need help!!!

jaxs29083

ok here goes....me and my husband have 2 kids, ages 13 and 6, we are both on benefits, we owe about 20 grand in debts, we were on a IVA paying £100 per month, been on it for 12 months, they wanted to up the payment to £186 a month, we explained we couldnt afford the increase so had no choice but to cancel the direct debit!, we then phoned a number and spoke to a man called will from crystal clear solutions, he said if we can pay £170 per month then after 6 months my husband would be declared bankrupt and i would go on a debt management scheme! we would both be debt free in 12 months!!! any ideas which way we can turn????

sourcrates

Hi, you really need to post this in the IVA section to be honest, normally they wont put your IVA payment up if you cant afford it, its a voluntary arrangement, you give them your income/expenditure when they ask for it, and then they decide weather you can afford an increase in payments or not, its very unusual for them to do this as the IVA will fail, does not make any sense at all, are you sure you have understood them correctly ? you really need to contact you IP as a matter of urgency as this does not sound at all right to me.

John1993_2

jaxs29083 wrote: »

ok here goes....me and my husband have 2 kids, ages 13 and 6, we are both on benefits...

...any ideas which way we can turn????

You don't say if these are in-work benefits or not, but one obvious route is to try to increase yoru income. Are either of you working at all, have you any qualifications, or experience, or is there anything that means that you aren't able to work?

retepetsir

Well done on signing up and posting about your debt, that's a good first step.

If you have time it would be useful if you could complete an SOA (statement of affairs), there's a link to do this here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/562271

You can then copy and paste this into this thread.

I've not heard of Crystal Clear Solutions but assume they charge for their services.

I suggest contacting Step Change who are a free debt advisory service and can suggest the best course of action such as a new DMP, etc.

FireWyrm

jaxs29083 wrote: »

we then phoned a number and spoke to a man called will from crystal clear solutions, he said if we can pay £170 per month then after 6 months my husband would be declared bankrupt and i would go on a debt management scheme! we would both be debt free in 12 months!!!

That's rubbish. Ignore them, dont sign anything and go to one of the free debt charities for help. Crystal Clear solutions are at best shady, and more likely, will leave you in a worse situation than when you started.

You clearly need professional advice and unless you post as SOA we cant really advise on outgoings and how to manage better.