www.iva.co.uk

I owe 14,000 would I be okay to do a 3 yr plan IVA or just save and offer them one of payments to get rid as I am told that these debts are sometimes bought for as little as 35p in the pound is this correct. So assuming that's the case I could offer less than half

Hi and welcome,

It's not normal to do a three year IVA, especially if you have a house with equity.

Speak to a couple of companies for some free advice - Andy Davie/Vincent Bond (details under the expert link on the left hand side of the page) may be able to help.

Yes, debts are bought and sold for a fraction of their value -- but usually by companies who buy "lots" of mixed debt. Your creditors might negotiate and, if you can service the debts during this period it might be worth approaching them, but don't hold your hopes up.

Depending, of course, on all of your circumstances an IVA might be OTT for £14k debt, so it is worth exploring other avenues first. Have you reclaimed any PPI ? Use this to reduce some of the debt, if there is any.

Yes 3 years is reasonable as would match what you would pay in contributions in BKY but creditors would receive more in an IVA as the costs are much lower, mainly as the Bankruptcy tax does not apply to an IVA.

However it will be up to creditors to decide and will depend on your overall financial situation, what you can afford to pay and what other assets you have etc. Some of the big firms/IVA factories just have standard 5 year IVAs.

to answer your question about settlement - if you only have a handful of creditors this could well be a good way to reduce the debt - contact all of them and ask if there is a settlement figure they would accept, tell them you are thinking of going Bankrupt. You might be surprised at how much they will accept but again it will depend on your assets - if you own a £1million mansion they are not going to accept a small settlement offer...!