seems to be no end in sight.

[MrT1974]

I wonder if anyone can advise me.

I hit financial difficulties in 2000 but rather than enter into a formal IVA I began making nominal re payments and after a few months all of the creditors agreed to freeze the interest.

I am now almost 7 years into this process and while the re payments I am making have increased I still owe these creditors over £12,000 and there seems to be no end in sight.

Could a formal IVA now be the way forward or because of my short sightedness have I chosen the only road (apart from bankruptcy) open to me?

Any advise will be very much appreciated.

[Adam Davies]

Hi
With debts of 12k you will be unable to enter into an IVA as the costs will be too high.
As all your creditors have agreed to freeze interest you are in a very effective repayment plan and i would suggest that you continue with this,paying as much as you can afford.
If you are finding it all too much then you could consider bankruptcy but you may have to continue paying for upto three years and if you are a homeowner this will be under risk.
regards

Andy Davie
IVA.co.uk Spokesperson and site manager
(aka Neverending)

Please check out my blog: http://andydavie.blogs.iva.co.uk

View my profile here:
http://www.iva.co.uk/andy_davie_profile.asp

[Oliver]

Good post by Andy.

How much are you paying to your creditors each month. If interest has been forozen then you will be able to calculate the approximate number of months it will take you to pay them off. If this is longer than you think you will be able to budget for then you will need to strongly consider bankruptcy.

Best Regards
Oliver

Thomas Charles and Co Ltd.
Experts in personal debt solutions.
Read customer feedback at: www.thomascharles.com/about_us.asp

[gimmewine]

Hiya, I know exactly how you feel. I too have been on a very tight budget for years, ever since the kids came along really. For me too, it will be at least another 4 years possibly 5 before things start to improve.

In my case though, I have assets to protect and I want to pass those onto my kids, so the struggle is worth it. If you have assets such as equity in the home, continuing with your pay plan may be the best option in the long run. If this is the case, try looking at how far you have already come as opposed to how far you still have to go. Make plans for what you will do when you get there. I find that keeping my eyes firmly fixed on my ultimate goal helps me to grin and bear it so to speak.

If you have no assets to protect though and your job is not one of those affected by Bankruptcy, I would seriously consider it as an option. It is a quick solution and you will be out of debt and out of any possible IPA in three years.

[Darren]

Hi Lag my brother was in something like this...and he paid off the small debt first then phoned the bigger creditors and asked what they would accept as a final overall payment...they accepted a lump sum of £2,000 for a £6,000 debt so maybe you try this he did and now has a mortgage ect getting himself back in the poo at the moment though, i have told him!!!So maybe this might be an avenue as you have paid them for quite a while now and im sure they would like it all done and dusted as well! if they accept you should be ok...hope this helps Matey..Darren.

Just to add the 1st time he phoned the sum offered by the creditors wasnt achievable so he phoned them back 6 months later and they came up with the £2,000 offer and he just went all out to get the £2,000
Cheers! Worth the call ;0)

B word not as bad as you`d think ? (im gonna find out soon)

[MrT1974]

Many thanks for your advise everyone [:D]

I will try and think more positively and when I'm able to I'll see if I can come to a reduced settlement with the creditors.





Mark

[MelanieGiles]

Darren makes some excellent points here - in that most creditors will be inclined to do a deal just to get the account closed. I generally find that the longer the debt is outstanding for, the more favourable deal can be effected - but of course you must also be careful not to prefer anyone at the expense of others.

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