My take on your situation, is that you are perhaps where i was 2 years before i took out my IVA. The trouble can be, that the very thought of appearing on the insolvency register and being unable to obtain credit horrifies you and so you consolodate , borrow more , consolodate again, try and take on more credit to keep your head above water. I did this as i say for 2 yrs before realising, that even though I had the best intensions, I had racked up more debt over these 2 yrs and so was in a far worse position than had i faced up to the reality of my situations 2 years prior.
I went down the IVA route, had a very bumpy ride 12 months in as i lost my job and took one earning far less and my IVA co to their credit arranged a variation that made my payments far less than originally ie something I could afford. Yes the first few years dragged but then from maybe year 3 the time went faster, with the final 12 months flying by.
As the other posters have suggestd, approach maybe 1 or 2 of the companies recommended on here. If I had my time agian i would choose melanie giles or michael peoples or Andy Davie; their contact details can be found under the experts section of the website
I offer my opinion as a fellow debtor and not an expert, but honestly believe ive made some very valid points and the danger is if you consolodate, you do this time and time again and then 2-3 yrs on need to take some form of formal structured debt plan ie DMP , IVA or Bankruptcy. so if you commenced an IVA now, you will actually be a couple years ahead of where you would be if you consolodated ( thats my personal opinion as tried to borrow my way out of debt 7-8 yrs ago ) hence my IVA
Good luck with your choice and remember to use the forum to ask anything you may be unsure of
Last payment made April 2012
Certificate received 1st Nov 2012
I think many of us did the consolidation route before entering our IVA. For some reason it appears we sometimes don't see consolidation as a end result ...probably as the credit cards are physically banned from use or accounts stopped.An IVA is more final and does provide protection and compete inability to wrack up further credit....for most it is a complete change of mind shift around managing money and budgeting skills etc.
For me the IVA achieved want it set out to do ...debt freedom and knowledge knowing I have learnt to budget and live within our means
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
There is a solution for everyone .... Just need to stay positive !
My only concern for you entering an IVA is the fact that you live in a 1 bedroom flat with a baby. An IVA whilst may be the best solution financially, will restrict your chances of a mortgage when the time is right for you to move on, as your credit files will be affected. Please speak to a few IVA companies and get some perspective of what impacts an IVA will have on you and your family.
I've been down the consolidation route several times promising to pay everything off. I paid some stuff off then spent the rest and went on to use the credit cards again.
Unless you are strong and can cut them up it may not work.
I totally agree with Luluj, Lucy before our IVA we had never missed a payment on anything either or had to pay reduced payments but we were finding we would be getting half way through the month then borrowing on credit cards for food and fuel, it was a vicious cycle that I suddenly thought we were never going to get out of, when I sat down one day and got all our credit card statements out and looked at what we had paid off over the previous year it was virtually nothing compared to how much we were paying off, it was all going on in interest. It was at that point that I sat down with my husband and we had a serious chat about our futures, where we wanted to be and what we wanted to do with our lives, we are in our late thirties early forties with 2 kids and I just didn't see how we could ever realistically get the debt paid off before we retired even though we weren't in trouble as such.
It's only when you are in so much debt that you realise just how restricted your life becomes and how it reduces your options, I didn't want to live like that anymore even though we could 'manage' the debt.
I didn't want to consolidate again as I knew deep down that it wasn't the answer, we had lived for almost 15 years with debt and not managing a budget without credit that I felt the only option for me really was to go cold turkey so to speak which was why we looked at the IVA. Although I was scared to death taking this step, mainly because of the effect on our credit rating, credit facilities totally cut off and an uncertain few years, the thought of being debt free in 5 years won me over, even when we weighed everything up it seemes the most realistic option otherwise we would still be servicing the debt in another 20 years time I'm sure.
If you are in a one bedroom flat, personally if you think you may go down the IVA route then I would look at sorting your housing situation out first whilst you have a good enough credit rating, whether that is renting somewhere new for you as a growing family for instance.
I also believed an IVA was for people who were in a siginifcantly bad situation and I didn't see us like that, we weren't behind on anything, still could afford holidays in fact we only bought a new car a few months before we looked at an IVA! but you don't realise when you're in debt just how much you cut back and cut back on things to pay for the debt all the time convincing yourself you are ok and something will come up to ease the situation (a payrise for instance?) It was only when I spoke to Mel Giles team and went through what our allowances should be as opposed to what we'd cut them back to be that we realised we were selling ourselves far too short.
At the end of the day it depends what's important to you, getting rid of the debt once and for all or carrying on just getting through month to month waiting for that something to come up at some point that will change things, either that payrise or that things will be easier when that next loan is paid off.
I would also add without wanting to be smug, when you come out the other end as i have , despite the odd hurdle along the way its worth it. I owe nobody nothing, have spare money each month and think not twice but about 10 times before deciding if to make a purchase
( last payment made April & still awaiting certificate, although i know im progressing as my IP has confirmed he is looking at my closure next week )
Sounded like good advice suggesting lucy sorts her accmodation out first, but again whilst im in no way an expert, if the IVA route is chosen then at least lucy can know that in 5yrs time she will be debt free and have some spare cash again, even if this does seem like a lifetime away
Last payment made April 2012
Certificate received 1st Nov 2012
I agree 12months2go, 5 years is a long time to commit to an IVA, at the same time obtaining a personal loan at todays rates is proving difficult for many people, even with good financial management, and that does not include whether a personal loan would be approved for that amount or even the fact that rarely will a provider allow a loan for that value to be run over a period of only 5 years !
Started IVA 27th Feb 2012 - Due to complete 27th Jan 2018 !!
Full & Final submitted and accepted 30th March 2015, paid 10th April 2015 - 3 yrs 1 month into IVA
Completion Certificate received- 30th April 2015!!
When deciding on a suitable solution to deal with unaffordable debt, it is really important to fully understand all of the options and to ensure the solution is affordable. Insolvency practitioners should not be recommending for or against any of the options - they should give clear advice about all of them and ensure that you are sufficiently informed to be able to make the right choice. This can often take several weeks whilst you think things over - and take advice from professionals - however it is time well spent in considering how the options will affect your future.
