If my parents were here, I used to unplug the phone! Mine knew we had credit cards but not how much debt we were in - they still don't and I have no intentions of them ever finding out!
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
Hi, I have just had my IVA accepted three weeks ago, the phonecalls will come as will the letters but just explain to them on the phone what is happening and the majority will be perfectly fine and understanding, I was in a similar situation, did not want to answer the phone or call when the letters arrived but once you speak to "a person" it gets better, after all they are only doing their job and could one day find themselves in similar situations. Not much consolation I know but it does get easier. Hope everything works out.
Thanks Gettingthere, I think you are right, once I speak to the firstone it will be ok.
Hi Kellie, Good Luck to you too. We were told 3-4 weeks and it's four on Monday so can't be too far away now. Even though I'm completely stressed about the missed payments, I feel a little more contented in myself. We have stopped lying to ourselves and are actually seeking some real help rather than kidding ourselves by moving the debts around.
We have started unplugging the phone when we go to work Jan. My parents come when we are out to do work on the house and would answer the phone if it rang. Annoyingly, my mother is so nosey she would pretend to be me and I don't trust the ops on the phone. Some only ask for you DOB and you postcode!
The future's bright, the future's debt free. In 72 months to be exact!
Good idea! A lot of the time you do only have to give a name and DOB and possibly the first line of your address.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
She only does it because she worries. I know I could never tell them. I had an overdraft years ago and when she saw that I owed around £250 on that she went bananas! Oh if only she knew...
The future's bright, the future's debt free. In 72 months to be exact!
Barclaycard were my worst one as well - I got sick of the phone ringing, but I never spoke to them until I was accepted.
My parents would kill me if they knew the sort of debt we were in.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
HSBC were one of our creditor as well and I got so annoyed every month when they took out the loan payment, put it back (because we hadn't the money in there) and then charged us!
The only good thing was that at least everything was included in the IVA.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
Forgot about RBS, they were cool too, never rang and sent a nice letter.......obvious difference between the banks which had been bailed out and those which hadn't, apart from NR and their 6 year, I often wonder what they would have done if I said no to 6 years.
7 year IVA completed in December 2016 - there is light at the end of that tunnel
I never had any trouble with RBS who were the parent company for my Lombard Direct loan and credit card and they voted yes if I remember rightly.
Lloyds were the only ones who voted no for me, and their debt was one of my smallest ones.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
We sent out the template letter to all our creditors and most of them just sent us letters confirming that they'd received them. We'd already changed our home phone number so that eliminated that line of contact. I allocated everyone in my phone book on my mobile the same ringtone and set the default one to a dog bark. If the dog barked I didn't answer. I'd make a note of the number and google it, this would tell me more often than not who the company was that was trying to contact me. MBNA have been a nightmare! two and three times daily. I didn't want to speak to them as I didn't know what to say, as far as all my creditors were concerned we were excellent customers, never missed a payment or a due date. Bills were paid on time month in month out for years and now nothing. The fact is we'd been living a lie for months, yes everything was being paid but after it was paid we had next to nothing left and were using credit month in month out. Eventually I decided to talk to them, advised them we were arranging an IVA and that I'd be unable to make a payment as I couldn't be seen to favour them over any of my other creditors. That's it they'll stop ringing me now.... no the following day they're on again I've given them the IVA advice bureau address and phone number and told them I'll contact them to see how things are going which I've done apparently I'm soon to be contacted to arrange a phone meeting with Melanie. The letters have also been coming thick and fast, account overdue, default notices etc. etc. all of which are passed on to Melanie and her team.
Anyway as most people will tell you, they are persistent but I'll be honest if someone owed me x hundred/x thousand pounds I'd be contacting them too! At the end of the day they're only like you or me - trying to do what we are paid for. I know Melanie and her team are doing an excellent job, in the background so to speak, trying to sort out our financial apocalypse and in the meantime I've just got to carry on addressing the creditors queries as and when they contact me. I knew it wouldn't be plain sailing and that we'd be in for a bumpy ride along the way but hopefully in the not too distant future an IVA will be in place and all the calls and letters will stop.
Hopefully we will shortly be in a position to finalise your IVA proposals and call the crediotors meetings. Drop me an e-mail directly if you have any concerns or issues relating to your case.
I told my mum about the IVA, she wasn't best pleased but she was understanding. She even rang the National Debt Helpline to find out more about IVAs and other debt solutions.
She has been excellent and has paid for my plumbing to be fixed and if I needed things for the kids I only need ask but I try not to and I haven't so far.
It was very difficult to tell her as my Grandma had left me quite a large inheritance and it all went on shoring up the debt until it came to a head and I had run out of options, I have nothing to show for it which does upset me. My last £5k is now due to be cashed in and paid over to the IVA.
7 year IVA completed in December 2016 - there is light at the end of that tunnel
Hi Melanie, I've no issues I can think of, just want to get it all done and dusted but as I mentioned in a previous post I just need to be patient! As the saying goes 'good things come to those who wait' and I'm sure this will be the case here. It's good to know your not far away if needed and I have been in touch with your team a few times and they've been nothing short of excellent each time I've contacted them.
