Iva

charliepink_2

Hi, i am sorry if this is in the wrong section but a friend of mine has got it into her head that if she orders loads of things from her catalogue and doesn't pay for it she can apply for a IVA!

She is on numerous benefits so is her partner and about 3yrs ago they mangaged to get a £7,500 loan from M&S which she says she can't be bothered to pay back and is including that in the IVA too.

I am so angry that she is doing this but she just thinks it is funny.

How can i tackle her about this? Thanks

SnoopyBignose

Your friend will get a shock as she obviously does not know what an IVA is. There are a lot of people who still think that IVAs are a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card that will wipe out their debts, possibly reinforced by commercials for certain companies.

Does she realise that her creditors will have to approve the IVA and that she will still need to pay towards the debts?

It may be worth printing out the MSE guide to IVAs (link available in the IVA sub-forum) for her.

RichGold

charliepink wrote: »

How can i tackle her about this? Thanks

It amazes me how stupid people still seem to walk the earth unaided. How do these people live? Still if she wants to ruin her credit history for many years to come over a few floral print dresses and a dvd player that's fine with me. An IVA will not get her off scott free, she will be penalised for her actions, will be unable to get credit and will be guilty of obtaining property be deception (she has admitted she is planning on doing this before ordering, which is different from simply not paying afterwards).

Personally you can tell her from me I think she's scum.

When this thread fills up with replies why not get her to look at it?

charliepink_2

She thinks because she is on income support, and her partner gets incapacity benefit then she will get the IVA no problem as she has no money which in fact is not true! She has more coming into her home every month than someone who goes out to work. I pointed out by her doing this items from catalogues become more expensive for people like me which i do pay mine and also the APR will go up to compensate the loss! She says because she rents her home and it is paid for by housing benefit then she has nothing to lose! My blood was boiling when she said this. She is nothing more than a thief!

I shall certainly be showing her these posts!

chanz4

drop an email to fraud action

Clive_Woody

Ask her if she likes prison food. Fraud is a serious crime.

Tixy

She won't be able to do an IVA. An IVA is very unlikely to be approved unless she could afford as a minimum £150 a month towards the IVA for 5 years (even then IVAs under £200pm are rare - although obviously it depends on the level of debts). On an IVA the IVA provider will charge several thousand in fees that will need to be paid out of the monthly figure and the creditors would only approve if on top of that they were able to recoup a reasonable proportion of the debt.

It may be possible that she could consider a debt relief order (a form of bankruptcy) but only if she qualifies and the conditions are quite strict. And as others have said delibrately taking out credit with no intention of repaying is fraud and she could easily be caught.