What option is best for me?

nakamichi

Hi
New here and looking for advice to clear my debts.I have spoken to Payplan and they suggest I go for a debt managemnet plan or IVA.I am leaning towards the IVA as it will mean I am debt free in 5 years and my creditors wont contact me.
Here is my SOA,what are your thoughts? The debts are mainly as a result of two failed business's that I tried to keep going by borrowing but ultimately had to throw the towel in.
Myself and my wife both work fulltime,get no benefits of any kind and live in rented accomadation.We have no assets worth much.
Thankyou
Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 3
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1048
Partners monthly income after tax....... 826
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1874
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 525
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 92.52
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25
Telephone (land line)................... 10
Mobile phone............................ 20
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 10
Internet Services....................... 23
Groceries etc. ......................... 280
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 45
Car Insurance........................... 50
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 16
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 20
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 10
Entertainment........................... 10
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 1558.52
Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1200
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1200
No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
loans..........................29500.....994.......0
credit card....................5322......106.......0
Total unsecured debts..........34822.....1100......-
Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,874
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,558.52
Available for debt repayments........... 315.48
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 1,100
Amount short for making debt repayments. -784.52
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,200
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -34,822
Net Assets.............................. -33,622
　
　

HappyMJ

Personally with that level of debt compared to your income and no assets of any value I would consider bankruptcy. You would only then make payments for 1 year then you could be discharged.

nakamichi

The future negative impact of being a bankrupt make that a last resort for me.

antonic

Thats also the same with an IVA. (Oh and YOU pay for an IVA also).

It MAY affect your chances of getting insurance etc, if you are asked if you have been in an IVA or bankrupt.

Personally, I am coming to the end of a 7 yr DMP with Payplan, which has been free for me.

NinjaSavingKat

I have seen someone on here announce the end of 9 years repaying a £51k debt. It CAN be done without hitting bankruptcy and I would not recommend that route just yet..

Can either of you do overtime? Or perhaps get another job? You say there are three adults in the house- 1 grown child perhaps?

sistafromanothermista

NinjaSavingKat wrote: »

I have seen someone on here announce the end of 9 years repaying a £51k debt. It CAN be done without hitting bankruptcy and I would not recommend that route just yet..

Can either of you do overtime? Or perhaps get another job? You say there are three adults in the house- 1 grown child perhaps?

I'm with NinjaSavingKat on this one. Can either of you earn any extra? work a few jobs? i know it would be tiring but......
I see you're setting aside a £50 pm emergency fund, what is this at currently??

nakamichi

thanks for the replies
My wife can do some overtime but is not very well at the moment.I have no option to do overtime and I work long hours so can't really do another job.We have a grown up son living with us who contributes to the household.
The emergency fund has nothing in it as I have only today agreed these figures with Payplan as a guide to what we can realistically afford.I have not decided on what course of action to take yet.
A little more detail on the loans.
The business loan is nearly 15k with 36 monthly payments of £414 left at 7.8%
I have another loan with an outstanding amount of £3431 at £163.40 per month with 21 payments left.
Another loan has a balance of £8617 at £297.14 per month with 29 payments left.
The credit card is at £5322 and I pay the minimum of £106.46
The flexiloan is at £3400 with a fixed minimum payment of £120

I am not in arrears with any of them but as my circumstances have recently changed there is no way I will be afford to meet the repayments as they currently are.I have no wish to get out of paying and am just looking for the most realistic way out of the mess I am in.
I would prefer to find a way of paying all this off without adversely affecting my future credit rating.I am trying to be responsible about this by taking advice and coming on here but the more I know,the more unclear things seem to be.It seems to be a case of weighing uo the pros and cons of each option.

nakamichi

I realise that if I live on bread and water,walk the 12 miles to work,never have the heating on,and live like a hermit for 5 years I can probably pay all this off but lets be realistic please!
It galls me when I see dole scroungers picking up hundreds of pounds a week in benefits etc and contributing f all to society whilst I,who have worked for 34 years,taken nothing off the system and have tried to act responsibly to better myself am about to go belly up.
Still,thats life I suppose.

happycamel_2

You're right, you need to find the right resolution for you. Long hours for £1k a month isn't great, is that really your best bet? I'd go for bankruptcy but if you hate the idea then an IVA sounds more manageable than an IVA if you really can't increase your income.

nakamichi

I know I am low paid but you do realise that there is a recession on ???
I consider myself lucky to have any job at all at the moment given that I have no useful qualifications and no trade.
I long ago gave up the hope of becoming a professional footballer so have to settle for what I can get unfortunately.
If , however ,someone out there would like to ignore all the thousands of unemployed University graduates and give me a £100k a year then lets talk.

nakamichi

This is what I was afraid of if I came on here.
You only have to look at our leader who smugly gives out money saving tips yet is a multi millionaire.
Its a bit like Nigella Lawson giving cookery tips to subsistence farmers in Africa.
Sorry if this comes across badly but I am a little peed off to say the least at the moment.
I have followed all the advice on getting help before it is too late but no one,not even people who do it for a living ,seem able to give me the help I am seeking.
One says IVA,another says go bankrupt and another says debt management.
Shall I just toss a coin?