Would you sell house whilst on dmp?

rubyjam

A DMP is so hard with children, there is always something you have to find extra money for. I could live on practically nothing but it's not fair to make the kids live like this.

I know what you mean about house repairs. I've been cooking on a camping stove in a temporary kitchen for nearly 4 years. I'm not convinced (or ready to be convinced - I think I'm still in denial ) that selling up would be right for us. We did it 4 years ago and all that achieved was we ended up shifting all our debts from a nice house to a horrible house. We did buy and not rent though so slightly different.

We would have enough to pay off our debts if we sold and the only thought that is keeping me going at the moment is that each £500 payment to CCCS means £500 more in the pot for us when we do eventually sell. Still clinging on ... God knows why!

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

Gimpsdad

Hi rubyjam,

Only you can decide whether to enter an IVA or not, but given that you state here that you weren't even given the choice (what a surprise) by CCCS then you have nothing to lose by getting a belated second opinion or two.

I am a little bemused though. If you could have sold to clear the debt, then why say bankruptcy is an option, as they are polar opposites? If you were with a commercial DMP company then I would suggest a complaint to the financial ombudsman about being advised that you need a certain amount to be accepted, that is a blatant falsehood, you should pay what you can afford and let your creditors argue if they wish. The problem with CCCS though is that they are a sacred cow and cannot be criticised as they are a "charity". Even the Government is currently running scared of picking fights with charities. My own point is that their commission for collecting your debt out, for that is undoubtedly what they do, is larger if you make a larger payment. To get an idea of their own self importance, read the last 2 pages of the "Ask a debt advisor a question" section. They blatantly flount OFT guidelines, but insist they are a "special case".

Anyway, all that said, an IVA is an alternative to BR and CCCS do not seem to promote them anywhere near as much as they do DMP's. In BR, like as not your house would, eventually, be subject to a forced sale. Therefore, whatever you currently think your house is worth, it will not be a bad idea to get a "forced sale" valuation. Maybe 2. Compare that to what is left on your mortgage. If the difference is less than your unsecured debts then you should seriously consider an IVA. Your house is NOT at risk in an IVA, and as I have posted on other threads, any payment into it, providing you do not look at the creditor funded, and therefore non impartial, CCCS is almost certainly likely to be significantly reduced from your current level of contributions. If a forced sale leaves you more equity than unsecured, then you can either consider another agency that is more sympathetic to you, do it yourself, or sell and then make a decision from there. Sorry this post is a bit long, but I don't like to see people being misled by anyone, and for anyone else looking in I would point out that free advice doesn't always equal good advice. "He who pays the piper calls the tune" isn't the worst analogy.