Hi joanne and welcome to the forum
I'll probably just confuse you evern further then, but I think I can give you the right answer.
The majority of creditors these days requre you to have your property revalued during the final year of the arrangement - usually at the 54th month - and then seek additional finance based on 86% of the loan to value. So using your examples, a property worth £250k could raise a mortgage of £212k. If you already owed £225, then there would be nothing to raise, and most creditors now say they do not require any equity if the amount available is less than £5,000.
Do bear in mind that these figures are based upon today's valuations, and that if your property goes up in value coupled with a reduction in your mortgage, that could well throw you into the bracket of raising and paying over equity.
So the first company's solution appears more accurate than the second one - which looks as if it could have been Payplan?
Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.
To have me propose an IVA for you, please visit:
http://www.melaniegiles.com/ivaEnquiry.asp
See customer feedback at:
http://www.iva.com/iva_companies/IVA_Advice_Bureau.asp