johnh wrote:
Congratulations, Adam and welcome to the forum. From your post I presume that, unlike me, you are still young in which case 72 months is nothing compared to the lifetime of debt-free existence you will enjoy thereafter! Keep us posted on how you get along and can you tell us why the IVA was 6 years and not 5? (could it be the Northern Rock factor?)
Thanks John, I will be 33 when my IVA completes so plenty of time to reconstruct my finances and get back on the path of managing my money!
My IVA was intially proposed as 64 months due my student loans. The student loans company would have had enough voting power for the IVA to be rejected with circa 30% voting power of my total debt.
RBS (I had a Natwest overdraft, credit card, loan and MINT credit card were my main creditor (along with Blackhorse who didnt vote)) insisted on a extension of 12months or down grading of my current vehicle. I felt there was no value to my down grading of vehicle as a. this wouldnt offer very little if any additional value to the IVA and b. the chances of financing this option would be very tricky.
In the end I agreed to a 72month IVA as I didnt want the IVA to fail and end up in BR and didnt want to play hardball with them.
It is a longtime, but if I had refinanced my debts, some of which I was 2/3 of the payment term, I would have been looking at 60 month payment term and even then that would have been a major challenges in meeting the payment and would have no doubt ended up in another vicous circle!