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I am attemting to seek advice on debt. Between my wife and i we have unsecured debts of approx £65000 . All either credit card/personal loans/ few catatlogue .
No loans are in joint names.
I am employed fulltime ,she is in receipt of long term incapacity benefit. We have 4 children 3 classed as dependent)
The mortgage on my house is in my name and is up to date. Value £100000 with a mortgage of £51000.
What would my best option. I have written to creditors recently to make them aware of situation. Please can you help with initial advice. I do not wish to borrow money and have cut up all cards.

Hi and welcome

Your best option might be IVA others include bankruptcy and Debt management plan. I am sure one on the experts will advise you further on this. If you look at the TV area, IVA is explained on screen.

Does you wife have any debts in her name?
Its unlikely that your wife would be accepted for IVA, I may be wrong though. I'm Not an expert just another person in debt.
If you worked out what you need to pay, essentials,(not including unsecured loans/credit) with no frills and could offer 300 pounds a month or more you could go down the IVA route. some creditors require a higher minimum return than others There are other things involved such as equity release, in the last year.

I agree that borrowing more money might not be a good idea.

There may be other options like lump sum IVA using your equity but I am sure one of the experts here will advise on this.

You could try phoning IVA companies, a word of warning though, dont jump in with the first company, shop around some people have had bad experiences. There is a lot of knowledge/experience on this site so if you've questions ask away. One more thing, dont be ashamed these companies will earn from you and are working for/with you.

You have already taken the first important step to realise and tackle your debt. Good luck and keep posting

LILY

Can you split the debts between yours, your wife's and joint debts, as my advice will be dependent on seeing the debt analysis.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.
View my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

Melanie thanks for the interest. I am new to this so please bear with me. The debts of £65000 are split between £28000 in my name and £37000 in my wifes. None are joint. As I say , I am in fulltime employment she is in receipt of incapacity benefit . We have child tax credits and child benefits on a sliding scale each year as tyen children get older . Any further advice . Thanks again.Paul.

please could you help more?

Hi Paul,

Given the split of debt between you and your wife I would propose the following:

As your wife has no assets and is in receipt of benefits, she should consider bankruptcy as an option. Creditors are reluctant to accept IVA proposals from people without an income or those whose income is benefit based. If she does not like the idea of bankruptcy, a debt management plan may be an alternative, but with debts of £37k the repayment term is likely to be excessively long.

For your situation, you could consider a remortgage, dependent upon affordability, to raise a lump sum to reduce your unsecured debt. If a remortgage is not appropriate at this time because of repayment penalties, cost etc then you could consider an IVA. The IVA would consist of monthly payments with a view to undertaking a remortgage at the end of the arrangement to make a further payment to creditors.

I hope this helps initially.

Kind regards
Nicola

Finebridge Ltd
22 Laud Street, Croydon, CR0 1SU
0800 180 4212
www.finebridge.co.uk

If you can afford to remortgage, to the maximum 90% loan to value (which is probably possible providing you have no arrears), then I would suggest a remortgage and then two separate IVAs for you and your wife, arguing the fact that she has a beneficial interest in the property and is entitled to a half-share of the equity. This ought to deal with both sets of creditors.

If this is not possible, then Nicola's advice above may well be appropriate, but do take specific advice from an insolvency practitioner or debt management company who will be able to look at your case in much more detail than we are.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.
View my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk