I'm so worried

[jennyl.c]

Hi.my husband and I are currently in the process of setting up our iva,and quite honestly,i'm stressed already about the whole thing.We owe roughly 60k,we are both employed but we rent our home.Are creditors are HSBC,Halifax,Argos and Egg.Do you think our proposal will be accepted?we've worked out that we could probably pay 900 pounds to the iva each month.The company we are with are called the debt counsellors,does anyone have any experience with them.I'm so worried we'll get turned down

[scaredkez]

jenny welcome to the forum, your offer sounds very good but i am no expert, the reason i am posting is i and a few others here used debt councillors and they passed us over to an ip called synegi who have not got a good reputation on the boards here specifically with me, i only hope you have not made any up front payments, it took over 5 months for me to get to creditors meeting and my case was not complicated, i would speak to some of the experts on here but i don;t mean to frighten you, those that managed to get their iva's accepted are now struggling please read my blog it tells my story, i am facing BR now, there are others such as andrew here to who has had a horrid time with synergi.
keep posting and let us know how you get on
kerri

Please view my blog at: http://scaredkez.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[steve532]

Hi Jenny.
900 on a 60k debt sounds a very good offer. but please make sure you have included all expenditure as 5 years is a long time on a tight budget,
be lucky

steve

[go_4_broke]

Hi Jennyl

I think the short answer is probably YES as you are making what looks like an extremely generous offer to your creditors. On a standard 5 year deal you would be paying 900*12*5 = 54,000 or damn near what you owe.

One of the generous IP's who posts here should be able to confirm the technicalities.

You would also be making a stack of money for your IVA company for which they ought to give their right arm (or maybe both) so make sure you at least get a good one !! (see 2nd post).

Have you considered Bankruptcy ? As you don't own property you may be in a good position to do this and it could save you thousands (even tens of thousands). You would probably still have to pay into your debt but this would be for three years not five, and nothing like as much.

Bear in mind no commercial IVA company with a 'debt advice' shop-front is going to tell you this as there is too much money to be made from an IVA. You need proper 100% independent advice.

Best,

New to the forums - but not to debt !

[MelanieGiles]

Hi Jenny

Well the technical expert answer from me is that an IVA is an option for you, but obviously not the only one.

From the figures you have quoted, you seem to tick every box in terms of creditor acceptance, I am slightly concerned that if you can pay £900 per month for 60 months, you are paying in 90% of what you owe. In these circumstances, creditors may well feel that an extended DMP is a more viable option for them.

The post from Go for Broke seems to suggest that experts like me are only in this to make a fast buck. Well I can assure you that my practice, and a lot of my fellow colleagues in the professional insolvency world, are more concerned about giving proper advice and cost effective solutions to both debtor and creditors.

As already suggested to you, get advice from someone who is propertly qualified to provide it.



Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

[freelili]

Hello Jenny and welcome

My advice would be to phone at least 3 companies, who will ask you for your income/expenditure to see if an IVA is suitable for you. If I were you I would start with Thomas Charles and work from there, do not just go with who you are passed to by the debt councillors. Some of them are IVA 'factories'. If you do this you will have some idea of whats involved and by speaking to at least three companies, you should find one that you can trust, if not keep going! Now, there are fee's involved in an IVA but this should not put you off, its a normal occurance and these should be paid with your monthly amount. You should be looking for straight advice where all of your options are discussed. Some people have paid months and months of upfront fee's before being passed to an IP, make sure that this is one of the questions you ask. Kerri, was ripped off, for want of a better word.

Good luck and keep posting

LILY

I asked God for a solution and have to live with his reply.

[go_4_broke]

Melanie,

If you think I am referring to you and your 'fellow colleagues' in the above post you are doing yourself a huge disservice.

There are 2 sorts of people in the insolvency business, a) experts and b) people out to make a fast buck, and I don't think the two often meet in the same body/person.

If the industry (as a whole) is squeaky clean then why did the OFT warn '17 financial management businesses promoting IVA's that it considers their adverts and websites potentially mislead customers'

You only need to read the posts here to see it is something of a shark pool.

The problem for the poor old debtor is sorting out the wheat from the chaff.

New to the forums - but not to debt !

[MelanieGiles]

I think the key there is "financial management businesses" rather than IP's generally. Look to see how many actual qualified IPs there are on the boards of those companies and this may give you some indication of where the problem lies.

I agree with the OFT action, and people like me are fed up of being tarred with the same brush as others. It is interesting to note that these days approximately 80% of IVAs are proposed and supervised by less than 10% of qualified IPs. There is nothing wrong in volume processing consumer debt based IVAs as long as proper advice and support is being given to the client with regard to all options, and most importantly the case is suitable for an IVA and the debtor understands the commitment he/she is making.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

[freelili]

Dont be afraid to come back Jenny.

We are here to support you. We know how stressful this problem is

LILY

I asked God for a solution and have to live with his reply.

[go_4_broke]

I suppose the die was cast as soon as an 'entrepreneur' realised that the fees earned by small firms of professionals would go a long way to line the pockets of directors in a 'factory farm' system.

My main gripe is with websites who offer 'free debt advice' when they are clearly there to funnel people into IVA's.

I find it difficult to believe 'proper advice and support is being given to the client' in many of these cases, unfortunately.

New to the forums - but not to debt !

[jennyl.c]

thanks everyone for your advice.i did read your blog scaredkez,i also spoke to gina who said almost word for word what she said to you.at the time i felt relieved but when she started to bump my expenditures up unrealistically,i felt something wasn't quite right,i'm so glad i came across your blog when i did,i have now gone with my gut instinct and withdrew my application.I then called a lovely bloke called steve form accuma,who said that an iva would not be the right route for us,as we would only be paying 50 pound less than we are now,and he said that the creditors probably wouldn't go for it as we'd be paying make most of the money anyway.Hes looking into different options for us,he really put my mind at ease,it is so reassuring that there are some people out there who genuinely want to help you,even if they don't gain from it.

[freelili]

So pleased that Kerri saved you from that nightmare Jenny, I know Kerri will be too. Glad you had a positive expereince with accuma.

Good luck and post anytime

LILY

I asked God for a solution and have to live with his reply.

[scaredkez]

jenny keep me informed of what you do i am so glad that i have been able to help you and others that have tried the same route as i have, i am happy to help and save any one the heartache i went through, unfortunately its too late for me i am going BR but if i can stop anybody else using these companied through the experience i had i will
god bless
kerri

Please view my blog at: http://scaredkez.blogs.iva.co.uk/