Colin will have to decide what is the best for him on the basis of his current circumstances, and his future.
In my opinion, his best option is to sell the property, repay his debts and start again debt free, but I sense from his post that this is not what he wants to do.
With the level of debts he is presently carrying, and presumably not servicing given his salary and high mortgage payments, the he has three options:-
1 Debt Management Plan - Colin details his disposable income (with the assistance of his partner at £400), but the interest on these debts alone will amount to a substantial sum - perhaps £10k per year, reducing as the debts reduce but slowly, and he will carry on paying until all debts are repaid in full. He will probably never repay his debts at that rate, and they will likely increase. There is also no protection to him during the DMP period, and therefore he leaves himself at risk from Charging Order action which will eat into his equity.
2 IVA - As you have rightly pointed out he will end up repaying 100p in the £ and be required to release equity at the end of the arrangement, when he will be already subject to IVA proceedings - hence remortgage or sale at that point where he will pay a greater APR for a period extending past the IVA conclusion date.
3 Bankruptcy - not a sensible option, given the level of equity to be given up.
For me, or anyone else, to give Colin definitive advice as to his options, we need far more information than the brief snapshots posters list on the forum. I personally try never to give recommendations, merely options, but as Colin's post specifically asked whether we felt an IVA would be an option I have tried to answer that - by commenting on that option.
Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.
For further details contact me at
http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at:
http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk
