UK's fiscal crisis make IVAs more appealling

[Emily]

Not posted here for a while, but I am convinced with the ever popular endemic bad press on the Money markets and eroded consumer confidence - IVAs will present itself to be even more attractive as the 'YES' votes on proposal by creditors - the same creditors whose Banks are weathering a perfect 'illiquidity storm'-will increase

The best time to take out an IVA is probably now or even in the future....when fear grips the market,Banks are sensible people and will cut their loses as we have seen with their bad investment acquistions.Consumer debts are such acquistions, and are now not so attractive to banks to offload as it did when they turned it to investments for others with a wave of a magic wand...

It is amazing how everything in life including Debt goes round and then comes FULL CIRCLE....

Best of luck to those embarking on IVAs or bankruptcy,there is never a better start to have a clearstart.

[angela18]

thanks emily, we are just starting down the IVA route. We are waiting for proposal to be sorted and then creditors meeting shortly after that..hopefully

[OPTIMIST12]

I think one of the best things about the "credit crunch" is that banks are now - apparently - being much much more choosy about who they lend money to and a huge number of applications for credit cards and loans are being turned down. That must be good news.

Many people on this forum - me included - will know how easy it was a few years back to obtain ridiculous amounts of easy credit and the inevitable outcome (in many cases) of that. Banks were wrong to lend it and we were wrong to borrow it. The only thing I still find hard to believe is that minimum monthly card repayments even now can be as low as a crazy 2% of the balance owing. Obviously that is to maximise the amount of interest paid but it seems wrong to me. It just encourages people to borrow beyond their means.

Providing this more responsible approach to lending continues then hopefully the number of IVAs and bankruptcies will start to go down over the years to come.

[Skippy]

I think it's a good thing the banks are clamping down. The stupid thing is a few years ago Dave tried to remortgage the flat with Natwest, who were his mortgage provider at the time. He had debts of over £20k and a lot of equity in the flat so it seemed the ideal solution as his repayments would be a lot lower. When he spoke to Natwest about it they went through his I & E and said no - despite the fact he'd never missed an payment on anything and would be paying out less they weren't interested. Most of his debts were with Natwest (unsecured loan, credit card and overdraft) so I can't help feeling that they were happy with the interest he was paying and didn't want him to restructure.

[Beans on Toast]

Anyone else remember when you had to go see your bank manager for a loan or a credit card, as you've all been saying, credit is just too easy to get and boy don't we know it!! It will be interesting to see just how many people we know who appear to be solvent are actually in our positions. Could be a few surprises.

[Soulgrowth]

I agree ... I think that in the next few years we will see a big difference in how people spend money ... going back the days not so long ago when you save up for things before you buy them. It somehow had a greater sense of worth when you eventually got them [:)]

Debbie