We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. See the Community Noticeboard for more info. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Considering an IVA - Please can you answer some questions for me

Options
Hello,

After finally realising how much of a mess my finances are in & the admittance to myself I am considering an IVA after reading posts etc on here & read the cccs website.

My circumstances changed a few years ago when my then employers tried to sack me for getting pregnant and after a long wrangle I left with a pittance, & the birth of my little one I could only get part - time work, but still had full time debts, not what i envisaged at all as its been so hard and a struggle but finally realised rather than sticking my head in the sand that I would have to face the dreaded amount of debt i was in and do something about it. The relief in admitting it to myself is amazing.

I told my boyfriend last night & i was so worried about telling him but he's been so supportive & helpful.

I have a few questions about an IVA

How long to set up an IVA?

Do I still make the same monthly payments to my creditors whilst its being set up or do I make a £1 payment (i have done the cccs debt remedy)?

I have a joint mortgage with my boyfriend & the house is currently in negative equity, what happens with that?

Can i still keep my joint account with my boyfriend which is always in credit? This is our joint bill account or will it be included in the IVA? I have just opened a basic bank account with barclays online.

Can i still keep my existing mobile phone contract?

I'm sure there will be more questions, thanks

FC

Comments

  • Hi,

    I'm fairly new to this myself, as our application is still being processed. See my coments to your questions below in BOLD, I'm sure a user called Foggy_Brain will be along shortly, he's very informative.

    Also, take a look at www. iva .co.uk theres a wealth of info on there, i recently joined any can easily lose myself for hours at a time absorbing info. (you can also follow my blog, 'Our Journey')

    Regards

    DK
    fuzzycat wrote: »
    Hello,

    After finally realising how much of a mess my finances are in & the admittance to myself I am considering an IVA after reading posts etc on here & read the cccs website.

    My circumstances changed a few years ago when my then employers tried to sack me for getting pregnant and after a long wrangle I left with a pittance, & the birth of my little one I could only get part - time work, but still had full time debts, not what i envisaged at all as its been so hard and a struggle but finally realised rather than sticking my head in the sand that I would have to face the dreaded amount of debt i was in and do something about it. The relief in admitting it to myself is amazing.

    I told my boyfriend last night & i was so worried about telling him but he's been so supportive & helpful.

    I have a few questions about an IVA

    How long to set up an IVA?
    It generally takes between 6 and 8 weeks to set up an IVA from the point of your first meeting/ interview, this timescale depends on how quickly you can get required paperwork to your Insolvency Practitioner (IP)

    Do I still make the same monthly payments to my creditors whilst its being set up or do I make a £1 payment (i have done the cccs debt remedy)?
    You can continue to make £1 payments as a gesture, but this will have no bearing on your IVA creditors meeting. If you do make payments, pay each creditor the same amount, as otherwise companies may see this as preferencial treatment to certain debts and reject your propoosal.

    I have a joint mortgage with my boyfriend & the house is currently in negative equity, what happens with that?
    In the case of negative equity, your IVA will most likely need to run for an extra 12 months, so 72 months in total.

    Can i still keep my joint account with my boyfriend which is always in credit? This is our joint bill account or will it be included in the IVA? I have just opened a basic bank account with barclays online.
    Set up a new bank account, with a bank who is wholly un-connected to ANY of your debts, otherwise they can legally 'steal' money from your acounts to service their debt. Be careful, some people don't realise how certain banks/ building societies and card lenders are linked.

    Can i still keep my existing mobile phone contract?
    As far as i'm aware, yes. You may also be able to obtain a new contract during your IVA, although some Mobile providers will fail the Credit check, so it may be necessary to 'buy' an upgraded phone from the likes of ebay or electronics exchange and keep your current contract.

    I'm sure there will be more questions, thanks
    Keep 'em coming, myself and the people on here will never tire of helping.

    FC
  • Thank you so much for your reply, very helpful, kind regards FC
  • FoggyBrain_2
    FoggyBrain_2 Posts: 1,121 Forumite
    well, Hi. Dragon Keeper has been almost correct in his replies and will soon be expert! I will copy, paste and add my own comments:

    How long to set up an IVA?
    It generally takes between 6 and 8 weeks to set up an IVA from the point of your first meeting/ interview, this timescale depends on how quickly you can get required paperwork to your Insolvency Practitioner (IP) Mine took 6 weeks, it largely deponeds upon your speed of response, as DK says, and also on the complexity of your situation.

