www.iva.co.uk

Hello all,

Nice to meet you all I’m new today to this forum. I have been reading for days now since I have been involved in the idea and now pursuing an IVA.

I got talking to The Debt Advice Service in which 2 members gave me such helpful advice and guided me through the journey so far, today I got passed on to Creditfix in which I’ve heard good and well mostly bad reviews which makes me a little nervous...

I know IVA’s are different for everybody but they assured me I’m with the right company and I’m in good hands with a good chance of approval.
My loans are straight forward.
I have 3 creditors:
PayPal credit
HSBC loan and overdraft
Barclays partnership finance
My loan totals: £12200 roughly.

I’m 28 and recently found myself struggling to make ends meet with renting and paying bills and loans so decided now is time to get help and stop bad habits.

I’m waiting for Creditfix to get my proposal done they said 2 working days before I accept and get a date for the meeting. I’m very nervous but again told it should be okay. Unfortunately today my call with the IP he wasn’t the nicest man on the phone and kept on pushing me for why I didn’t want to go with bankruptcy... not nice.

I’ve come this far with Creditfix and been yet again reassured by The Debt Advice Service everything will be okay and Creditfix deal with 50% of IVA’s and they wouldn’t have matched me with them if they didn’t think I have a chance of being accepted using them.

Thanks for letting my share.

I would 100% recommend Stepchange
Iv had my IVA with them for the last 4 years and they have been fantastic from the first day to present day

Stepchange do, it seems, run a fair IVA. Their 'charitable' status means very little, but tyhey are not as avaricious as some others out there.

Thank you all, I rang Creditfix first thing this morning and Stepchange which was straight forward as I spoke to them got an account set up etc on Saturday morning.

Creditfix of course had no one to speak to but she said someone will ring me back to confirm that I won’t be going ahead with them.

Just read too many horrifying things about that company on here and needed to be out at ease so figured Stepchange would be the best people to use. I understand everyone has fees but I know they won’t take the mick.

Now awaiting my call from Stepchange to get the ball rolling once again.

My concern now is during this process my creditors are likely to be in contact as my next payment dates are the 1st Dec

Good luck! As regards your creditors, if you have online accounts, go in and delete contact numbers. If they call, you can refuse to answer security questions and they cannot continue with the call. Otherwise tell them what you are doing.

Thank you for the support and advise. This has been such a scary ordeal for me but yes big big life lessons learnt in the process.

I have cancelled all direct debits from my old main HSBC account, I just need to delete numbers now.

Fingers crossed that Creditfix call me back soon to make sure it’s all cancelled and that Stepchange ring soon to get moving.

You will need to open a new basic bank account --- HSBC are likely to close your account when they get wind of the IVA. Many of us have used Co-Op Cashminder accounts with no issues.

If creditors do ring simply tell them that you are proposing an IVA and they can speak to Stepchange if they feel so minded. Other than that do not engage in any conversation. Many of the call centres do not even know what an IVA is and will spout nonsense just to get a payment out of you.

Best of luck with Stepchange -- I am sure everything will be OK.

Thank you, from the debt advice service messages and they were kind enough to tell me all this so I spent the weekend closing direct debits on my HSBC and moving them all to my Barclays account which has no lending on whatsoever. I was assured due to Barclays partner finance being separate to Barclays that my account is safe now.

Of course Creditfix not called back yet but I get a secondary text message saying how I will get my draft proposal through shortly and to email sign it back ASAP
If only they’d call sooner to get this all removed I definitely don’t want any dealings with them.

If you have any payments to HSBC for loans to them, be warned that if you cancel the DD they will reinstate it and charge you for the privilege - they did with me. Obviously it will be taken into account with your proposal.

Tue Nov 10, 2020 11:38 amkallis3 wrote:

If you have any payments to HSBC for loans to them, be warned that if you cancel the DD they will reinstate it and charge you for the privilege - they did with me. Obviously it will be taken into account with your proposal.

Oh dear I cancelled it this morning

Also with Creditfix not calling me back, when the draft proposal does come through if I simply don’t respond or send it back surely I’m not bound to anything and they cannot continue?

I’m getting really worried as I just don’t want anything to do with them.

Bear in mind this was a long time ago so things might have changed, hopefully they have now.

Creditfix cannot go ahead without your permission. Just don't sign anything.

Hi Kitty
Welcome to the forum.
Youve made a brave decision to face debts but it will be worth it.
Been here a while now from the position you find yourself in to having completed a 5 year IVA, releasing equity and then living post-IVA.
This forum is a godsend and source of advice, support, guidance and knowledge. So glad youve found it.
Take your time to get a budget right-really important ita right true and realistic from the start so dont rush it-make sure everything possible
is included as an allowable expwnse. Creditfix are a big fish in the iva world but they them suffer for it in regards communication and customer service so good decision to change.
Hope everything goes smoothly for you. Looking forward to sharing this journey towards debt freedom with you.
Well done

Thank you so so much it really means a lot to have so many supportive people out there to help me through this. It was indeed difficult to start with but now I’ve come to terms with this is how life has to be now and to keep reminding myself of all the positives out of this is really getting me through.
Still awaiting that “call” from Creditfix and of course nothing. Well when they send me the draft proposal I shall just ignore it. Spoke to stepchange again this morning to make sure everything is going smooth and still awaiting their call to put me through. Meanwhile I need to think about certain creditors as my PayPal is due on the 16th... fun times.