www.iva.co.uk

I am about to start the ball rolling with an IVA, however, I have my mortgage with Northern Rock and part of our debt is £30k that was a loan when we took our mortgage out(the loan is again with N Rock) Will this affect our mortgage once it all goes through?

It might make it difficult for you to enter into the IVA.

How much unsecured debt do you have in total?

Ian

It won't affect your mortgage, but as Ian says the IVA may not be accepted.

we are in this boat. No one wants to propose our IVa. 68k debt, and 30k to NR, mortgage also with NR.

I'd be happy to look at it for you. Northern Rock do not reject every IVA proposal, but will only accept those they feel present the very best return available for them.

I am just worried about losing the house. I see an IVA would work out best as we can afford around 500 a month, but am seeing it being rejected and back to square one then lose our roof. Surely NR would be better off accepting an IVA to avoid a bankruptcy which would mean they would lose out even more. But I'm sure its not as simple as that!!

My understanding is that with NR as a significant voter the position is "difficult" but not impossible. I have heard of NR accepting some cases last week - perhaps this is in the spirit of the new protocol, perhaps for some other reason. The only way to get a feel for this is for an IP, under your authority and armed with all the information, to contact NR and ask them whether in your specific case they will be prepared to consider it.

Whilst I know it's frustrating, it is important to remember what has been signed up for here, an unsecured loan lasting for (up to) 25 years. It may well be that part of the resistance NR have displayed in the recent past is that they don't like the idea of a 5 year IVA whereby the remainder is written off.

I can understand this, as obviously should everything of been ok, we would have given them back around 40k for the loan on top of the amount borrowed. But given our situation and how it has worsened, I can't see any other way but an IVA as our debts are too big to go through a DMP, and we can only afford 500-550 a month to pay back. I'm praying someone will help, and we do get one approved once we get it all together, but it is just worrying me even more that bankruptcy will be forced upon us, especially as I'm in finance as a job, and then we would be in even more trouble. We are starting to miss payments now as we just don't have the money by any means to pay, and are starting to get letters, and the thought of no roof over our head is just too much to bear.

You need to speak to an IP who is prepared to look at your case. He/she can then put the bare bones of the proposal together and then approach NR with it. If, and only if, they are prepared to look at it (which I suspect is the best you'll get at this point)you can then instruct the IP to draft the proposal.

As the NR debt is less than 50% in the case of introuble (not sure about hampshiredolphin)if the IVA gets rejected then a possible plan b might be to enter a DMP for the next few months. When the new SIVA regime comes into play the rules will then be different and NR would not be able to block the VA if everyone else votes for it. But, and it's a big but, there are risks in that strategy. If you treat NR the same as everyone else they are likely to try to secure the debt. If to avoid that you continue to pay NR as normal then you run the risk of hacking all the others off. So, you could wind up in a difficult situation.

Ian

This is certainly not going to be easy. I just want to do anything to keep our house. Its looking bleak though, admittedly.

Can I suggest that as an alternative that you contact Northern Rock directly, and explain your predicament and see what advice they can offer you - as I can absolutely assure you that their key motivation is also not to see you losing your home. I regularly deal with the Insolvency Team, and find them very commercial, sensible and fair - but at the end of the day you borrowed money over a long time-period, presumably with the intent to pay it back. They will still expect to see that ongoing commitment from you, but obvioulsy this now has to be tailored to suit your circumstances.

I would agree with Melanie that the last thing NR will wish to be seen doing is repossessing your home. Firstly there is the perception aspect and the very real liklelihood of simply crystalising a shortfall which they need like a hole in the head.

Speak to them and listen to what they say. That may then give you a sign as to the best course of action.

Ian

The problem comes, that I make sure that my NR payment comes out before anything else, so we are up to speed on that. Its the Credit Cards and OD's that are looking like they will cause alot of problems. Surely they won't allow anything to happen until they don't get their money??

Yes, there's the dilemma, not enough money to go round. If you short-pay NRs Unsecured bit, then they will take steps to secure it. They are in pole position. The credit card companies will take longer to get off the blocks and will probably be more likely to accept being drip-fed, so long as they are kept aware of your situation.

That's not a long-term term solution, however.

Ian

Exactly. I'm already getting calls from Halifax as soon as my credit card account goes over limit, and being advised to make a higher payment, but I just haven't got it. I am at my wits end and can't even bring myself to pick up a phone myself, my husband has done that. I accept its our fault, but we haven't even got the money for a pint of milk until next pay day. I am constantly crying about the whole thing now, and look like I'll be back on the Temazepams. At the moment, I really can't see any light at all.