Life after an IVA

Want_to_save_money

Hi,
Has anyone here had an IVA and completed it. If so does life go on. Im seriously thinking about an IVA as a way of helping me move on from the debt that has kept me treading water for 5 or more years.

Bella_Smythe

i know very little, in on this board for advice myself. but icant really see what advantages an IVA has over BR, and it takes a lot longer, and your credit record suffers the same. just my two pennorth!

Flick216

I had an IVA but paid it all off after 12 months due to an inheritance. It was working for me at the time though. I was paying more in loan and credit card repayments than I was earning at the time.

Although I am now financially secure, it's a bit frustrating knowing that I now have to wait until 2017 before I can get a decent mortgage again!

TommyJ1956

Want_to_save_money wrote: »

Hi,
Has anyone here had an IVA and completed it. If so does life go on. Im seriously thinking about an IVA as a way of helping me move on from the debt that has kept me treading water for 5 or more years.

I had to do an IVA back when they were pretty new, it was for around £40,000 and I was surprised how easy it was to do with one of the big accountancy firms. In essence all they were interested in is collecting their fees for 5 years out of what you pay in.

They look at your incoming and outgoings (they pretty much take your word for it) then they offer a payment plan to your creditors and if 70 per cent of them (by value of money owed) vote to accept then the others have to go along. Most institutions , banks and card companies agree automatically

They get everyone off your back because you become under a court order so you are protected from any further harassment. They normally last for 5 years but you must keep up the payments or they have to bankrupt you, I missed a few but they allowed me to catch up (if they bankrupt you , they lose their fees so they do not want that).

the IVA agreement is a legally binding document that all your creditors are bound by , its quite long. I got them to insert a clause that stated that if the agreement was accepted and the IVA set up then all creditors had to mark my debt with them as "satisfied" with the debt reference agencies.

It was accepted with no trouble , do not think anyone even saw the clause, but when they realized , one bank and one card company refused, so they were taken to court by the IVA company and made to comply (costs came out of the money that I paid in so meant less going to the creditors as a whole).

So paid them for 5 years, then the slate was wiped clean all debts marked as "satisfied" instead of "default" and life moved on , it taught me how to manage my money better as I could not borrow anything for 5 years and to this day I am debt free.Its not pain free , making payments for 5 years can be tough, but at least you move on with your life and in my view was a better option to bankruptcy and all that entails ,,,,, Good luck

National_Debtline

Hello there,

We've helped many people through the IVA process from start to finish (as well as through other options such as Bankruptcy etc.). Life absolutely does go on, and often we hear that our callers found the process far easier than they imagined. The important thing to do is to seek as much independent and impartial advice as you possibly can prior to making your final decision. The key aim is to do what is right for you and your situation - and to not be coerced into an option that might not be.

Tommy has explained the process very well, if you need any further information we have a useful fact sheet covering IVAs.

Best wishes,

David @ National Debtline.