was thinking of an iva

sounsure

Hiya hope someone canoffer some advice as i seem to going around umming and arrggghhhing. (confused!!)
Myself and my husband have debts totalling 33k, none of these are joint debts.
I am currently on maternity leave due to go back to work in march but theres a problem......my husband is in the forces and whilst me being on maternity leave we have been posted miles and miles from my place of work. I have spoken to HR to see if there was any chance of relocating me but they said there are no positions in my new area! PANIC!!
This now means that i cannot repay the staff loan i had (i work for a bank) or pay for any credit card debt that i have as i wont have a job to go back to.
Both my husband and myself worked out that we could afford £200 a month for both of our debts repayments and a friend suggested an IVA. I have read a little about them and it seems like it would lift enormous weight off our shoulders but i have a couple of concerns.......

1. Do they take away your car? we currently have moved to a forces base which is out in the sticks, think i need a car with a bubba and a 5 yrd old espcially as my husband gets sent away alot and im on my todd
.
2. Can we do a joint IVA even though none of our debts are joint?

3. Do they come into your house and take your things like bankruptcy ( i couldnt bear someone taking things from the home).

4. Do you have to go to court to sort things out (quite embarassing really)

5. Who is the best company to go through i understand they charge for it

Any help would be so appreciated!!!!!!:D

davidgmmafan

1. No, there are rules governing this in bankruptcy but I don't believe there is anyway they could do this in an IVA. Maybe if you were behind on the finance or the car were of tremendous value. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

2. I believe so, but again I'm sure others can advise.

3. No absolutely not, hoever you need to do some more research as this rarely happens in bankruptcy. Again they would be looking for high value items. Even in BR they can't take a lot of stuff, like beds and applainces. They can't even sell the car unless its worth more than £2000. You NEED to look into all the options including bankruptcy, Debt Management Plan and IVA's. I suggest National Debtline and CCCS both are not for profit.

4. No in an IVA somebody sorts this out for you, they get paid handsomly for this, but to be fair there I can see there could be a lot of work involved.

5. Not sure on this, of course they make money out of it, quite a lot actually. General advice would be to avoid any up front fees, and again National Debtline or CCCS can put you in contact with a company that does IVA's. I presume they vet them but am not certain on this.
.
One final point an IVA is a form of insolvency and this is why I say above you NEED to take a lot of time and care in this. If you make the wrong choice you are stuck with it for 5-6 years.

If you post an SOA people may be more able to help

sounsure

Thankyou for your advice its much appreciated will defo look inyo it all properly

Choo_Choo_4

sounsure wrote: »

Both my husband and myself worked out that we could afford £200 a month for both of our debts repayments and a friend suggested an IVA. I have read a little about them and it seems like it would lift enormous weight off our shoulders but i have a couple of concerns.......

1. Do they take away your car? we currently have moved to a forces base which is out in the sticks, think i need a car with a bubba and a 5 yrd old espcially as my husband gets sent away alot and im on my todd.

You are still entitled to keep your car unless of course it's worth considerable value - where you might be asked to sell for the benefit of creditors and buy a more affordable car... but if you're talking that your car is currently worth £3-5k I can't see there being a problem.
If it is on HP then you must continue to pay this each month (unless ridiculously high payments) - but there would be no value in the car for creditors.

2. Can we do a joint IVA even though none of our debts are joint?

Strictly speaking I guess you should be doing 2 separate IVAs but that isn't to say that you cannot do a Joint IVA. Are you sure there are NO joint debts? Not even a joint overdraft perhaps?
At the end of the day if the alternative is that the 2 of you go bankrupt (not an option for your husband obviously) then surely a joint IVA is better - not to mention the fact that you're currently on maternity with no prospect of returning to your old position given change of location so you wouldn't be able to do a single IVA - Joint may even be a struggle for you ...

3. Do they come into your house and take your things like bankruptcy ( i couldnt bear someone taking things from the home).

NO! No-one will come to your home. This doesn't happen in bankruptcy either. Television is at fault for portraying this impression I feel ... household goods are exempt from bankruptcy i.e. your television, dvd player, fridge, sofa, washing machine, car - often required for work and taking kids to/from school etc ... unless of course you have a 52" Bang & Oluffsen TV worth £6k - this might be classed as a luxury or a Mona Lisa in the attic, yacht out the back ... if you can't afford to repay your debts then it's unlikely that you'll be flaunting expensives goods so there won't be anything in your home that would be of an value to creditors to even want to take in the first place ... so please don't worry about this.

4. Do you have to go to court to sort things out (quite embarassing really)

If you go down the route of an IVA - then a creditors meeting is often arranged but you do not have to turn up. In actual fact the creditors don't even turn up usually. As far as I am aware nowadays, the creditors meeting usually involves someone from your Insolvency Practitioners sitting by the fax waiting for your creditors to vote for/against the IVA by fax and the IP company will then inform you of the outcome later the same day - it's as easy as that - no need to be embarassed at all

5. Who is the best company to go through i understand they charge for it

If you do a few internet searches you will find a number of companies that will happily speak to you and advise you FOR FREE. Do not pay ANY company for simple advice.

Yes an IP will charge a fee for putting an IVA forward on your behalf but this is usually taken from the money in the pot i.e. your monthly IVA payment x 60 months ...
This fee will have been confirmed with creditors - you wouldn't be billed separately for this - it should come from the monies allocated to repay creditors .

