Best route for me to take

ChrisBM

Hi there,

Newbie here registered solely to get some advice from anyone who is or has been in my current position.

I've just worked out that my debts are around 29k. 25k on 3 credit cards plus 4k on a loan. At the moment i am struggling to the point i literally have no money in the past week to 10 days of the month and have even considered pay day loans to cover myself. I need to get this sorted out.

I've been reading through the forum and there's a thing i'd like to know, if i go to a debt management company and take out a DMP or an IVA what are the repercussions for my credit score?

I accept this is probably a silly question but my girlfriend doesn't know the extent of my debt and she's talking about us moving house later this year. If at all possible i want to get out of this mess without her knowing, but i'm guessing if i went down either the DMP or IVA route, my credit rating would hit the floor thus ruining my chance of a new mortgage on any new property we may move to?

Is there a way out of this mess without her finding out?

Bravehearted_2

Any option other than paying back as agreed = trashed credit file.

Fat chance of keeping it secret from her - also if you have a trashed file and become financially associated with her, her file could get trashed. So don't go opening joint accounts etc without telling her.

Gimpsdad

Only you can make the decision as to which way you go. A DMP is less formal than an IVA and so may be easier to "hide" from your girlfriend. It carries no legal guarantees though, and you may end up with a very large repayment period. Speak to CCCS if your chosen route is a DMP.

An IVA is more formal and will be harder to "hide" as you have to document the whole financial situation. On the plus side, it does carry legal guarantees of interest freeze, no hassle from creditors and a 5 year period in most cases. On a purely financial basis, IVA beats DMP in 99% of cases, but of course life is not always to be lived on a purely financial basis.

Speak to 2 or 3 firms before you make a decision. If you plump for DMP then CCCS or Payplan would be a good place to start, if you prefer IVA then visit iva.com and go from there.

MFWannabe

I'm surprised no one else has said it; you need to come clean to your girlfriend and work out a budget together to pay off these debts. If she knows about it then she won't push you into looking to move house. No good ever comes from keeping it secret; ask yourself how you would feel if you found she had large debt that she's keeping secret from you?

Jenny0050

Hello!

My advice:

1. DON'T take out a payday loan (however tempting it may be).... if you don't have any money left this month- I assume it's not going to be any different next month so how would you pay back a payday loan ??!!! In your situtation taking out a payday loan will just make things a whole lot worse.....

2. Tell your girlfriend....

I wish you all the best!

Ladybird.

Unless you are on a very high salary then your credit rating is not going to be good anyway because of the level of debt.

Agree with those saying it would be best to come clean to your girlfriend; not saying it will be easy but it will be a weight off your shoulders once you have done it, and you can both find a way forward together.

ChrisBM

Thanks for the replies.

My salary is 40k and my take home with overtime is usually around 2.4 to 2.5k each month.

However at the moment i'm literally paying out 1k of my salary straight away in debts before i even consider things like mortgage/council tax/household bills etc.

If i really pushed it i guess i could just about go on paying things back at the minimum payment rate but this will take me forever. Am i better continuing to do this instead of getting a DMP or IVA?

I did an experian check last week and my score was fair and about 870. If i didn't tell my girlfriend and we did get a new house, is that score good enough to ensure we'd get a mortgage or would i be refused because of my high level of debt?

If i'm likely to be refused a mortgage then is it better for me to go down the DMP or IVA route anyway, as if i'm going to be refused a mortgage, then having my credit rating suffer wouldn't matter so much would it?

Thanks again for the replies.

Nivea_2

don't hide this from your partner, i hid my debts from my husband and it nearly destroyed us, i told him everything recently and he has been suportive and understanding, not angry but hurt that i was hiding this from him, you can then work it out together, if you go on a DMP she will find out due to your credit rating (for mortgage) plus calls/letters you get, if you don't tell her and somehow manage to get a mortgage how do you explain your lack of funds every month as interest and possible late charges will build up.

tell her - it really isn't as bad as you think, i was crapping myself, thought it would end my marriage but we are fine and i feel so relieved to not be keeping secrets any more

Bettingmad

Without knowing your full situation it is hard for peeps to give the best advice. Fill in the Statement of Affairs(SOA) and format results for MSE and post these details. There may be areas to look at before making a decision as to which way you turn.
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html