Criteria for IVA or similar

thehappybutterfly

My OH and I are in a lot of debt - approx. £40k, exc. mortgage of about £92k. The majority of this debt is self-inflicted, i.e. just sheer overspending on the credit cards and then taking on loans to consolidate. I then run up the credit cards again. I'm a shopaholic and I'm well aware the problems are caused by me. And also a very, very stupid decision to buy into a well publicised holiday club (this keeps me awake at night but there's not a lot we can do about it now).

I've gone on one of those debt management/repayment websites just out of curiosity and it would appear we "qualify" for an IVA but if our debt is our fault, surely we're not entitled to write off 40-70% of our debt in spite of all these grand statements of "little-known Government legislation"? I'd feel guilty........

Standingtall

Hi thehappybutterfly. From what I can make out there is only a limited amount of people who IVAs are suitable for regardless of the false promises made by some of the debt companies. I thought I was suitable but after discussions with Payplan discovered that a DEbt Management Plan was the better option. It means that if I struggled at any time to pay this then at least my creditors would not force bankruptcy. It also means the equity in house is safe.

Ring CCCS or Payplan, both are charities, and have a chat with them about your options. Also read, read and read again all the threads on this forum.

Goodnluck:)

JLL

My husband has an IVA which was self enflicted by him and his ex wife. He is glad he went on it and it's is running really well for him. He's only got a year and half left and can't wait for it too finish. Even when he was made redundant he told them and hey just said lets them know when he is starting to struggle and they will adjust it. But he was fine. It was the best thing for him

thehappybutterfly

Thanks for your responses guys. I orignially went to look for a Credit Union loan and ended up completing their "see if you qualify" section. The T&Cs indicate that they'll get in touch via phone or email so if they contcat me, I'll fill them in but I'm not expecting much. Not because I think they're crooked - as far as I can tell, CU are very responsible.

This is our debt and we're managing to make the payments fairly comfortably but we don't have much of a life! It's a vicious circle isn;t it? Get into debt by overspending then you're depressed that every penny goes towards paying off debts that it feels like you're working for nothing so you "treat" yourself but you need to use the credit card and so it goes on...........

I'm like a stuck record - I need another loan of £20k at a decent rate to pay off 3 loans at horrendous rates and I vow to never run up debts again but it's so easy to get credit and hard to say no.

Just a break please and I'll never get another credit card again. Ever ever ever. It sounds almost worth it to declare bankruptcy.......

Superbiatch

thehappybutterfly wrote: »

This is our debt and we're managing to make the payments fairly comfortably but we don't have much of a life! It's a vicious circle isn;t it? Get into debt by overspending then you're depressed that every penny goes towards paying off debts that it feels like you're working for nothing so you "treat" yourself but you need to use the credit card and so it goes on............

This is your sticking point ^

You're making your payments comfortably, but don't have much of a life isn't good enough to enter a DMP, IVA or even be considered for bankruptcy.

If you compete the SOA (statement of affairs) which is available and post it, we can try and advise you where savings can be made but unless you can't afford the necessities such as mortgage/rent repayments, food, council tax AND your debt repayments you would more than likely be ineligible for debt help.

Post your SOA, see if the helpful folk on here can assist in shaving a few pounds off your outgoings here and there