Advice Sought Please - Considering an IVA...

[snowman365]

Dear Members

Hello! I am new to the site. I have looked at it a few times and everyone seems very helpful and supportive! I hope someone may be able to help me with some advice?!

I am aged 29 and I am in a fairly bad situation with unsecured debt. I am single and live in a rented property. I currently owe approximately: £20,500 Cooperative Bank Personal Loan (settlement figure), £5,500 HSBC Credit Card. £2,000 HSBC Overdraft. £3,500 Egg Credit Card. £5,000 Student Loan Company.

My minimum monthly payments for these debts come to approximately £650 per month. I am currently making all of my payments and have never missed a payment at all, but am constantly getting a lot of bank charges for going overdrawn and am always skint due to paying off all my debts!!!

I am in a steady job which pays about £25,000 per annum (before deducations), which works out at around £1,450 per month after deductions. I have never really let my debt bother me too much up until recently, as I have always managed to make my monthly payments and like I said I have never actually missed any payments, but I feel that soon I will be really struggling to make all the payments and still have a reasonable standard of living, and as I rapidly approach 30 I really want to get my finances back on track and sort this whole mess out!!!

I tried speaking to 2 of my crditors about the possibility of re-financing my debts and consolidating my overdraft and credit cards into a single loan but neither would consider it at all.

I recently contacted a Debt Advice Service who visited me at home and suggested an IVA. They worked out my total debts to be in the region of £37,000 (based on my current payments) and that I could afford to pay £264.00 per month into an IVA.

I am seriously considering this as an option, but have a few concerns which hopefully someone may be able to help me with?!!!

1. Would an IVA be right for me?

2. What if my creditors do not accept the IVA proposal? The Debt Advisor who came to visit me 'tinkered' with some of my income / outgoings to make it look like I had less MDI (which I feel a bit nervous about and would prefer to be totally honest).

3. What if my current personal situation changes e.g. change of job? Change of income? Change of rent? Change of MDI? (I am considering taking some time out of work to go to Canada, with the intention of possibly moving there to live on a permanent basis. My partner is Canadian and she is moving back there to live permanently.)

4. Are there usually any additional fees associated with an IVA which the Debt Advisor may not have told me about? (It all seemed to be good to be true).

5. What would be the implications of an IVA on the rest of my life e.g. would I still be able to get a Mortgage during or after an IVA? Would I be able to emmigrate to Canada during or after an IVA?

6. Can anyone recommend a good IVA provider / Debt Advisory Company in the Manchester Area to go through?

Sorry for so many questions!!! Any advice or information would be very much appreciated!!!!

[kallis3]

I would speak to one or two companies if I were you before making a final decision.

I am not an expert though, and I am sure that one will be along to help you shortly

[snowman365]

Hi Kallis3

Thanks for your reply. Yes I think it would be wise for me to try a few companies. Do you have any suugestions of companies to try please?

[rayb]

I would contact Melanie's Team, she comes high recommended and is a regular poster on this forum

[inabitoftrouble]

Hi, having just today been accepted onto an IVA I can definitely say that is the route to go down. From what i see on heew Melanie and her team are very good, i expect she'll be on at some point today and will get back to you, she gives very honest and helpful advice and from what you have said an IVA does seem the route to go down.

[size5]

There are a number of excellent firms in the Manchester area.

As for fees, any reputable firm will disclose their fee schedule happily to you, and if someone should refuse to do so, or avoids the question, then I would view that very sceptically.

Were you asked for an upfront fee there and then, and if so for how much and did you pay it?

You may also wish to vist www.iva.com to search some reviews and also possibly localities of IP's if that is an issue to you.

Regards.

[snowman365]

Thanks to everyone so far for the replies and support - it's good to know there's others who have been through or are going through what I am going through now!!!

[OPTIMIST12]

Hi Snowman -

Just wanted to say that it really is so much better to address your debt problems sooner rather than later. I am someone who should have gone for it much sooner than I did and now regret that bitterly.

My debts are much much higher than yours and - to be honest - I was stunned when my IVA was approved - it scraped through at less than 80% acceptance.

I am just an ordinary person in an IVA so cant advise you but - I am with a large IVA Provider (based up north!!!) who have been excellent with me from the start - totally honest and totally transparent about fees etc. I am in my second year and have no complaints. You will soon know if you feel "comfortable" with a firm once you speak to them. And the most important thing is - BE HONEST throughout- people or advisers who seek to paint a false picture have only themselves to blame when things fail.

Anyway - my main point was to say Good on You for realising that you need to do something - if you ignore things they WILL just get worse.

Good Luck!!!!

[ianmillington]

Hi

Did the debt advisor (or was it a salesperson?) talk you through all of your options and the consequences of each?

I share your concern about the "tinkering" you claim to have been done to your income and expenditure. If your Disposable Income has been made to look artificially low, payback time will probably be at the meeting of creditors where your proposal may get rejected or at best modified to blazes. 100% honesty in the figures is fundamental to a successful IVA.

There are 2 types of fees - Nominees Fees and Supervisors Fees. Both of these come out of the contributions you make, of which there are generally 60. Beware of anyone who asks for any up-front payment or for you to make the first contributionbefore you see evidence of them having done any work.

Ian

[facingittogether]

hi and welcome!

our ip is melanie and she and her team have been brilliant!

good luck and like others have said get it sorted - you wont regret it

love barb x