www.iva.co.uk

Well, we finally got to the end. Our last payment was a double payment and now we are just sitting around waiting for our completion certificate.

I have to say that after only one month we are starting to get a little impatient

We are desperate for a new car and I'm very concerned about applying for HP as we may get turned down.

With how we have been living / budgeting over the last 6.5 years I'm adamant that the new car repayments must NOT exceed our previous IVA monthly repayments.

Is there anything I should be doing to improve our credit score in the meantime?

Thanks.

You need that completion. You will find that removal from IS register can take up to 3 months. In the meantime check with all agencies to see what they hold as regards defaults.

The jury is, as ever, out on this one. You have a clean credit record, which in itself is a warning sign to lenders that something has taken place. The advice has always been to get something like a Vanquis card, low credit limit and build up some history. However, potential lenders are savvy to this and sight of a Vanquis / Aqua or the like could also alert them to something amiss (if they pay that much attention). I had a Vanquis and was told by the CRA that the low credit limit (£1000) was also a red flag -- all seems a bit perverse !!

Generally I would say start slow and low and take a year - 18 months re-building before going for anything big -- but you need to move faster than this, so research lenders, try not to get too many searches recorded.

Anyway ---- good, solid, green ticks from your bank and mobile phone company will help fill the void. Check for and remove any notices of correction and make sure the electoral roll information is up to date.

Thanks. I think we will just have to go and see if we can get the car.

The one we currently own is completely knackered. Potentially a cracked cylinder head.

It isn't that we are in any rush to get back into debt. We've just managed to get by with our current motor for so long we are really struggling now.
I dare not even go on holiday in it this year.

Imhotep wrote:

Thanks. I think we will just have to go and see if we can get the car.

The one we currently own is completely knackered. Potentially a cracked cylinder head.

It isn't that we are in any rush to get back into debt. We've just managed to get by with our current motor for so long we are really struggling now.
I dare not even go on holiday in it this year.

I know the situation regarding cars (and boilers) --- they have limped along for 5 or 6 years with minimal maintenance and are often the first things that need urgent attention / replacement --- and always expensive !!

You may have to wait a while for your completion depending on your company. In the meantime it will impact on any application for credit.

Until your completion certificate is received and you are off the register it us very unlikely a car loan would be approved unless you use a firm that specialise in credit for people with poor history.

You need your CC - it might take your firm up to 6 months (ridiculous!) to send this to you so keep the pressure on them. It will then take up to another 3 months to come off the register.

I would suspect you need to wait for both of these things before you can move on.

You might find this quick video I made about cleaning up your credit record useful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV4RzUY4BRM

Noddle and Clearscore are also free credit agencies to consider using:

https://www.noddle.co.uk/
https://www.clearscore.com/

Fingers crossed you get it soon!

Thanks everyone. I hope we get something soon. Mrs wanted to go to the Lakes for a few days but I dare not risk it

This waiting around is almost as bad as waiting for the IVA to start.

On the plus side we have settled a pretty big secured loan, which we took out to consolidate debt prior to our IVA.
On Clearscore this gave us a bump of 57. Giving us a score of 388 out of 700. Average score in our area is 429, average in UK is 380.

Imhotep wrote:

Thanks everyone. I hope we get something soon. Mrs wanted to go to the Lakes for a few days but I dare not risk it

This waiting around is almost as bad as waiting for the IVA to start.

On the plus side we have settled a pretty big secured loan, which we took out to consolidate debt prior to our IVA.
On Clearscore this gave us a bump of 57. Giving us a score of 388 out of 700. Average score in our area is 429, average in UK is 380.

And that chunk of extra money is far better in your pocket than in the IVA

Foggy wrote:

Imhotep wrote:

Thanks everyone. I hope we get something soon. Mrs wanted to go to the Lakes for a few days but I dare not risk it

This waiting around is almost as bad as waiting for the IVA to start.

On the plus side we have settled a pretty big secured loan, which we took out to consolidate debt prior to our IVA.
On Clearscore this gave us a bump of 57. Giving us a score of 388 out of 700. Average score in our area is 429, average in UK is 380.

And that chunk of extra money is far better in your pocket than in the IVA

You aren't wrong

Our completion certificate took 18 months to come through but that was in the middle of all the ppi court case and IP's trying to get you to sign silly letters etc (ultimately we refused to sign any paperwork and got our completion cert). We got aqua cards and they did help improve our credit rating and every few months they increase your credit limit which helps your credit rating. We were with Aperture and they recently started calling us offering us loans, I don't approve of this at all as they are using your private iva data to get you into debt again but if you ask your IP they might work in conjunction with a lender who could get you a loan, the interest will be more than other lenders but it's going to be like that for you for at least 2 years..

Thanks. 18 months! I hope ours doesn't take that long.

We've never had PPI so I'm hoping for a smooth transition.

Well, I rang my IVA folks yesterday to ask if everything was okay and if there is anything I should be concerned about.
I know it has only been two months since completion but I'm getting a bit anxious.

A few minutes later I was told that my certificate and final statement had been posted on the 16th, 2nd class.
Fingers crossed I should receive it this weekend

I was also told that they had done their bit (which I assume includes lifting the caution on our property and removing us from the insolvency register)
but if we have any problems with creditors we will have to deal with it personally as they will no longer communicate with our IP.

Strange thing is that we received a letter just a few weeks ago stating that some of our debt had been sold on.

EDIT: Certificate has just arrived