www.iva.co.uk

Hi,

My wife and I have a debt problem. She has debts of £16000 odd on credit cards and loans to 5 providers (I knew of £6000 of this until recently - yeah I know I rubbish with money too :/) and now we are expecting our first child in 4 and a bit months it's all come out. With her on reduced maternity pay there is no chance we can keep up with payments. My wife has been paying interest only more or less minimum payments for years coupled with a shopping problem.

I admit I have been blind to this and have only realised the enormity of the problem, we have been quite independent financially (no more!). Our combined take home is £2600 currently with outgoings of nearly that as it is, her pay will drop significantly soon. Obviously we can shave stuff off but not enough to make a big enough dent, we aren't exactly lavish. We are renting privately. We have spoken at length about this over Christmas and while I am not happy at all she feels a lot better that it is out. I am ringing CAB tomorrow for a possible meeting.

My questions: I have never been into this debt thing really. I have one credit card myself which I only use for things that pop up (like unexpected bills for the car) or flights, and always pay it off soon after. What can we expect to happen in the next few months? Obviously we cannot continue on this path... Is an IVA the best course of action? My first thought was I stand by my wife and pay these debts off in full, which I would do if the interest wasn't so crippling. As we are a couple is this going to ruin my credit rating too?

Thanks

hi, i expect you're a bit shocked,i experienced a similar thing with my hubby but we got help,it can be sorted. the stress for your wife while pregnant isn't good,great you're supportive. you can get through this.

we went to the CAB 1st,we'd never heard of a IVA 'til then,we found them v helpful. IVA may be a good route,possibly BR if you rent.

we then spoke to 2 IP firms ourselves for free advice & chose Melanie Giles. be careful who you choose,someone will post a link to more IP's for you. don't pay up front fees.

if part of the debt is with a bank account you'll/she'll need a new bank account away from creditors- it must be a basic account.
if she decides to go into a IVA or BR you need to stop paying all the cc's/loans - save this £,you'll need things for the baby.

others will be along with more advice - you can sort this out.[;)]

Your wife can enter an IVA so it does not include your name or responsibility. being there to help with the household bills and support her over the 5 years will, I'm sure be the biggest help to her. Ring a few of the companies don't just rely on the advice of the CAB (not rubbishing the CAB but having a few opinions on the path to take is better). Good luck and I hope it all pans out for you.

we found the CAB very informative - we were so green,never heard of a IVA until we saw them!

they refer onto Grant Thornton & Payplan but armed with more knowledge(partly from here too) we decided on Melanie Giles.

Hello and welcome. Alkthough this has come as a shock to you, as a couple you are far stronger facing this together and supporting each other. Please have a look at www.iva.com where you will find details, with reviews, of many IP firms. Please ring a few, the advice is free and without obligation.

As said above CAB will direct you to either Grant Thornton or Payplan. Both are good companies with many happy ( if that is the word) clients. As Melanie Giles has already been mentioned I would suggest her firm as one you speak to, even if you don't use them, they are very good at helping you find your way through the maze.

Hi Dave,
You have come to the right place for some friendly advice. There are experts from various companies that offer advice to all the forum community for free whether you are a client with that firm or not, so you have come to the right place to start getting things sorted. Keep reading and posting you will be very knowledgeable in this field after a few months.
Dan

Hi and welcome.

Visit www.iva.com for a list of companies and reviews and give one or two a ring for some free advice.

As to your credit rating, if you have any joint accounts then it will impact on you even though you're not entering an IVA.

Congratulations on the impending new arrival as well.

It's such a hard thing to face up to being in unmanageable debt, we've all been there. I had never even heard of an IVA before I started going down this track. You really need to speak to a couple of companies about your options.Until you speak to them with your own full personal details a full resolution and correct one can't be decided on.

An IVA was right for me, as all the debts were in my name so it's just in my name not my husbands, so although any income is taking into account when calculating bills he is not affected by my IVA as such. It sounds like if you do go down the IVA route, if all the debt is in her name it would be best to do an individual IVA especially given up to now your finances have been pretty seperate.

There are lots of companies that are recommended on here, I'm with Payplan and can recommend them, I know that Melanie Giles is highly regarded on here, I know others will help out with names too.

Good luck, it's never unsolvable being in debt, I really thought it was at the beginning of last year and right now being in an IVA is the best decision I ever made financially!

hy we rang national debt line free phone number they we very helpful .and suggested a debt management plan ...not the route we took in the end, we found setting up the iva was a very stressful few months.its a difficult time for your wife but she must take care not to get too stressed.I suggest ring one of the iva advisors on here melaine giles is well known on here.hope you get sorted so you can settle down to welcome the baby all the best

Hi Dave I just want to echo what's already been said on here. It's a really tough time but you can get through it and it's important that your wife especially does not get too stressed out. However once you have made that call to 1 or 2 IVA company's I hope you can see where you will go next you should I hope start to feel there is light at the end of the tunnel because there is. We were in so much debt yet we have come through our IVA and this forum is a fantastic source of help and support. Keep posting and let us know how you get on. We were with DFD.
Oscar
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Hi,

First of all, don't panic, it CAN be sorted out. We were in an almost identical situation to yourselves, with a new baby and a mountain of debt to deal with, although our debt was considerably higher. We have since completed our IVA and we are now completely debt free, it hasn't been easy but its by far the best thing we ever did.

Firstly, are you in any arrears at the present time to any creditors? Given you level of income in relation to your debt the CAB might well advise a debt management plan as opposed to an IVA, but that will be based entirely on your precise circumstances.

Your credit rating will be affected whichever route you choose, with an IVA it will normally come off the file after six years from the start date therefore that is the point at which you can start to rebuild it.

The CAB is a good place to start and they will give you some objective advice. As hard as it is try not to let this eat you up, concentrate on your new arrival and that will give you the nudge towards the right decision.

Good luck to you both and let us know how you get on.

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