Post IVA questions and help

legoman

Hi there everyone.

It's been a long time since I last posted on here! As of June 1st 2014 I made my final payment to my IVA with Payplan and am now looking at the future I ave been dreaming about for so long!

I have some questions that I hope some people may be able to answer. This board was such a great help for me and pretty much saved my financial life, so if anyone finds this and is unsure what to do, then this is the place to come - hang in there.

I'll keep my post IVA questions short for brevity...

1. How long should I leave it before sending off for my credit files.
2. How long should it be before applying for, I guess only a Vanquis Credit Card will accept me. I am nervous about applying for credit as it's been so long but read it's the best way to help rebuild.
3. Does anyone have any other tips post IVA regarding anything really.
4. Average Payplan time to receive completion certificate? I have been informed about three months.

I hope that these can be answered for me in some format but would just like to hear peoples overall feelings and thoughts about finishing an IVA. I even checked the Insolvency Register and I'm no longer listed, amazing! :j

Many thanks,
Legoman.

Foxy-Stoat_3

Well done for finishing.

You can send off for your statutory credit reports anytime, only pay £2 and don't pay for the monthly subscription or for credit scores.

You can apply for a Vanquish card when you like to start racking up the debt....errr I mean credit re-building. When they up your limit to 4 figures in 6 month time decline it. You should then be able to cancel the card and apply for a normal interest card, assuming you never miss a payment.

Only other tips is budget well and only spend what you can what you earn.

No idea on completion certificates, mine was with GT and came through in a few months.

Good luck.

althas

Well done. I have 2 left myself so I am starting to look at this

I would wait until you have the completion certificate in your hand, then get the credit files. If things need changing, you will have the necessary paperwork there to do it

Another thing to think of is a contract mobile pohone. I understand EE has been sympathetic to ex IVA people in the past

legoman

Foxy-Stoat wrote: »

Well done for finishing.

You can send off for your statutory credit reports anytime, only pay £2 and don't pay for the monthly subscription or for credit scores.

You can apply for a Vanquish card when you like to start racking up the debt....errr I mean credit re-building. When they up your limit to 4 figures in 6 month time decline it. You should then be able to cancel the card and apply for a normal interest card, assuming you never miss a payment.

Only other tips is budget well and only spend what you can what you earn.

No idea on completion certificates, mine was with GT and came through in a few months.

Good luck.

Thanks for the advice! Yes I've got the paperwork lined up just for the £2 reports, hopefully they will show everything I need to know. Can you send off for these as many times as you like and just pay £2 each time?

I won't be racking up the debt haha! If anything, having the IVA has fixed the way I see money even the invisible money that you can just hide away from! That's good advice on ditching them for a better card, all I want it for is to buy shopping or fuel and then pay it off straight away!

legoman

althas wrote: »

Well done. I have 2 left myself so I am starting to look at this

I would wait until you have the completion certificate in your hand, then get the credit files. If things need changing, you will have the necessary paperwork there to do it

Another thing to think of is a contract mobile phone. I understand EE has been sympathetic to ex IVA people in the past

Congrats on nearly being there, the day you make the last payment feels unreal!

That's great advice too I'm so eager to get the reports I want to see what they say! haha. I'm hoping the certificate will be here quicker than three months but you never know.

And thanks I'll look into EE!

Foxy-Stoat_3

Just pay the one £2 and make sure no default date is sooner than the start date of the IVA. If they are all before then they will drop off your file after the 6th year.

Just buy the food and fuel on the card and clear the balance when the statement arrives. If you don't miss a payment then in 6 months they will increase your credit limit to at least double, you should call them and get them to reduce the limit as you should only be buying food and fuel so you won't need the extra credit and you don't want debt at 40% in your life.

legoman

Foxy-Stoat wrote: »

Just pay the one £2 and make sure no default date is sooner than the start date of the IVA. If they are all before then they will drop off your file after the 6th year.

Just buy the food and fuel on the card and clear the balance when the statement arrives. If you don't miss a payment then in 6 months they will increase your credit limit to at least double, you should call them and get them to reduce the limit as you should only be buying food and fuel so you won't need the extra credit and you don't want debt at 40% in your life.

Hell no! I'm a debt free man now and it's staying that way, I have an amazing girlfriend who has supported me through all this and I don't want to let her down, ever! We can finally look forward to a better financial future with a bit of extra money a month! :j

I only intend on using the card for those types of purchases and then paying from my main bank account to pay it off straight away! This seems to be the best technique in rebuilding credit by the looks of it...

si0001

Just wanted to add a follow up question.

I'm a bit further down the line. I finished my IVA around 4 years ago and I managed to apply for a Santander zero credit card around 6 months after it finished (credit limit 1000) after checking my credit reports.

I was lucky enough to move abroad 3 years ago so basically started there with a blank slate. Learnt my lesson though so although I have got a few credits and a pretty decent credit limit I pay everything off in full each month.

I am now looking at moving back to the UK in the near future and wondered what my options are. I'm pretty confident that I will be able to apply for regular credit cards now but what about the ones that I had defaulted on in the past?

For instance, I had a credit card issued by MBNA which I defaulted on and was part of my IVA. If that is all cleared and has been off my credit report for around 4 years does that mean I can apply to them again? Or do credit card companies normally keep internal records of defaulters so I can never apply to them again?

Foxy-Stoat_3

si0001 wrote: »

I can apply to them again? Or do credit card companies normally keep internal records of defaulters so I can never apply to them again?

You can apply for them again yes. Whether you being outside the UK for the last 3 years will have a negative influence I don't know.

si0001

Thanks for the response. I kept a UK address, my bank account and my Santander Credit card (with a few random transactions) so perhaps the impact will be minimal.

SecretaryTypeBird

I've just made my final payment, feels unreal, here is to a brighter future!