over 50k insecure debt - IVA?

mcjwills1958

I have just got to the end of a six year iva, the best advice I would give is talk to citizens advice and ask them to put you in touch with a reputable Insolvency Practicioner. My wife and I took a joint one and when we started my wife was not working so I was paying £225 per month out of my wages and when she started work again she was paying £125 per month. As we were with a person not a company when we had any issues like the engine sized on the car, I had to carry on with my payments but she suspended the additional payments so we could borrow and pay back family for a new car. So in effect she let the IVA pay for the car. She was absolutely brilliant and was really helpful when we hit really bad times. Do go corporate go small IP instead.

mcjwills1958

One other thing to consider is your age when looking at IVA v BR a BR may take all your pension pots, I only agreed to go the IVA route if my pension pot was not touched. I ended up paying more but my pensions were secure. A friend who went BR had all his pension money taken.

fatbelly

mcjwills1958 wrote: »

One other thing to consider is your age when looking at IVA v BR a BR may take all your pension pots, I only agreed to go the IVA route if my pension pot was not touched. I ended up paying more but my pensions were secure. A friend who went BR had all his pension money taken.

If you have approved pension (workplace pension scheme , personal pension scheme , stakeholder pension scheme or Section 32 benefits) and are declared bankrupt on or after 29 May 2000, you are protected against any claim by the Trustee in Bankruptcy (TIB) on your pension pots. This follows the introduction of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 on that date.

A TIB can however apply to the court to recover what they would consider “excessive contributions” paid to the pension scheme. You may be seen to have paid excessive contributions, especially if you’ve paid in unusually high levels of contributions and, they can prove that you have done this to deliberately deprive your creditors of money owed. This could cover any contributions paid up to five years prior to your bankruptcy.

It’s also possible for you to make an out-of-court agreement with the TIB, to pay over a part of your pension for a specified period.

If you are aged over 52, and have a pension pot, you should take advice on any potential implication for you of the new pension rules.

As I said before, a bankruptcy ... may be better than an IVA but ... the devil is in the detail and you should seek impartial advice as others have suggested.