www.iva.co.uk

Hi team,

I need some advise as i don't know what to do anymore.

Recently (9-10 months ago) I develop a gambling addiction after winning 35k in roulette and lost it all. While trying to recoup that money I lost a further 40k which I used credit cards and loans to do ( i know stupid thing to do).

I do matched betting on the side to make additional money but this isn't helping with my addiction so I restricted myself last week from all the gambling sites. I am now at a point where I cannot afford the minimum payment of all my cards and loans anymore. As i make 1.6k a month after tax and the minimum payments of all my cards at 1.5k a month and the remaining amount goes to TFL travel for work.

MBNA £4,380.62
Lloyds £2,153.26
Paypal £2,550.00
Fluid £1,511.79
Barclaycard £2,784.25
HSBC £5,471.92
Currys £800.00
ARC Europe (PayPal debt) £4,800.00
Zopa £18,000.00
Total £42,451.84

Above are my current debts, Can anyone advise me on what i can do? All the money i make goes to minimum payments only for the last 6 months and have been using credit cards to just eat but this isn't helping as its increasing my debts and minimum payments.


secondly anyone studying for CIMA, what affect does an IVA have on your membership?


Thanks in advance

I would suggest a chat with a couple of IVA providers to explore solutions. It is likely that you will be asked to demonstrate a gambling free period and, maybe a DMP would be an idea while you do this. For a fee free DMP I would suggest Stepchange as they have a close working relationship with creditors. But, first, chat to those IPs and see what's what.

I agree - you need to speak to a few experts and stop gambling.

Thanks both for the prompt response.

Anyone have a recommendation for IVA providers? I hear someone talking down on Stepchange in this forum

You can speak to Stephchange or Paylplan or anyone of the smaller companies but please stop gambling.

Stepchange has thousands of happy clients, however, for an IVA, I personally wouldn't use them.They are too big and impersonal for my liking, but this suits some. I prefer a firm where I can actually contact my supervisor (IP) direct. For DMP's though they would probably be my firm of choice.

Thu Feb 13, 2020 8:45 pmkallis3 wrote:

You can speak to Stephchange or Paylplan or anyone of the smaller companies but please stop gambling.

I have completely stopped gambling. closed all my accounts and registered with gamcare to restrict me from signing up to any sites.

I should have stopped long time ago but I was doing matched betting to make something on the side to hope pay off the debts but it was making it worse as I was stupidly gambling the winnings.

You have done the right thing to stop your gambling and have registered with all the appropriate groups/ sites to stop it happening again - so well done.

Regarding IVA companies...look for smaller ones who tend to look after their customers ones more personal level.

There will be a solution for you, but you do have the added issue of CIMA to overcome, and I would maybe speak to your HR team anonymously to establish the consequences of entering an iva or bankruptcy ...

Let us know how you get on x

Glad to hear you have taken some positive steps.

My personal experience of stepchange for an IVA has been fine so far, my circumstances are fairly simple though, debts acquired whilst married which were manageable with two incomes, however after separating it was too difficult to manage.

Find your local GA and attend a meeting, speak honestly in the room.
Your story is similar to mine except you have been honest from the beginning as to where your money went (I tried to hide as was ashamed to tell anyone how I lost it) so you have already taking a step in the right direction.
Gambling can take a person over and once in the zone, it is as if nothing else exists but the lights and sounds of the roulette tables or fixed odds better terminals. But please got to GA, their website has a drop down menu of your local centres, even if its ten miles away, try to get to a meeting.