IVA Company Help

KCUndebtify

Having researched our options, we have decided that IVA is the right route for us & have been advised the same by Stepchange. However, we thought that Stepchange would deal with our IVA in-house, but when the advisor said she would arrange an appointment with the IVA team, that turned out to be Creditfix, who we are due to speak to later today. I've had a look at reviews & previous threads & opinions seem very mixed about them as a company. Some are even talking about ending up paying more back than they owed in the first place, or their monthly payments suddenly flying up. This has made me so anxious. Does anybody have recent experience of Creditfix? Should we be looking elsewhere? Any help much appreciated. 

sourcrates

Hi,

How much debt do you have ?

Are you a homeowner ?

What`s your income ?

IVA`s can be complex at times, depends on your circumstances, and if they are likely to change during your arrangement.

Answers to the above questions will tell us if one is right for you or not.

KCUndebtify

Im ashamed to say we somehow have 60k of debt between us. We have been struggling for years. We are homeowners - house is worth around £175k, we still owe £116k. I have only a little income from benefits because severe ill health after a brainstem lesion stopped me from working. The debt snowballed after that really. My husband earns around £32k basic, but brings home around £43k with overtime & bonus. Hope this helps clarify our situation a little better. Thank you.

KCUndebtify

We have now heard from Stepchange that Creditfix don't want our case because they believe bankruptcy is the better option. This has us worried sick again that we will lose our home. Stepchange have sent our case to another provider who we'll speak to tomorrow, but if Creditfix wouldn't take it, there must be some reason. 

fatbelly

I'll go out on a limb here and say that bankruptcy is wrong advice.

Try talking to another IP

StepChange_Aidan

KCUndebtify said:

We have now heard from Stepchange that Creditfix don't want our case because they believe bankruptcy is the better option. This has us worried sick again that we will lose our home. Stepchange have sent our case to another provider who we'll speak to tomorrow, but if Creditfix wouldn't take it, there must be some reason. 

Hi,

I’m sorry to hear about the difficulties you’ve been having.

I just wanted to check that the organisation that you’ve contacted previously is definitely StepChange and not a ‘clone firm’ using our name or similar. Unfortunately, there are some firms pretending to be debt advice charities who tend to push IVAs as an option as they make money from the referrals.

There’s some more information on this practice here.

The reason I wanted to ask is because when we recommend an IVA it is usually handled in house by our StepChange Voluntary Arrangements team. The only exceptions to this are people that are self-employed or live in Northern Ireland, but they normally go through a different Insolvency Practitioner, it’s rare for them to be referred onto CreditFix.

You also mentioned in your other post that you were told that your only options were an IVA or a secured loan, but there should be other debt solutions available to you and we wouldn’t normally recommend any further use of credit.

If you are concerned that you’ve contacted a different firm, please get in touch with us to get free impartial advice.

Regards,

Aidan

KCUndebtify

Oh my God, I think you may be right. I don't know how this has happened but  the email address of the person we're dealing with is debtadviceexpert.co.uk. We had assumed the lady was from Stepchange because that's who we were awaiting a call from at the time. Are these people just trying to sell us something then? Thank you so much for picking up on this. Don't know what to do now - guess we get hold of StepChange for better advice before we decide anything. 

Grumpelstiltskin

KCUndebtify said:

Oh my God, I think you may be right. I don't know how this has happened but  the email address of the person we're dealing with is debtadviceexpert.co.uk. We had assumed the lady was from Stepchange because that's who we were awaiting a call from at the time. Are these people just trying to sell us something then? Thank you so much for picking up on this. Don't know what to do now - guess we get hold of StepChange for better advice before we decide anything. 

Yes contact Stepchange ASAP, you know now to be very careful who you speak to.

sourcrates

When you mentioned that stepchange had referred you to Credit fix, that set alarm bells ringing with me, most IVA`s through stepchange are handled in house, it`s made clear on their website, as they charge the lowest fee`s.

You have to be so careful these days, well done StepChange_Aidan for picking that up.

KCUndebtify

Thank you very much to everybody who has helped so far. Today, we have been referred by DebtAdviceExpert to AFA Financial, who were on the phone for more than an hour clarifying details & would look to set up a joint IVA over 6 years for £575 per month. We also approached StepChange (the real one this time!) who advised a joint DMP at around £750 a month, or for only me to set up an IVA for the half of the debt in my name. This raised the question of whether I should transfer all of the debt into my name & then just I try to find a solution & leave my husband's credit rating & overtime income intact, but this would feel very much like playing the system & I'm not sure I'd be accepted for any solution on my own anyway. Our heads are spinning with it all. 

sourcrates

Don`t let these people rush you into making a decision, they push IVA`s quite hard, as they make a lot of money from them, that`s not to say its the wrong choice here, it may well be, but there is no rush, debt collection is a very long, and drawn out process, nothing is going to happen quickly here, so try and relax, deep breath, and don`t do anything in haste.