IVA - Frightened to death

texaspete777

Ok, maybe the title was a little bit dramatic....

I'm about to embark on an IVA. I called a company called Stepchange several weeks ago and as my wife is self-employed, they said that their own IVA branch does not deal with businesses of that nature and referred us to a company called Apeture. I made some initial enquiries with them and due to much hesitation on my part, we never really got any further than an income and expedient use assessment.

My wife, in the meantime, has also spoken to a company called Vincent Bond, who have in turn referred us to a company called Knightsbridge Insolvency. We ar a little further along the line with them but have still to make a formal IVA proposal with our creditors. Having read threads on just about every forum and spoken to various friends and family etc and r easing some of the IVA horror stories that people have experienced, either from poorly administrated service or overpriced services, I am more scared and confused than ever.

I am pretty certain that the option of an IVA is definitely the one for for us, however I am now hesitant that I am close to going with the wrong company. Time is rolling on. Does anyone have any opinions on either of these companies?

Many thanks

greenbrucelee

Hi I have no experience of those companies, I am with a company called payplan and I have had no issues with them apart from the case officer changing quite a lot and sometimes not getting a response for a while when I have sent them emails.

I would however like to make you aware of some things that you might not know about. When you set an IVA up you have to tell them your income if you are in a job which pays over time if you earn 10% more than your monthly income you have to pay 50% of whatever it is as additional income into the IVA. Secondly if you have a relative who dies and leaves you money then that money is liable to go into the IVA. A windfall as its called is liable however a cash gift is not. Thirdly some IVA comapnies make you send them bank statements, along with payslips to prove you are not cheating the creditors as an IVA is for their benefit not yours all that an IVA really does in my opinion is freez the interest and stop the creditors hassling you. When you set up an IVA you will get told things such as you will only pay as in my case 37% of the total debt where as I still have 6 months to go and am close to paying back 50%. As with an IVA in some cases you end up paying back the full amount anyway but that is rare.

You will also be asked to claim for PPI on credit cars and loans and company appointed by the IVA company will do this for you. That company takes a fee from any PPI claimed and the rest goes into the IVA but you will get some of it but not much.

Also when you do an income expenditure form I am not saying to lie but maybe add a few pounds here and there as there will be times during your IVA that you are completely skint and there wont be anything you can do about it as taking out credit isn't allowed unless its for something really essential like a knackered boiler or washing machine.

I only have 6 months to go on my IVA and it has at times been a struggle, please investigate your options before going ahead.

memberme

You are wise to take a few days to look at forums etc and choose a good reputable firm as the reports i have seen on here over 7 years have varied from a great experience to diabolical.

I was with Cleardebt and it was as good an experience as any. Mine finished a year ago but unfortunately the firm closed shortly after that.

Look around and read through a few yeards worth of postings on here and other iva forums

Good luck.

memberme

http://www.ivacomparison.com/iva_companies/


have a look on this site. My company was 9th on this list so the others above should be good. Make sure their rating is from plenty of views though (hundreds rather than tens of)


regards

National_Debtline

Hi

If your wife is a sole-trader and her debts and finances are factored into the IVA I recommend that she discusses the situation with Business Debtline before committing to an IVA. They can give advice based on a self-employed income being involved, as there is often some fluctuation with business income and expenditure.

www.businessdebtline.org

In general, make sure any IVA complies with the ‘IVA Protocol’ which is a voluntary code for ensuring an IVA is straightforward and will be run to certain standards.

James
@natdebtline

DorisTrousers

memberme wrote: »

http://www.ivacomparison.com/iva_companies/


have a look on this site. My company was 9th on this list so the others above should be good. Make sure their rating is from plenty of views though (hundreds rather than tens of)


regards

The problem with this site, unfortunately, is that it is owned by the same people that own a very similar named site. Vincent Bond, for example, who may or may not have a connection with both sites, do not provide IVA's directly, so it may lead some to question as to why they are on here in the first place.

[Deleted User]

I have no experience of the companies you mention. My own experience of an IVA, I took this out with Mccambridge Duffy in April 2010, I was a single parent left £26000 in debt following a relationship breakdown when I was young and stupid enough to have everything in my name. I get paid a monthly salary so apart from annual increases my income remains pretty much the same. I ended up paying £15000 overall including fees and I they also reclaimed about £3000 PPI on my behalf that was paid to my creditors. I was discharged from my IVA in January this year and I have managed to repair my credit history back from very poor to good! IVA worked for me.

SAVINGMUM_2

We have just completed our IVA with Grant and Thornton. It all went well to plan and was completed in six years. I heard horror stories about getting the completion certificate from them. But ours finished in July and we completed in August.

It feels like a weight off your shoulders after the first few months as they deal with all your creditors for you.

Good Luck.

sourcrates

Hi,

My IVA ran like clockwork, I chose debtfreedirect as my insolvency practitioner, and they were exactly as I expected.

Once approved, you make one monthly payment, you have an annual review every year, basically a check on your income/expenditure etc, if you can account for any overtime you do by the way of increased expences, then your payment won't rise, i beleive its referred to as "creative accounting".

I had very few problems that could not be solved with one phone call, I only heard from my IP once a year, they left you to just get on with it, which is how I preferred it.

And of course I had full legal,protection from my creditors also, the only fly in the ointment was the remortgage clause in year 5 if your a home owner, but if you can't do that, then an extra year is sometimes added to the arrangement, it's down to personal circumstances in the end.

Find out as much info as possible beforehand, I can recommend DFD to you, they were very good.