www.iva.co.uk

Hi all

We are 10 months away from the end of a 6 year IVA (assuming no extension for equity as there is none)...

After over 6 years of ignoring an old houses needs we are now in a position that a couple of 'big' jobs need doing to the house. One is a complete total rewire (the electrics are a hazard) and the other being some structural collapse that will continue to get worse if not corrected.

All told these 2 jobs will require approx £6k of money to repair, which saving our current IVA payments would take us around 2 and a half years to achieve (that's assuming nothing else needed fixing in that time and also seems a little too long to wait for these repairs to be honest as I am fearful of what damage may be done if they are put off much longer!)

We don't have family or friends we could go to for help with such large amounts of money either.

So my question is this ...

It feels wrong to consider borrowing again when the IVA comes to an end, but under the circumstances would it be reasonable to consider doing so for such serious house needs? Or is there another way to fund these repairs that I haven't thought of (we don't own anything valuable to sell and get no benefits so don't qualify for any grants that I'm aware of).

And if limited borrowing for these 2 repair jobs was considered, what are the best option to someone fresh out of an IVA?

Thanks for your thoughts

Given more damage could result in not doing the work its probably wise to try and do it ASAP but borrowing may be limited until your credit file is cleared up. Once the iva drops off your file it may be worth talking to your bank about a loan.

Paul

Hi til

firstly congratulations on getting so far ; really well done

Been there and worn the t-shirt; ive had exactly the same scenario as you, albeit i got my CC 14 months ago

You should find your IVA will drop off your credit file once the CC has been recieved and the Official Reciever has also removed the IVA from their records. Now the only stumbling block to this could be if you have any defaults whereby the dates are incorrect; however, as it could take a few months to get your CC , if you did have any incorrect dates , they could have taken care of themselves.

A few months ago I had to borrow £3100 for a new boiler ( ouch , feel my pain !! ). I had almost 6 years of my IVA living on a budget that was very tight and the IVA really taught me the value of money. Its my opinion, that theres nothing wrong with borrowing the money for such a crucial reason, even if its soon after your Cc certificate.Im not lecturing, but i can say in my case, having been stoney broke during my IVA, I have learned how to mange my money now, as opposed to living off credit as i was pre iva.

Word of advice though; before you even consider an application , check your creditfile , i would suggest with checkmyfile.com; for a modest monthly fee , this shows you all 3 CRAs files on you. this way you can see if all the defaults and record of your IVA have dissapeared. If not , you wont be approved and a record of rejection will then remin on your credit file for some time to come, for any other lender to see .

2nd bit of advice ; one of the CRAs & i cant remember which one, have a nasty habit of of noting your IVA has been completed on a Notice Of Correction - if this happens contact the relevent CRA and instruct them to remove this ( if it remains , it means any credit application defaults to a referral and then they see you have had an IVA & your application will be rejected outright )

Forgive my rather long winded reply , but if you follow my suggestions , then when you are ready to borrow money for these key repairs , your application will be approved i would have thought.

Please feel free to post any questions you may have regarding what I have written in this post

Best wishes and good luck , you are not long now to being free

Thank you both for your replies and thank you also 12 Months to Go for the detailed advice. It's most appreciated and I have noted everything you've said down so that I can take heed of it when the time comes.

It's nice to hear from someone who experienced needing to borrow money for such a reason. Our IVA has taught us so much and mended our ways when it comes to money. I just feel scared that borrowing post IVA might be like an addict returning to their substance of choice and I worry that without abstinence I would forget the lessons hard learned.

However like you I have learned the lessons well and the repairs to the house will soon be utterly essential so I will approach it in a sensible fashion and prepare the ground first as per your advice.

Thank you and huge congrats on completing to you too.

The CRA that adds the notice of correction is Equifax,

It may be worth approaching both the brokers that post (under experts) to discuss option/fees/interest rates that are likely - especially if the electrics are seen as a fire hazard