IVA or not to IVA?

marance

Hi,


I have just made the difficult decision to enter into an IVA in order to sort out my debt which is made up of credit cards.


I have managed to pay my credit card payments each month, only to supplement my day to day expenses such as food shopping by borrowing more off the cards and using my overdraft.


I contacted the Debt Advice Foundation who are a registered charity and after much deliberation decided that an IVA is the only option for me other than Bankruptcy to clear my debts.


Did anyone else find themselves in this position and if so how have you found an IVA is it hard/worth it in the end and can you apply for things like a mortgage after or finance to buy a car or rent a new home if necessary?


Any help or advice would be much appreciated as this is all new to me but its the only card I have on the table.


Thanks.

Lincsdebt

Hi Marance,
I was in exactly the same position when I decided to apply for an IVA. Lots of credit cards, couple of loans, I was keeping up the payments but only by using them again to buy food etc. Giving me a lot of sleepless nights.
My IVA was finished last year, and I won't lie and say it was easy. It isn't easy, my monthly payments were quite high, but then again my debt was frankly ridiculous. It was hard and at times depressing.
But you can sleep at night, no-one chases you for payments and the cash you have is yours to spend on food and whatever else you need/can afford.
Expect to learn a lot about yourself, and to change your attitude to credit forever.
And when it's done, it is a massive relief and a cause for rejoicing.
My credit rating has gone up pretty quickly. I can't comment on mortgage/new car as I'm older, but I'm sure someone can offer advice on those things.
Was it worth it? Being realistic, yes it was.

sourcrates

How much debt do you have ?

Do you have any assets to protect, such as a house or other property ?

After an IVA your credit file clears itself after six years, and you start again with a clean slate.

Johnsmith2016

How much is your debt? Over 20k?
Do you have any assets ? What's your current situation etc?

Did they explain a reason why a IVA was the best course of action?

National_Debtline

Hi Marance


Without wanting to overload you, I'd suggest that you take advice from a couple of different services before committing to something as binding as an IVA. Whether it's right for you depends on lots of things - not just the level of debt but also your future aspirations to some extent. Your credit file will take some rehabilitating in the short to medium term but that is often a necessary evil.


If you do end up going for an IVA, make sure at least that you are dealing with a firm that observes the latest IVA Protocol - this is effectively a code of best practice that is designed to ensure arrangements are set up and handled appropriately.


https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/individual-voluntary-arrangement-iva-protocol


Dennis
@natdebtline