IVA on Credit Report

ryan2032

I was just woundering how bad is an IVA on your credit report look compared to an account being in default? All my credit cards are obviously in default but if i decided to go the way of an IVA would that make my report look better, or is there no hope for me now whatever?

Charco_2

No an IVA isn't going to be a good mark on your credit file BUT if you continue to have black marks showing up on your credit file then it's going to be shot to pieces anyway.

All an IVA will do for you with regards to your creit file is it will draw a line under all the black marks you've been getting and there'll be no more! The last default notice or black mark (for unsecured debts) cannot be dated after the original date of the IVA. Your credit rating will move on year by year and in the sixth year your credit file should be blank!

DO you understand how an IVA works?

ryan2032

I went to the CAB and they explained an IVA to me, gave me a expenditure sheet, told me to phone payplan if want to go ahead because thats who they recommend but they will charge a small fee. CAB said all my spare money will go towards paying of my debts for 5 years, like say for example £100 a month into a kitty and payplan speak to my creditors and agree a final settlement at the end of the 5 years with all my creditors.

But to me there dont sound much difference between an IVA and bankruptancy so i have got even more confused what to do now.

My credit report is shot to bits anyway but with every credit card at the moment i have agreed token payments and stopped interest so that has got me some time. I dont suppose an IVA or bankruptancy will make it any worse.

fermi

The defaults you have already will drop off your credit report 6 years after they were first registered, regardless of whether you go into an IVA or not.

But (like bankruptcy) an IVA itself is recorded in the public record section of your credit file. As far as companies looking at your credit report are concerned, it really doesn't look much better than a full bankruptcy.

Furthermore, the IVA itself will stay on your report for 6 years from it's start date. So if that start date is significantly after the last of your defaults, then it in itself will extend the time period that your credit files are trashed for.

Also, while the IVA will legally settle the debts, your creditors are not required to mark your credit files to show that until the IVA is completed. Usually 5 years after the start of the IVA. So in the interim you may not have even the small benefit of having the debts marked as settled/satisfied.

Before you make any decision, please get some further impartial advice.

See the important info here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2077631