IVA Advice please

LilDevil

Second time of posting - my pc just booted me out of my own thread before I could post it!!!


I've had some debt consolodation people call and after establishing that we are shared ownership and they can't possibly give us a loan, they try and flog us an IVA. The two companies so far are:

- Consolodation Loans Online
- Dissolve Debt

I know IVAs are often a good thing, but I'm a bit dubious about these companies as I've never heard of them before - do any of you lovely people know of them???

I have no intention of going with DD as they have told me that they charge a £20 (approx) handling fee every month which I'm not to happy with as they initially told me they were free!

Consolodation Loans Online are getting very pushy, at the moment they don't think they can help as I am unemployed and we don't have enough coming in to cover the repayments - I did say I was waiting to hear if I would be eligible for JSA and now they are calling every other day to see if I have been accepted for it (interview at Job Centre is on Monday), so I'm not too happy with them either.

If any of you have any advice (I know I need to do a SOA) I would be really grateful.

Thanks

Angie

TallGirl

Try National Debt Line or the CAB they will give you impartial advice. If you are looking at an IVA you need roughly £140 per monht spare income and with no job that would be difficult. Post a SOA but do give National Debt Line a call.

jessegee

Hi Angie

I have only just joined this forum because I also need advice about IVA's

My partner and I are currently involved in one, and there are several things we are unahppy with and have no idea how to handle it for the best

We should perhaps have entered an IVA through the independent service that citizens advice will suggest as they dont charge for their services
However it took too long to get an appointment so we felt under pressure to arrange something else
Big mistake

We are paying over the odds to the company who arrange it for us, Freeman Jones

I had first joined gregory penningtons debt repayment scheme and I paid £500 for two months, but do you know how much money they paid to my actual creditors? Approximately £5.36

We were advised to open a new bank account also, which we did, because we did not want our account administered by the debt management company who charge for this service also

We are committed to paying as much of our debt as we can, and this is a good option for us as we have jobs we love and a small property mortgage, but they squeeze you for every penny, and count up what they allow you to spend each month
We dont live extravagent lifestyles, and we accept we are now poor, but when they even argued that my partner couldnt have his hair cut at the cheap barber every six weeks, and that made me feel very angry!

Any extra money we earn goes to the IVA repayments so promotion salary increments and career development rewards are nothing to us financially

They argued about my vehicle mileage because I visit my elderly mother several times a week, and they predicted what we would pay based on what I will be paying once my tax code changes from emergency to standard, before it actually has

You get three payment breaks in 6 years in our case as we couldnt release the tiny equity in our home
But that does not help when your car dies or you need serious work done on the roof
Its not that we couldnt afford it with extra overtime, its that they wont let you earn extra for that, they take half of any overtime, and there arent enough hours in the week to earn enough if its Halved!


I think the CAB independant advisory one would be a little more helpful to gain you the money you need to live on that is realistic

It seems a good solution in many ways but its a long term commitment and gives someone else total control, I wish now we had had the savvy to deal directly with the creditors to negotiate a deal



Good luck Angie, I wish you all the best

jessegee

taplady

I wouldn't touch these companies with a barge pole! The best people to offer free impartial advise are CCCS or payplan. They dont charge for their services. CCCS is a charity.As most people here will tell you they're both excellent.

CLAPTON

SoA essential for any sensible advice but

a. always get as much independant advice as possible before making final decisions (on this site, CCCS or Payplan etc )

b. IVA companies always charge but avoid those that ask for an upfront charge and those who dont give clear cost information. Only agree to pay any money if and only of the IVA is agreed with your creditors.

c. i'm be very surprised in someone unemployed on JSA is suitable for an IVA

lynzpower

If ANYONE is unhappy with the services of any of these companies I suggest you let the FSA and Trading Standards know.

LilDevil

Thanks everyone, pretty much what I suspected really!!! I think I'm gonna start off with contacting everyone I owe money to and take it from there.

I don't know whether this chap was gonna class JSA as an income or whether he will be stating it as JSA!!

Anyway, on the up side, I've got an interview on Tuesday for the Co-op - they are apparently opening up a new shop and have loads available both on the shop floor, post office and admin (fingers crossed for admin, but wouldn't mind post office either!)!

Angie

Mr_Frugal

LilDevil - they will class JSA as income (but its only £57/week).
As per a previous poster said you need to demonstrate a reasonable (circa £200/month disposable income (ie all incomings less ALL neccesary & reasonable outgoings) for them to consider an IVA.
Also as per previous posts - definetly see the CCCS or National Debtline (from what I hear they will take time to get in, they cannot provide you with an IVA but they CAN advise you independly whether or not it is the right vehicle for you).
Also worth seeing them as opposed to a debt management company as the next option that an unscrupulous debt company would promote would be a debt management program (consolidation) which is OK for the short term but is CERTAINLY NOT the right thing for longer term.
CCCS will be able to give best advice.

Would be interested in anyone's experiences of good & bad IVA providers. I myself am redundant at the moment (though not in debt) and am looking at several franchises. One of which is a Financial Solutions Company that provides IVA's (shall remain nameless). They sell themselves on their ethics (and it has to be said from what I have seen to date they seem to be very ethical). It is absolutely imperative to me that if I am to invest in a franchise that they are wholly ethical so I would appreciate experience from those that have had to deal with these companies (good & bad).

james32_uk

Jessegee, your IP sounds unbelievably tight! Horrible for you as there's nothing you can do to change your IP now, but for those looking at an IVA go with Payplan who dont take any money upfront and appear very much so far, to support the individual as much as possible.

livinginhope

Hi there lilDevil,just wanted to add a couple of things to the replies.
Firstly it was mentioned that you would need about £140/month for an IVA,this isn't correct,the amount is based on the amount you owe and whether you can pay a lump sum at the end,the total figure is about 30% of what you owe,I think,someone please say what the percentage is.
Secondly,a debt management plan is NOT consolidation,consolidation is taking on more credit,a DMP is an agreed amount between you and the creditor paid monthly until the debt has been repaid.
I would as you said post an SOA and get advice from CCCS,Payplan or National Debtline,I had bad experiences from the CAB,but that was our one and it depends on where you live.

james32_uk

IVAs can be accepted for as little as 20p in the £ but this would be very unlikely. It seems the banks are expecting to get more and more now and although I was told anything above 30p is a good offer HSBC for example will only accept 35p+. Also dont forget this amount does NOT include the heafty fees that go with the running of the IVA. This will amount to about £8k over 5 years. ie, even though I'm paying around 52p in the £ back, my offer was only 35p. The other 17p goes towards the fees.