Initial advice is alway free, but they are businesses and do have to make money.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
I'd be happy to discuss your options with you remotely, and you can then make your mind up to as to which route you would prefer to follow to address your debts. A face to face meeting is not essential, but we do have a number of regional offices around the country that you may be able to visit if you felt a direct meeting would be better.
I have just roughly worked some figures out and after essentials. We have a disposable income of £852 ish a month. We are currently paying around £820 a month to our creditors. That's monthly loan repayments and minimum payments for the cards. This leaves us with about £30 left over. So far we sound like we can manage, however, I can't help thinking I am missing something off or not being generous enough for our essentials.
Best take another look.
Thanks Melanie I am going to start phoning round tomorrow.
The future's bright, the future's debt free. In 72 months to be exact!
An insolvency practitioner will help you to work out an affordable budget in line with the expectations of your creditors. When embarking on a debt repayment plan it is very important to be realistic about your allowances, and to ensure that you have enought set aside for car and house repairs, road tax and car insurance when they fall due, and unexpected items.
Let us know how you get on once you have made the call.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
So, I still haven't rung anyone. Haven't got the courage just yet. I'm getting there though.
What I wanted to ask was: We are currently just starting a maternity payment break from our mortgage. We were originaly using it to pay some debt off cards. If we were to start proceedings, would this agreement be cancelled or would they allow us to keep the payment holiday? Also, would we still be best using it to pay some of the card debt off?
The future's bright, the future's debt free. In 72 months to be exact!
The IVA should not really affect your mortgage break, but do find the courage to pick up the phone and make that call. There are genuine people at the end of the phone who are there because they want to help you! In the meantime, I would not pay any more of your card debts off, other than making affordable pro-rata payments to each creditor.
Thanks for your help Melanie. We have a loan with out NR mortgage though, I wasn't sure whether they would just cancel and start taking the direct debit again.
The future's bright, the future's debt free. In 72 months to be exact!
Also, sorry, if I start IVA proceedings, can I carry on making payments? Minimum payments to everything or do I need to stop? Thankyou again for your help.
The future's bright, the future's debt free. In 72 months to be exact!
It's totally up to you whether you continue to make payments. I never did and saved the money as contingency and also to make the first payment.
If you make token payments, they should be pro rata between the creditors.
It won't make any difference to whether an IVA is accepted or not.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
Thanks and sorry one more question. I have the biggest loan amount with NR but the others altogether are a lot more than this if NR said no but the others yes, would that still be 75% of the vote or do Nr get the say? Thanks
The future's bright, the future's debt free. In 72 months to be exact!
It's 75% by value of the creditors who vote on the day.
If not all of them vote (and some don't) and NR hold more than 25% on the day, whatever they say goes.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
Don't worry too much about Northern Rock. In my experience they are a very commercial lender, and if you are putting forward your best offer which meets their known criteria there should be no reason to suspect that they will reject.
Just an update to say I have took the first step today and spoke to one of Melanies team about our debts. Although I am still a little undecided, deep down I know this is what we need to do, something that the call only magnified for me.
We are currently spending over £500 more a month than we are bringing in. This isn't a new thing, we have been aware of this for a while. Sometimes you just need someone else to tell you though. Nobody knows about our problems so it feels bizarre talking about it to a real life person knowing your real name!
The future's bright, the future's debt free. In 72 months to be exact!
