Do I do a DMP

fatbelly

RAS's advice is good.

I wish 'professional' debt advisers would be as careful. To say ' i may as well IVA as the outcome would basically be the same' is a gross over-simplification of the problems that an IVA can cause a homeowner.

To say 'i was prime candidate for bankrupsy should i have not had a mortgage' is another way of saying you must be very careful with insolvency as you are a homeowner.

When I said earlier about 'if they pull it off'' it would require 75% of the creditors (by value) to agree to the proposal. As  it's so low a percentage they may well ask for all sorts of modifications.

Don't rush into this

Wannabehousebuyer

RAS said:

If you get back on commission, you could be paying off £12k per year, based on your previous salary?

So you'd end you paying back the full debt plus the £9k IVA fees.

I really would suggest you give yourself space this next year to grieve, set up a really good emergency fund and then start working out whether you can get back on commission.

Rushing this could be a horridly expensive mistake.

And look at whether you can provide an occasional bit of sofa space for wee bro in the holidays, if he behaves?

£9k ?!?!?!!? that's mad - she never said that- she said there was some fees but not £9k!

how do I pay towards the debts as I have more going out than coming in- that's why I spoke to pay-plan in the first place as by recommendation from my lender. 

Wannabehousebuyer

fatbelly said:

RAS's advice is good.

I wish 'professional' debt advisers would be as careful. To say ' i may as well IVA as the outcome would basically be the same' is a gross over-simplification of the problems that an IVA can cause a homeowner.

To say 'i was prime candidate for bankrupsy should i have not had a mortgage' is another way of saying you must be very careful with insolvency as you are a homeowner.

When I said earlier about 'if they pull it off'' it would require 75% of the creditors (by value) to agree to the proposal. As  it's so low a percentage they may well ask for all sorts of modifications.

Don't rush into this

Oh wow, I didnt see an IVA as insolvancy, so thats tough to hear. 

I feel like I have so much info going around in my head - I don't know what to do, let alone break it done into smaller chunks so I can actually do it

RAS

Right now you may be a little "shell-shocked" (insert the word that resonates with you). Just stop paying all your unsecured debt.

Yes it will blow your credit rating, but that's not going to recover for 6 years anyway. So relax. Stop trying to achieve anything regarding your unsecured debt.

Once the defaults come in, the interest and fees stop. That stabilises your situation, rather than more interest accruing which will happen if you make small payments.

Concentrate on getting your head in a good place. Is chasing the debt acting as a displacement activity? You may want to learn to sit with your feelings? Or to allow yourself a bit of time each day? Or spend money on support?

Send your creditors a letter or email explaining your bereavement and loss of income and tell them you are not in a position to pay. And tell them only to contact you in writing.

Consider a cheap holiday. I know you have a car, but petrol costs, so look at what can be achieved on the bus, it's £2 per journey until October.

In a year, re-assess the situation. 

Meantime, come back for support whenever you need it. People will be here for you.

And stop taking advice from your lenders.

Wannabehousebuyer

RAS said:

Right now you may be a little "shell-shocked" (insert the word that resonates with you). Just stop paying all your unsecured debt.

Yes it will blow your credit rating, but that's not going to recover for 6 years anyway. So relax. Stop trying to achieve anything regarding your unsecured debt.

Once the defaults come in, the interest and fees stop. That stabilises your situation, rather than more interest accruing which will happen if you make small payments.

Concentrate on getting your head in a good place. Is chasing the debt acting as a displacement activity? You may want to learn to sit with your feelings? Or to allow yourself a bit of time each day? Or spend money on support?

Send your creditors a letter or email explaining your bereavement and loss of income and tell them you are not in a position to pay. And tell them only to contact you in writing.

Consider a cheap holiday. I know you have a car, but petrol costs, so look at what can be achieved on the bus, it's £2 per journey until October.

In a year, re-assess the situation. 

Meantime, come back for support whenever you need it. People will be here for you.

And stop taking advice from your lenders.

Thank you for your advice,.

I agree, i think i do need some time to reset, I have thrown myself back into work to try and earn some money and worked myself down to the bone, and then with all this on top- i think i do need a breather.

unfortunately working in property I need my car for my job, so I need to use it. but great idea for social- handy to know!

I have read on the forum about sending irresponsible lending complaints - i.e i have a card with both aqua and fluid the fact they gave me the extra card and both increased my limit despite taking payment holidays and missing payments- so will jump on debt camel and get those emails fired off. Even if it pays those down a tad - every little helps, right?

a cheap holiday sounds like bliss! will certainly look into it!

I suppose defaults on my credit file looks better than an IVA- in terms of mortgages etc down the road. 

thank you so much I really appreciate it and will tell pay plan I am not willing for the IVA. 

Its crazy as I thought my mortgage lender would be giving good advice - shocking!

fatbelly

Yes, Debt Camel has recently written about multiple credit cards

https://debtcamel.co.uk/affordability-complaints-2-cards-lender/

She produces so many articles, it's difficult to keep up!

On the cheap holiday front, we have made great use over the years of the Sun £9.50 holidays and the codes given generously by @essex_boy in his threads. The last one is here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6434517/sun-holidays-from-9-50pp-starting-25th-march-2023

but you may have to wait for the next one

sourcrates

Another vote for holding off on the IVA, fatbelly makes a good point in that to get agreement to such an arrangement, your creditors will likely impose all kinds of modifications on you, to be honest, @ £50 a month, they would make more selling the debts and recouping the tax, its unlikely to get full agreement.

Go with the complaints to start with, token payments are an option, ask for write offs if your situation won`t improve, or if it does, there may be opportunities for settlement offers.

The situation with unsecured, non priority debts will always be very fluid, they may be sold/assigned, there is also the option of CCA requests at some point.

Looking at your situation realistically over time, you could be looking to settle for maybe half of what is currently owed.

Get one or two written off, a few successful complaints, positive results from CCA requests, good settlement offers, really your not in that bad a position as you may think.

Wannabehousebuyer

thanks everyone- i  have written out my budget with no debts and plan to save everything I can extra into EF. I am paying off mortgage debts over next 3 months, hopefully then my wages should have increased as I have been working myself into the ground to try and make some money so I can see july/ Aug paydays being much better than it has been. I am planning on getting a little break away to a friends holiday home in spain - found 50 return on the flights which is amazing- and  no hotel costs which will make it cheaper but i think its well needed after the last couple of months. 

I re-mortage in feb 27 so by then the defaults are 'old enough' and hopefully satisfied. Feeling much better about this all today - best i've felt in months, which is so counter intuitive to not pay but hey ho! 

Although I  Really hope some of these lending complaints come in, half quite a bit wiped and i might actually afford to pay it back normally with out having to default (with increased wages too)  and with all the other bits wiped off my record  that would make my very rough year a million times better! so please all have your fingers crossed for me! 

Wannabehousebuyer

UPDATE!

so the defaults are starting to roll in and its scaring the life out of me, my credit rating is falling through the floor and I am feeling trapped. I all of a sudden hate my house and want to move (panic mindset, i know) 

Had 4 irresponsible lending cases declined- still have a few more pending. Taken one to the ombudsmen. 

AHHHH it just feels like im in an even more of a pickle

I need a pep talk - please hahahaha 

fatbelly

Stop checking your credit score. There's no point.

The defaults are giving you light at the end of the tunnel.

You're on the path to sorting this out