IVA or bust?

amatwitzend

am new to posting so be patient/ gentle ! My situation is I am £10000 owing to Barclaycard, £5,800 to Capitol One, £4500 to MBNA £3250 to Tesco, overdrawn at Santander £1000.Am currently transferring all my banking to Nat west and have no overdraft with them.
I am self employed and am in debt because last year I had no work so used cards to live on in the belief ( obviously misguided) that I would get a job worth enough to carry on paying back the debt. Single parent, recently split with long term partner, mainly over money issues.In bits about that too.I have been managing to pay min amount on cards for over a year til now but now am completely out of money, no savings,have worked a bit but not enough this year and am living off benefits and in rented accommodation. Also currently retraining for different job. I feel I am under such pressure and have no one to talk to as friends have backed off and I have no family at all, as parents are deceased and sibling lives abroad and having financial trouble themselves and doesn't seem able to help.
Am about to apply for IVA ( it seems the best thing to do after struggling for sooooo long) but what's getting me worried now is the fact people will see my troubles in public records and it's such a small community and my work is in the public eye. Will it go in the local newspaper? Last year when out of work I set up a very small business and am trying to carry on with it and if people see I'm in trouble, it'll just crash and burn and leave me even worse off. If I lose this business I'll owe people money and lose working tax credits.
I know it sounds like pride and maybe this is the least of my worries but am also concerned for my teenager and how they'll cope with any comments. Anyone had similar experience or advice?
I have been reading this site for months now and am so impressed with all the wonderful support given. I hope I don't sound superficial or just downright stupid because I know I am in serious trouble and this question is only the tip of the iceberg.I just have to do something and fast because payments are due next week. I want to just carry on and pay them hoping that a miracle will turn up for next month but perhaps I've run out of miracles. The pressure is terrible unbearable.

Gimpsdad

IVA's are not published in the local paper, and BR's can only be published in exceptional circumstances so that is unlikely as well. They are both a matter of public record, but you have to know where to look if you want to find them, and anyone that is nosey enough to do that in your local community isn't worth knowing anyway.

If you are living off benefits, retraining etc then I don't think a reputable IP would take your case on as it is too unstable. Your best bet may be BR.

amatwitzend

Thank you so much for replying and the wise words.I was getting paranoid about lack of response!!I am self employed and I do earn some money from occasional contracted work and a small business I run.The benefits I get are working/child tax credits and housing benefit. I'm waiting for the IVA forms to start the ball rolling. I guess if they don't agree BR is what I'll have to do.

JustinCredibleGillespie

Going BR might ease your situation alot quicker also rather than paying into an IVA for 5 or 6 years

JCG

xx

amatwitzend

Thanks to you for that post, it's really good to get a reply,makes me feel better. I'm still deliberating the pros and cons, have managed to buy myself a bit more time to think and sometimes work turns up and I live to fight another day. However it would have to be a bloody good job! Sometimes when you just panic you can't make a rational decision