    Do I still make the same monthly payments to my creditors whilst its being set up or do I make a £1 payment (i have done the cccs debt remedy)?
    You can continue to make £1 payments as a gesture, but this will have no bearing on your IVA creditors meeting. If you do make payments, pay each creditor the same amount, as otherwise companies may see this as preferencial treatment to certain debts and reject your propoosal. Many people make no payment at all, but some feel better with a token payment. It will make no difference to the outcome. You will, I am afraid, start to get phone calls from monkeys in the call centres, who only want to get you to pay and will use all sorts of ploys, Just tell them you are enterimng an IVA and give them your IP's details.

    I have a joint mortgage with my boyfriend & the house is currently in negative equity, what happens with that?
    In the case of negative equity, your IVA will most likely need to run for an extra 12 months, so 72 months in total. A modern, Protocol Compliant, proposal will generally have a clause about equity. The usual is that if there is equity over £5000 you should attempt to release it into the IVA ( subject to limits). In this day and age this is impossible, so they extend the IVA by 12 months instead. If there is little or no equity they end the IVA as originally planned. Make sure you know what your IP intends to put in about this.

    Can i still keep my joint account with my boyfriend which is always in credit? This is our joint bill account or will it be included in the IVA? I have just opened a basic bank account with barclays online.
    Set up a new bank account, with a bank who is wholly un-connected to ANY of your debts, otherwise they can legally 'steal' money from your acounts to service their debt. Be careful, some people don't realise how certain banks/ building societies and card lenders are linked. If the joint account is in any way connected to any of your creditors (maybe in the same group of companies) they can offset funds before the IVA starts, or might close the account afterward. HSBC usually close accounts anyway, as do First Direct. Because you are linked financially by the joint account your IVA will impact on your other half's credit rating.

    Can i still keep my existing mobile phone contract?
    As far as i'm aware, yes. You may also be able to obtain a new contract during your IVA, although some Mobile providers will fail the Credit check, so it may be necessary to 'buy' an upgraded phone from the likes of ebay or electronics exchange and keep your current contract. Yes, you should also be able to upgrade. T-Mobile seem to be IVA friendly for new contracts.

    I'm sure there will be more questions, thanks
    Keep 'em coming, myself and the people on here will never tire of helping. Ask away. Pop over to https://www.iva.co.uk for a yarn.
  • FoggyBrain_2
    FoggyBrain_2 Posts: 1,121 Forumite
    I might add -- with regard to timescales, CCCS are very slow! Have a look at https://www.iva.com and chat to a couple of the firms represented there. You will need to compare advice and also see who you feel most comfortable working with for 5 or 6 years. The advice is free and without obligation.

    Good Luck.
  • Rmeek
    Rmeek Posts: 58 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Hi Fuzzycat, I just thought I would add my two-penneths worth. Not with regards to the replies above as you can see they are very comprehensive and very good advice :)

    Myself and my husband had interlocking IVA's but with a full and final settlement which were accepted in November (we also had negative equity). We started the process in April 2011 but due to a complication with an overseas debt (my hubbie is Australian) it dragged on a bit, purely because the Australian creditor had a very odd way of discussing his account with our insolvency practitioner and were not clear in what info they needed. They did accept the offer as did all of our other creditors thank goodness! However we did not make any payments once we made the decision to enter the IVA and we did not make any contact with our creditors other than by letter from our IVA practitioner and the occasional one from ourselves. This did not affect the outcome as the people that are making the decisions are usually not linked to the actual call centre staff calling to try get some sort of payment from you. By the time we got to the voting stage after 6 weeks two of our six debts had already been passed on to debt agencies anyway.

    This could quite possibly be the best decision you will ever make. We are so glad personally that we took this option as although we couldn't afford to pay all of our debt back we did pay each creditor their proportionate amount however small that was. Definitely contact a few IVA representatives and see what you think. the https://www.iva.co.uk forum, already recommended is where I got most of my info from when researching and I found all on there and here to be a very helpful bunch. Good luck with whatever decision you make and all the best.

    Rmeek
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 350.9K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 453.5K Spending & Discounts
  • 243.8K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 598.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 176.8K Life & Family
  • 257.1K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.