IVA - Peace of mind? No such luck

jam3162

i have an iva with debtmatters. it has now been nearly a year and was the worst mistake i have ever made. Since being with them i have had non stop letters from collection agencies. I received a letter from the court to say that i have got a ccj which happened while being with debtmatters. without realising that i had that, i started looking for a smaller place to rent as my 2 younger daughters had moved out which left me and my dog Harry. I innocently placed a deposit on a flat to be told that i lied (which i hadnt) about my credit and lost the flat and the deposit. i will be homeless on saturday due to the bad management of my iva company. I am a teacher and it leaves me with horror and dread reading the post on this website about other people who have difficulties in getting a place to live.

I phoned my iva company and told them of my predicament. They said they would ring and i havent heard from them in over a week. I was paying £351 per month on top of a £750 rent for the house i am living in. You try and pay your bills and am a honest person who really hates not paying her dues but the stress of it all is so bad that am contemplating leaving teaching.

the only way out for me is bankruptcy. Why cant i get a home? i have never not failed to pay my rent. surely that must stand for something but apparentely even earning £30,000+ doesnt actually matter.

If anyone has any advice for me, it would be gratefully received.

jam3162

Conor_3

You need to look in the adverts for the landlords advertising properties rather than letting agencies. Landlords will take you on face value although having a pet can be a problem though.

Not being nasty but the fact you're in a IVA shows £30k is less than you spend so it becomes irrelevent. It would be irrelevent even if you earned £100k but had a £120k lifestyle. At the end of the day, the letting agencies have to do as much as they can to ensure rent is paid and someone in a high level of debt is the most likely to miss rent because money is tight.

jam3162

thanks for the advice. will try that.

replying to the next paragraph. I have never had any rent arrears ever. I was a single mum for over 5 years with 3 daughters. Through a nasty divorce i had to sell my home and move into rented accommadation with debts. I have made many silly mistakes along the way however my lifestyle is not a lavish one. I just about make ends meet. I am actually more cross with the IVA company who i thought helps me to be debt free with no collection agency or court pursuing me. That was not the case.

jam3162

NekoZombie

I would say [EMAIL="tr@cker"]tr@cker[/EMAIL] needs to have a look at this thread, seeing as s/he believes IVAs are never intentionally mis-sold.

backontheup

When I was still thinking about Bankruptcy, I spoke to 2 IVA companies who were really trying to hard sell me their IVA instead of Bankruptcy - despite the fact that one of my main creditors were Inland Revenue (who do not enter into any IVA agreeements) and that I had no real income other than benefits.

It was very obvious that my only route was bankruptcy, but I would have been a very easy couple of grand for them

sweeper12

Backontheup sounds a bit like me.

I started paying £250 pounds per month into an IVA whilst they began procedures to set it up - took 8 months of "sorting out my affairs" for the creditors to eventually knock back my contributions. I was told to pay £450+ per month to have any chance of success - needless to say I told them straight away to forget it.

Jam, hope you have some success with your housing situation, doesn't seem right that the rental agency kept you fee though, I got a partial refund when I decided to back out of my proposed move.

Good luck anyway

Tr@cker

Its 'he' actually nekozombie and i never said IVA's are intentionally mis-sold. But YOU are good at misquoting people.

Tr@cker

Arn't intentionally mis-sold*

Walter_J

Unfortunately, IVA's are the new double glazing. All the pond life who used to work for Claims Direct, The Accident Group and other ambulance chasers are now flogging IVA's.In theory, an IVA can be a good solution for someone with a lot of debt, assets worth protecting, and a sizeable income. For the rest of us, they're !!!!!!!!!Bankruptcy is nearly always the better option, particularly for non-home owners.I'd sack the IVA immediately, go bankrupt, and save yourself £350 per month.The advice about lettings agencies is good. Look for landlords advertising privately, go and see them, and use a little charm. You'll have a place in no time!

Tr@cker

Absolute rubbish. For a start with a bankruptcy you cant have a normal bank account and secondly YOUR name is published in the local press for everybody you know to gawp at and point the finger at you, not so with an IVA.
My point is they're right for some people for those at the lower end of the debt scale probably not. If i had a debt of say 40k and 16 of it got wiped off i wouldn't give a monkeys if the IP made 5k on the deal.

Posthinking

Tr@cker wrote: »

Absolute rubbish. For a start with a bankruptcy you cant have a normal bank account and secondly YOUR name is published in the local press for everybody you know to gawp at and point the finger at you, not so with an IVA.
My point is they're right for some people for those at the lower end of the debt scale probably not. If i had a debt of say 40k and 16 of it got wiped off i wouldn't give a monkeys if the IP made 5k on the deal.

Here we go again. IVA's are published on the insolvency website for all to see and you might like to know that 80% of all IVA's fail. And finally, try opening a normal bank account while on an IVA