Well I've been taking and offering advice on the forum now for over a year, my wife and I have been paying into an IVA for nearly two, and we are beginning to find the IVA an emotional struggle more than anything else.
Bear in mind we pay a £1000 a month between us into the IVA, and we have for a while started to get really down on each other.
The biggest problem is where we live. The southeast Woking, really is somewhere you just tend to exist and not really live. We used to live in South Yorkshire and miss the place terribly.
At the moment where just living and not enjoying life.
More than anything I want to work as a freelance or contract worker in my trade. I feel I'm willing to risk bankruptcy to do this. My wife hates her job too.
We earn good money between us, but pay nearly a £1000 a month in rent for a tatty two bed flat. I guess were just really beginning to question what the point of all this. Why stay in well paid but dull jobs paying of a small fortune in debts every month for a poor quality of life in a drab commuter belt town, when we could be poorer but happy living where we want to live.
We certainly don't feel the same moral or social responsibility to pay of our IVA in quite the same way as we did, particularly in light of what we now know about the banks and their poor practice of irresponsible lending. (yeah I know, we borrowed the money blah blah blah) seeing rich bank bosses being paid off for a job badly done, just makes us very cynical .
Hey John...feel free to have a moan...it is tough....we were the same around the 2 year mark..I think the first year you Are just sooooo relieved to be free of the worry and stress and then as you say the 2nd year just seems like such hard work.I am hoping thr last couple of years will go quick....
We also live in south east and we pay 1600.00 a month for our mortgage and almost 700.00 to our IVA...we do both earn relatively good money and should be at the stage of our lives where we were able to sit back and relax but due to our stupidity over the years we will still be in this mess for some time still.
It is tiring and we all at times feel fed up...keep going......
IVA completed 11th Dec 2009 due to a Full and Final with the fantastic help of Michael Peoples and
Mc Cambridge Duffy
moretolife wrote:
Hey John...feel free to have a moan...it is tough....we were the same around the 2 year mark..I think the first year you Are just sooooo relieved to be free of the worry and stress and then as you say the 2nd year just seems like such hard work.I am hoping thr last couple of years will go quick....
We also live in south east and we pay 1600.00 a month for our mortgage and almost 700.00 to our IVA...we do both earn relatively good money and should be at the stage of our lives where we were able to sit back and relax but due to our stupidity over the years we will still be in this mess for some time still.
It is tiring and we all at times feel fed up...keep going......
Thanks, I guess we both feel we've lost conrol ofour lives, and want to gain it back
Life is for living and it also about you two enjoying it as best you can - after all we only get one shot at this. It may be time to take some serious decisions about the future, and don't let the IVA dictate something to you both that does not feel right.
I don't post on here very often, in fact it's been over a year since my last but wanted to share my own experience.
I entered into an IVA in November 2007. Unfortunately, despite feeling I could manage the payments, increases in petrol, utilities etc quickly turned a tight budget into a monthly deficit. The pressure living this way put a strain on the relationship with my wife and this resulted in us separating last June. I now live in a one bedroom self contained flat and after 28 years my marriage is to all intent and purpose over.
When I entered into the IVA there were no significant assets that would have been lost in bankruptcy. No house to lose or family jewels but I felt a strong moral obligation to provide my creditors with some sort of recompense for the money they lent to me in good faith. Had I known the true value of what I would lose there is no way I would have chosen the IVA path.
Last November I was in the process of colating information for my review when the realisation of my situation really hit home. I was working in a job I enjoyed but it was being destroyed by my personal and financial situation, my marriage was in tatters and I was sat in a 15 x 20 room staring at the ceiling. Another 4 years of this? not a chance in hell. So I decided it was time to do the right thing for me, applied to university to do a course I had wanted to do for some time and handed my notice in at work. In January I finished work and started my course at uni and on 9th of February I submited my bankruptcy petition and was declared bankrupt.
As my salary had been taken up completely with the IVA payments I am no worse off now than I was. There is still a defecit each month but I receive a pension from a job I was medically retired from in 2003, my family support me, I see my kids every day and I am doing something that will hopefully lead to qualified teacher status in about 18 months.
I had my interview with the Official Receiver last week and I have been told that I can keep my car and that as there is a defecit each month there will be no Income Payment Order. In 11 months and 1 week I will be discharged and have a fresh start in life.
Shortly after the bankruptcy hearing I received a copy of the annual review report from my IP. I had taken comfort in believing that at least my creditors will have received the benefit from my 12 months of contributions and at least I had tried to do the morally right thing. However, out of the £7000 I paid into the IVA, only £2780 was made available to my creditors, the rest had been taken in fees by my IP.
So, I lost everything that was important to me just to put money into my IP's pocket. Is that morally right? Don't think so.
