What to do??

faffle

Hi,

I'm new to this forum but just wanted some advice please.

Hubby and I are in debt by in excess of £25k. We pay £700 a month towards this debt. We are able to pay it, however, we can't do anything else. We are not living and it's becoming very stressful.

We have equity in the house but not a lot (mortgage is 98000 and I think it's worth around 130000). Due for remortgage in June this year.

I would love to be able to reduce the monthly payments just so if we have any unexpected bills we can afford to cover them because at the moment if we have an extra bill, eg car break down, we have to add it to the credit card. I applied for a loan last year which I was turned down for so I am apprehensive to apply again in case it affects my credit score. The loan I applied for would've reduced our payments to £380 a month for 7 years so it actually reduced the time it will take us to pay the debt as well as reducing the monthly payment! Like a fool I applied for it in my own name as a home improvement loan when really I should've applied for a joint consolidation loan, which may be why they declined.

I did the step change assessment and they suggest an IVA which scares the pants off me to be honest!

Any advice or suggestions much appreciated. Sorry if I've missed anything out.

Thanks

365days

Welcome.

You will find LOADS of info on this site. The starting point for most people is to post an SOA. Statement of Affairs. There is a sticky at the top of this forum with the proforma.

There is an IVA thread, but there are also literally 1000's of money saving/making tips to look at too.

Post your SOA, read lots of threads, jump on in and then make a decision that is right for you! Good Luck.

faffle

Hiya,

Thank u. I've done all that already (apart from the soa). I was just hoping for some advice regarding the best route to take with my own situation as even after reading and re reading posts/threads I am still confused.com

Figtree

You talked about adding unexpected expenses to 'the credit card'. Is the credit card included in the £25k debt? What outstanding balances and APR are you carrying? What's your general credit record like?

vics199

If you applied for the loan over 6 months ago then you could now apply again (This is what I was told by a financial advisor at my bank recently). I would personally go into a branch to apply for the loan instead of doing it online as then you actually get to speak to someone who can help you apply for the correct type of loan. Looks like you need a consolidation loan and to apply for that you need to take recent statements for all your debts with you when you apply so they can see what debts you want to consolidate and how much you need. The main reason is that they want you to prove what debts you have. So I think your next step is to book an appointment with a financial advisor at your bank. Hopefully you will get somebody good as some can be extremely unhelpful. If you find that then book again with somebody else. Hope this helps!

madison-nyc

we have similar debt levels to you and did the online debt remedy with stepchange, it recommended an IVA which we didn't want to do so we now have a DMP instead which has lowered our payments to £131 , it's given us our life back!

bouncydog1

You really should post up your statement of affairs because payments of £700 per month on a £25 k debt should pay it off in a lot less than 7 years. If you post up your soa people will help you see where you can cut outgoings or up income. consolidation loans are not the answer.