www.iva.co.uk

Hi guys,

This is all new to me so I'm hoping you might be able to point me in the right direction.

At the moment I'm barely holding my head above water trying to meet the monthly payments on a loan and credit cards. I have made a couple of late payments (only by a day or 2) but not missed any so far on 25K+ of unsecured debt but I'm not sure how long I can keep this up. Would I still be eligable for an IVA?

I've contacted moneyexpert.com who forwarded my details to Immediate Financial. A friendly chap called me back and was on the phone for over an hour. He advised that an IVA was the thing to do for someone in my position. After I detailed all my incomings, owings, outgoings etc, he worked out that I could pay back £385 into 'the plan' until an IVA was approved. If the IVA was approved, I would pay this fee for 5 years and then the remainder would be written off. If the IVA was rejected, I would continue to pay into 'the plan' until the full amount was paid off. My 25K+ would be frozen at 0% interest for the duration. He sent through some paper work which one further reading advised that the first 2 month payments into 'the plan' would be their non-refundable admin fee.

Should I bee expecting to pay a fee upfront? He also said to cancel all standing orders with immediate effect so that all accounts with creditors default? I haven't done any of this as this sounded very risky and I want some more advice.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated as I would like to find a solution as soon as possible to avoid drowning!!

Many thanks in advance,

DE[:I]

There are plenty of companies that wont charge an upfront fee but merely ask you for one months contribution to show as a good will gesture to your creditors.

www.iva.com has a list of IVA providers and reviews on each.

Call a couple for some free impartial advice. They can explain ALL the optios available to you for your circumstances.

Good luck xxx

Just to add, if the IVA is not accepted and you decide to do the Debt Management Plan, there is no guarantee that all creditors will freeze interest for the duration.

Please give a few other companies a call before making that final decision.

You don't have to pay a fee up front, and I do not think that these guys are insolvency practitioners, so you might want to find out what they actually do for these two payments before passing you over to a practitioner. Also find out whether the payments will be refunded to you in the event that an IVA is not accepted.

I would also beware anyone who talks about guaranteed write-offs. This may happen in a formal IVA, but cannot be guaranteed under a DMP - and the way this seems to have been suggested to you is that both repayment methods are the same. They are not - in fact they are quite different.

Hi there D

Sounds like you have some options that you need to discuss.

I am very wary of anyone wanting to take payments in advance and think you should at least speak to one or two specialists that are recommended here to put your mind at rest.

Keep posting!

Kind regards,

Hi and welcome to the forum, please take the advice of others and contact 2/3 companies to speak to them for impartial and FREE advice.

There is no need to pay upfront fees and I paid my first instalment when I was happy with my proposal and that constituted my first payment on acceptance or in the unlikely event it had been rejected it would have been refunded.

Hope you find the right solution for you very soon

This is the second post in as many days about Immediate Financial, and having looked at their site it appears that they will just pass you on to an IP, and you can contact one direct yourself via the link which Mrs Skint posted.

I'm vary wary of some of the advice this firm give.

Hi - as the others have said, there is no need to pay any fees up front. Please be wary of this type of company, there seems to be promises made froma 1 hour phonecall.

Contact some IP's as suggested and you'll find the right solution for you.

xx