Any help would be so appreciated!!!!!!:D

It's unfortunate that due to new location you will not be able to return to work but things may not be SO bad ...
I'm not sure if you were paying for childminding costs or the likes when you were working before the latest arrival - but this would be a saving (if it was the case)

Yes you'll be minus an income now which is going to cause some problems but in turn the benefits you'll be in receipt of should increase..obviously extra Child Benefit - what about Child Tax Credits, Working Tax Credits?

Will you end up MUCH worse off or dare I ask better off? (childminding costs can be terribly high so if these are being cut out- great!)

As explained above - Joint IVA would be an option in your case as you won't actually have a income to make a contribution from so the alternative would be bankruptcy (and still might be an option depending which is more viable for you as a couple) .. again this should be explained to you as an option anyways whichever company you speak to.

They should always advise you on Bankruptcy, IVA & DMP ..

Good Luck - sorry this has gone on and on a bit, it's quite late and I feel like I'm beginning to ramble so ..til tomorrow -goodnight

sounsure

Thanks very much for the advice i have been flapping for a few days and all i can think of is how we are going to manage........
Weve got our family and we will manage whatever happens, in the mean time i am applying for jobs (hope i get lucky).

Choo_Choo_4

Are you going to be in this new location for th foreseeable future Sounsure?

Would it pay you to return to work - I mean will you end up paying out what you're going to earn on childminding costs etc? (or will working keep you sane ?)

Don't panic - there are a few options out there anyways and at least as you've said you have your lovely family and your health - that's the main thing.

skintflint103

Hey 'flapping' is always a military byword, it was 40 years ago. don't flap but consider is you husband allowed to go bankrupt?. He needs to see adjudant about that then if no he might dependant on what amount of debt ,is his singly or jointly held, go into a dmp, and you go bk which wont affect him. however pointless if you go bk for him to have to pay joint debts. You have no assett or income so iva is pointless unless he cannot go bankrupt . then it may be an option but not a good one. you need to list his, hers ,joint ammounts

Choo_Choo_4

If your husband is in the forces then he cannot go bankrupt - there is nothing to consider (other than does your husband want to give up work? Unlikely)

If you have £33k debt jointly then a DMP would take just under 14 years to complete with ALL INTEREST and CHARGES frozen (the likelihood of all creditors doing this is slim) - and 14 years is a life sentence.

Based on the information that you provided above in relation to the fact that you will no longer be able to work for the bank then bankruptcy does seem to be the best option for you - it's unlikely that you're really going to be able to afford anything else if you're on benefits (but again with little information it's hard to confirm all of this ... )

IVA is guaranteed to last 5 years given that you do not have any assets that need to be considered so you would be paying the same amount that you would in a DMP (same Statement of Affairs is used to show how much you can afford / same guidelines for expenditure too) except it would be cleared in 1/3 the time

This will not have any effect on your husband's work either.

BUT talk to a few IPs and professional in the field of Insolvency (be it an IP or CCCS or other) - and have a wee think about it, discuss it with your husband and see if it might work for you.

DMP will always be an option but if you can clear the debts sooner then why not?! You can obviously do a Joint IVA (depending on how much debt YOU have and if it is affordable) but from a glimpse at what your situation looks like .. recently given birth to new baby, no longer in employment - it might be best for you to go bankrupt and make a fresh start of things ...

missiemog

don't know if you're in England, however here in Scotland it's a bit different, however i'd follow the advice given and speak to the CCCS (I did, they're very very good). they're also free and as i decided to opt for the trust deed, i didn't get charged directly for this as they recommended me to a company. all i did was turn up, confirm that amounts that i'd given to the cccs, agree the monthly figure, sign the form and it was all done. 3 years later it's all done with and gone away (and never to be repeated!!)

Choo_Choo_4

Congrats Missie DF - yep IVA is equivalent of a (Scottish) Trust Deed for people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland - very similar except it lasts for 5 years instead of just the 3 in Scotland.

skintflint103

I



Watchdog warns IVA providers over ads

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By David Prosser, Personal Finance Editor


Wednesday, 17 January 2007

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The Office of Fair Trading has written to up 20 different providers of individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) warning them that their advertising could mislead consumers.

The letters, despatched yesterday, give specific examples of how press advertisements published by IVA providers could mislead borrowers who are struggling to get to grips with their debts.
The number of IVAs, formal insolvency arrangements that help borrowers escape full-blown bankruptcy, has soared over the past 18 months as more people struggle with debts.However, there has been concern that the credit management plans are being mis-sold as an easy option to debt-stricken borrowers for whom they are not suitable.
The plans, marketed by a burgeoning industry that includes several listed companies, have also been criticised by lenders. A source at the OFT said: "We have found specific examples of misleading advertising and reminded companies that our minimum standards for debt advice services include rules on marketing."
The firms identified by the regulator will be given the chance to amend their advertising. Where the breaches continue, the OFT could revoke the firms' licences to give insolvency advice, which would prevent them arranging IVAs.
The regulator's clampdown will be discussed today at a summit organised by the Department ofTrade & Industry. Ministers have summoned 130 lenders, insolvency practitioners and regulators to a conference in Birmingham to discuss whether debt management plans are being inappropriately sold.More than 31,000 borrowers took out IVAs in the first three quarters of 2006 in addition to 46,000 people who went personally bankrupt.

I've took a lot of stick in this forum trying to alert people to these practices. I've been told I'm a trouble maker, 'insane' that I ramble incoherrently' and that this is a very 'tiny' minority. It's common place in my experience and now that's official. so lets hear it from the Independant and the FSA I'm not bothering with this IVA love in forum but will stick to the BK one and give advice there