i have approx £15k of credit card debit - could I qualify for an IVA and if so what will this do to my credit rating/score and ability to apply for credit in the future?? I do not want to be restricted if say I wanted to re mortgage in 12 months
I also have a couple of personal loans - I am making all the min payments each month and not missing payments but the credit card debt is my biggest concern. I am happy to continue paying the loans with the agreed payments and terms.
You may well qualify for an IVA, but you can be sure that it will affect your credit rating - as will late or short payments to creditors if you cannot afford to meet contractual payments on an ongoing basis.
If I were you I would try to negotiate lower, affordable payments to all of your creditors and try and stick to those payments.
It will affect your rating for 6 years if you do an IVA,
You could visit www.iva.com and have a chat to one or two companies on there to see how you stand. The advice is free and impartial.
I think I would be inclined to follow Mel's advice though.
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
An IVA may be an option depending on the size of the loans and your income and expenditure. If there is not long left on the loans it may be an option to switch the credit cards debts to interest free cards for a period. Then when the loans are repaid you could use the money to reduce the credit card balances.
You should seek some free advice because it is possible that your debts are increasing each month even though you are meeting the payments. It may be possible to restructure your debts which would avoid adversely affecting your credit file.
