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Hi, can anyone tell me if it is possible to take an IVA over a longer term than the 5 years which seems to be the periods the majority run for? The reason I ask is because we have debts with HSBC and Northern Rock and I feel concerned we may not be able to offer them as much as they require through their high and harsh expectations. If 5 years will not provide a high enough return, can we request a proposal to be put forward for 6 years to increase the dividend?

thanks
Andrea

Hi again andrea

In theory there is no reason why you should not put forward a 6 year IVA, and if you have a modest amount of equity in a property this is an ideal way to attempt to address it rather than remortgaging at the end.

I am presently supervising a number of 6 year IVA's, and if these creditors want higher dividends, they have no choice but to accept that this will extend the repayment terms in order to achieve them.


As ever with IVAs though, it is ultimately up to the creditors whether they will accept this.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

Thanks Melanie for your advice. We are having an absolute nightmare with this. We have been told so many different things from different companies.

Finally Thomas Charles seem to be getting somewhere and have been brilliant however our situation is just so much worse than we ever anticipated. 3 companies we spoke to previous went through all our figures etc, worked out dividends and so on yet none told us that the creditors base the total amount on a loan by taking into account the period you have taken the loan over i.e if you took out a loan repaying £100 a month over 5 years but the original amount was say only £3k, it is actuallly the total amount that would have been repaid that they claim so in this example a £3k loan is actually £5k debt for iva purposes if that makes sense!

I am really panicking now as I feel as though we are not going to be able to do this. The lady dealing with us at Thomas Charles has been fantastic however feels there are only 2 IP's in the whole country that she thinks might take our case arrrrrggggghhhh! Not what we were hoping.

This really is last chances for us, if it is rejected I really dont know what we will do. BR is not an option as I work for the Inland Revenue and would lose my job if I were to go BR.

I often go into a complete flap (as you can probably guess!!!!) and the advice you provide really reassures me and keeps me positive so thank you, honestly you have been a life saver! I just wonder why all IP's cant be like you.

Thanks again Melanie

Andrea

Hi again andrea

You are in safe hands with Thomas Charles. They are one of the companies that I deal with regularly, and will find the right IP to take act for you. The sooner you can get all of that paperwork to them, the sooner they will be able to allocate your case and begin the process.

The point you make about calculating the loan balances is only done by a few creditors. Most banks will apply an "interest discount" for future interest once an IVA has been accepted. So your £5k loan may eventually be £3k after all. One of the first things your IP will do for you is write to all your creditors to verify the balances outstanding, so this will be confirmed even before your IVA proposal is written.

I have dealt with many government workers in my time, and rest assured the creditors don't really want to see you bankrupt - as they are likely to get a much lower return (if any). Creditors will also not want to be accused of causing you to lose your job. Your IP will carefully present the reasons why bankruptcy is not an option for you, within your proposal document.

No need therefore to "flap", but continue to post any concerns you have on this forum - as you can guarantee a lot of our other readers will have similar issues.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk