loss of £150 per month rent).

Good point Winterblues, although, when my mortgage payments increased, I was just told by my IP to fill out the IE sheet and explain that I would be receiving more in rent payments from son and lodger to cover it. They never said anything about us remaining in interest only (it wasn't an option anyway!)

My thoughts entirely Foggy!

Thanks all

EP