advice please. not sure whats best to do.

MsLouise_2

hey. ive been posting in a few of these forums IVA's and BR.

To cut a long story short. i'm £23,000 in debt.

matters made much worse by losing my job in january and started work again in june. its only a temporary thing as hoping to get back into my regular work in the autumn (which is looking positive). My current employment is a reduced wage although i should be getting an extra £200- £300 from sept.

at the moment my outgoing as more than i'm getting (until sept) so on this info PAYPLAN have advised me on a IVA and to offer creditors £1 until my situation improves.

Ive just spoken to National Debt Line (they were great) they man I spoke to says due to my pay an IVA isnt advised even considering my increased pay from sept, - i work on commission etc.

he said my best option in my situation is BR or negoitating with creditors myself. I've looked in BR with my current employment and it does state under TERMINATION - if the employee becomes bankrupt.

Ive also been intouch with the union at the employment where i'm hoping to go to and there is nothing within there contract so it shouldn't be a problem.

So all in all.... would you think I should

-forget Payplan and the IVA?

-negoitate with my creditors myself?

-then stick it out a few months until my employment is settled then reconsider BR?



My only worry now is dealing with my creditors by myself. im scared!! and liked the idea that i could just give them my reference number for payplan as so many people have written how great they were when creditors started hassling. (should I just go ahead with PayPlan but with a view to still reconsider BR)

does anyone have any experience of dealing with creditors themselves? I do only have 3 creditors Halifax, cahoot and egg. mostly Halifax with a loan, 2 overdrafts and a CC)

thanks in advance.

rayday2

Please don't be scared I did it all alone with the national debtline booklet long before I discovered this site. It really is not that difficult and all these people behind you will boost your confidence. I haven't dealt specifically with any of the companies you have mentioned but have done the process alone. (that is the process of arranging payments with creditors using the budget sheets etc on national debtline website).

First thing is to make sure you have a bank account not related to any of the creditors you owe money too before you start off.

Tixy

Depending on your income / expenditure/ debt repayments it may be that you can just offer token payments for the time being (say perhaps ask for a review in 6months). You then don't have to go bankrupt and lose your job and don't need to do an IVA. There are sample letters on national debltine webiste to offer reduced payments and ask for interest to be frozen.
If you have more funds in 6months you could start to repay more or if you are earning more by then and have more than £100 available for debt repayments then you could do a formal DMP with Payplan or CCCS.

Have you tried the CCCS debt remedy tool (on their website) to see what they suggest?

LoveMarmiteOnJacketSpud

I would think you are best contacting CCCS and arranging a telephone appointment with a counsellor (not sure if thats the right spelling!!). They would go through all of your debts, income, expenditure and then advise you on the best course of action. It can take a little while to set up a debt management plan so the sooner you take the bull by the horns the better. The advantage of using CCCS and not doing it yourself is that they deal with all creditors so you don't have to stress about it.

I was left in debt by an ex...only £12,000 so a small amount compared to some. I have managed to pay this back in just over 2.5 years and i can honestly say i never really struggled with the money i had to live on.

Good luck x

Tixy

On the SOA you posted on your previous thread you were showing a shortfall before debt repayments of £70. Have you been able to make /plan any cutbacks to bring your back into a positive situation? To make token repayments you need to have at least around £10 positive to make them out of.

I notice on that SOA your rent is 54% of your income, so its no wonder you are struggling. Is there anyway you can move to a cheaper place? Or get in an additional housemate to reduce the amount you need to pay?

RAS

Hi

Your starting point is to get a new basic bank account that is not linked to any of your creditors. Barclays and Co-op do accounts that they allow peope to retain if they go BR, so consider those.

Then send your creditors £1 per month. It is worth speaking to CCCS and getting them to log your problem as quoting a CCCS number will make your creditors a bit more realistic.

You could let them know that you anticipate that your financial situation will improve come the late autumn and will get back in touch to review arrangments then.

At that stage you can consider whether a DMP or BR are the best options for you.