Very well said. go_4_broke I am not ashamed of my IVA proposal and made it clear to my IP that I wanted a minimum extra period on the IVA and no way was my property to be included.
IVAs are business proposals and you need to take any feelings of shame out of the negotiations and play your hand well. Which I know is hard when you feel under so much pressure and you're probably going through that self loathing period.
In the end only four of my creditors actually bothered to vote. And I know they were represented by the same organisation.
Four of my debts had been sold on even before the meeting and 17 months later three others haven't bothered even to lodge claims. It makes you realise at the end of the day how important we are to them. Even though the struggle may be hard for us the returns they get are peanuts and for most large organisations would cost more to manage that the return justifies.The tax break from the bad debt is often more than the return minus costs from the creditors.
So as go_4_broke suggests maybe a few more nos from debtors to modifications and sorry guys , more honest proposals from IPs, wouldn't be a bad thing.
If you've got nothing to lose then you lose nothing from saying no. I despair when I read on this forum that people with no assets and minimum disposable income are still struggling with an IVA. If going bankrupt ain't going to lose you your job then just say no. If you've got negative equity , and if you bought in the last five years you probably have, then say no to equity release even if it does mean a few more payments.If you're going to have to deny your kids an education to meet over blown payments then just say no.
And I still don't understand this latest suggestion that an arrangement can last, any longer than 6 years. Sorry but don't things drop off your credit file regardless.
It also concernes me that some IVAs seem to be so tightly micro managed that you may as well be resubmitting a new proposal every three months.
No one and I mean this should feel regret or responsibility for life changing. Things change. **** happens. And even if you did go a bit crazy towards the end of the credit run, your creditors were probably already bundling up you debt for selling on as soon as they noticed only minimum payments for more than 6 months.
Creditors took the risk and they take the loses; that's the name of the game. In the words of a High Court of Appeal Judge it is "one of the risks of the game."
IP's , and some are realy great people (Melanie) but they at the end of the day are there to run businesses. Remember in the main they make £3000 from presenting a proposal that uses your words and states the obvious. A confident form filler could do the same if they had a form to fill. People are advised to file for their own bankcruptcy; why is that any harder. But then maybe there isn't an onging profit from someone doing them for you.
I managed to play the property and credit market for 20 years with no great problems then made a few bad calls and got in too deep.
I suppose like my creditors I took the risk and I'm paying the consequences.
You take your chances in life , you pay the price , that's the same for lenders. And remember you're not a person only a number. Shame achieves nothing . Learn but don't regret.
Last edited by
acsn on Mon May 05, 2008 6:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