What I guess I am trying to say is do the right thing for you and your partner. If you have no major assets to lose, or even if you do, realise that your relationship and happiness is far more important than possessions or a moral/social obligation to repay your creditors.
Had I declared myself bankrupt instead of entering into an IVA my creditors would have been unhappy but I believe my marriage would still be intact, unfortunately I made the right decision for me too late.
I am not advocating bankruptcy as the first option for people in debt, it wasn't my first choice and I do believe it is important for people to face up to their responsibilities. I'm also not advising you to file for bankruptcy, that is something only you and your partner can decide. However, sometimes the price for taking the moral path is too high and you need to know when it is time consider what is of real value to you.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do. End of my rant as well.
We've got time to consider yet, what were going to do, and your words of advice really resonate.
I think since we have nothing of any value, cars only worth a few hundred pounds, and we rent, we may just take the plunge knowing we could do something, makes a difference
Last edited by johnt on Mon Mar 02, 2009 12:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
That is a great post - Whattodo, and I am pleased that you now feel you have made the right decision. Can I just mention that the IP has done nothing wrong in drawing the level of fees taken from your first year's contributions - fees are always heavier during this period as the nominee's fee is recovered first, followed by supervisory fees.
So sorry that your marriage suffered, but it's good that you see your kids every day.
I wish you the very best of luck in the future.
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'm sure that my Ip has done nothing legally wrong in taking the level of fees I mentioned. However, they were made aware of my changing circumstances at all times and even though my payments were reduced temporarily to take into account the additional rent I now pay, at no point did they question whether the IVA was still the right course of action for me or advise me to seek appropriate advice elsewhere. Looking back, why would they, after all, the longer I was contributing the more money there was for them to deduct their fees from.
This thread belongs to johnt and I have no intention of hijacking it to discuss how my IP has behaved in all of this. I'm sure there are many IP's who have the best interests of the person in the IVA in mind and act accordingly to ensure IVA's continue only when appropriate for the individual. I do not consider my IP to be in that category.
I'm pleased you considered my advice useful johnt, best of luck for the future.
This really does highlight that whilst it is great to do the right thing and try to pay back as much as you can,an IVA runs for a long chapter in life and perhaps BR really could be a better option if you have little or no assets.
JohnT I know what you mean about banmks and irresponsible lending. I had a large loan with tsb a 15k all maxxed up credit card,the wife had a 10k maxxed up card(all lloydstsb),and when we went to them for help.....they offered us more money!!!!!!!!!!That was the day I decided to sort the mess out,as I realised the banks didnt give a hoot as long as minimum payments were being made.
Life is precious,as whattodo has found out(good luck on your course),so make sure you take some time to decide whats right for you and yours.
Paul
Discharged today the 8th feb 2012. View is much brighter now.
Continuing to rebuild our credit worthiness.
Sorry to hear that you're having a difficult time with the IVA John, but your happiness and quality of life really are more important than anything.
I really do hope that you and your wife can find the right way forward and then you can concentrate on making the most of your lives together...good luck with everything[:)]
Whattodo-that really is a fantastic post, i'm glad everything has eventually worked out well for you..wishing you all the best for the future[:)]
Our bank told us to remortgage so that we could pay them off! They weren't bothered about anyone else.
johnt, I'm so sorry you are going through such a bad time, and it may well be that bankruptcy is a good thing for you and you could make a fresh start.
Let us know how you are going on and what you decide to do.
You know where we we are if you need us.
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
Cool post the three guys -whattodo,Johnt,more to life.
What can I say, this is poetry in motion. Any Debt plan is about ecaping from the burden throught whatever means as long as it is legal and and putting your life first. I never brought into the whole PR establishment arguements about Obligations to pay off debts when your Creditors are also been bailed out and choses to play their 'immunity' game with their XXX debts with the government. The human condition of 'Sense and sensibilty' prevails on these pages. At long BL**dy last!
I feel so sorry for people who are in IVA and feel like this, luckily for me, I could see that I would end up one of them and it was from reading this forum and the struggles that people were having in IVAs that made us decide on bankruptcy at the beginning, we had only got to the stage of having an IVA proposal drawn up and were at the stage where we were being pressured to sign them, but I shredded them and it just felt so liberating, it was such a weight off my mind, the whole thought of spending 6 more years struggling was awful.
IVA's are not all that bad - personally mine is a god send. I borrowed the money knowingly like most, and did not say no when offered more. I am now happy knowing that in another 30 months I will be completely debt free and have at least paid some of my commitment back. You have to take some responsibility for your actions and believe me I am not saying bankruptcy is an easy way out because it is not but everybody is different
knowing we could do something, makes a difference
