I WON!! Again!!

Hi,

I have posted on the bankruptcy board under title of 'scared stiff' I just wanted to share my expereince on here too.

I entered into an IVA after being on a DMP when a very nice chap from a leading accountancy firm rang me to talk to me about it...I read all the info, and went ahead, I don't really know why I did it, I saw 5yrs and debt free and that was that - But looking back I almost feel like I was forced into it, it was explained to me in such a way that it sounded fab! Any way to cut a long story short, I was fine for the first two years, but then my partner left me, which left me trying to pay rent,bills etc...I was struggling. I wrote a letter to my IP with a SOA, and explaning situation, as I was told at the beginning, if ever I got into trouble, I should speak to them, and they may be able to help me by reducing monthly amount for a short period of time after negotiaiting with the creditors. I was then sent a letter increasing the monthly amount by about £50, there was absolutely no way I could afford this!! In the end it failed, and I was sent a BP, I appealed and won with a view to setting up a new iVA, this never happened as again, I seemed to have a run of bad luck with cars, getting behind with bills. Then a debt collector called, from a bank that I had a loan with- Luckily my someone paid this off for me. For which I am extrremely grateful.
A few weeks ago I had another BP come through, and the date was today!! AHHH!! I got in touch again with my old IVA company, who agreed to do an iva, but because I didn't owe enough, they refused in the end. I made a proposal today that if I could do a DMP, then I could pay it off quickly etc....The solicitor was in there, and he was there to oppose everything I said. However, the judge looked in favour of me, and has given me a final chance to get this plan set up, I have a review in 3 months, and If I have not set it up or made payments, then there is no option but BR. If I have set it up, then it won't even get to court, as they will have no chance of making me bankrupt!

I would advise anyone who is thinking about an IVA to think very carefully about it first, look at all the info, and if it was to fail - do you really want to go bankrupt? Yes, it suits a small precentage of people, but not everyone!

Any one who gets in the same situation, its not the end, you don't have to be made bankrupt, but the sooner you deal with it when the petition comes in, the better it will be. I left it until the last minute, and shouldn't have done! I was lucky. I really thought that I would not stand a chance, and have been losing sleep, worried more about the thought of having to tell my parents, who would kill me!!