www.iva.co.uk

My hubby is just about to start going down the IVA route. This will be in his sole name.

Can anyone advise if, when the creditors receive the standard letter from hubby advising he has instructed an IP to deal with his debts, do they look at who else in the household may also have credit cards with them and can they freeze them?

Whilst I am looking to consolidate my debts to help hubby's IVA be accepted in terms of 'disposable income' and will close several of my accounts, it would be helpful to keep a couple of credit cards that have particularly good balance transfer deals and for emergencies.

I may have a lot of debt myself but I am managing to pay mine and don't want my ability to use credit cards be affected by hubby's IVA.

It is all a little scary at the moment.

Minnie

In theory your credit rating (bad as it may be) should not be affected by your husbands IVA and equally your credit card providers, under their lending guidelines, should not be able to use your husband's IVA as an excuse to withdraw facilities.

You would be well advised however to make sure that you make at least the minimum repayments bang on time!

Your credit rating may be effected as your file will show an association with your husband and his file.

The only time you will experience a problem is if you apply for further credit or if you don't make the min payment.

My credit rating is not so good at the moment because of my own high level of borrowing. However, I do have access to Equifax online, which confirms all my payments are up to date and on time.

I also have significant amounts in terms of available balances on most of my credit cards.

We are also disassociated in terms of our credit reports as we have no joint financial commitments. However, I realise that companies only need to do their own internal searches to make the connection, which is what I am worrying about.

Minnie

How bad is your debt and why do you want to take on more debt?

I say this because you could only be storing up a bigger problem in the future.

I don't care what credit reference agencies think of me any more because I am determined to live a debt free life from now on!

My own debt is in the region of £35k and even though mine and my hubby's finances are separate, they are being looked at as household income so on paper it looks as if there would not be enough to cover my debts.

We have been advised by more than one company that I need to consolidate to bring down the £900 per month payment to ensure hubby's creditors feel there is sufficient disposable income to support his IVA.

I suppose I just don't want any black marks against my name especially as my credit does run absolutely fine and even though I am being urged to consolidate so it will be a long time before I would want or hopefully need credit in the future, I would not want my own name to be blighted.

As long as if this all goes through I can still run my credit or indeed consolidation loan and a couple of cards for emergencies/balance transfers if needed, then I am prepared to support hubby's IVA.

I don't mean for this to come across as being all about me - if that was the case I am sure I don't need to tell anyone on here the pressures and strains this kind of situation can put on a marriage but we are both determined to sort this out for hubby.