www.iva.co.uk

I have just received my 'certificate of due completion' although have not yet alerted equifax etc. My IVA was finished early due to my supervisor arranging a loan so I am now paying a monthly repayment for the loan of approx £200 and this will continue for another 4 years.

My concern is that I have an interest only mortgage with the Leeds Building Society. I had been advised that I could not have an IVA without this. I am 55 and my husband is 65.

This means that my monthly payments are far less than I would pay either with a repayment mortgage or even renting.

Does anyone have any feeling about how long the Leeds will allow me to continue with the interest only mortgage? They have written to me asking how I intend to pay off the loan and I have not yet responded.

Hi and welcome,

No idea on this one - I am surprised with your ages that you were advised to go interest only.

Can you afford to go back onto repayment?

Your IVA will remain on your credit record for the full six years even though you have completed. Your IP will inform the credit reference agencies and also the Insolvency Register (although this can take up to three months to drop off).

Additionally the secured loan may work against you going forward.

The Leeds will solely be looking at getting the mortgage repaid.

Thanks everyone - its food for thought. It has been so hard to get to this stage and on several occasions I've nearly 'thrown the towel in' (I.e. posted off keys and done a runner). I was never seriously going to do that but there were moments when it seemed like an attractive option

I have thought for some time that we will probably need to sell the house at some point but for several reasons I would like to stay living here as long as possible. So I suppose my question is an attempt to avoid things hurtling out of control.

I can't really afford to change back to repayment (would they let me, even if I did want to?)

How might the secured loan work against me going forward? I was advised that if I didn't miss any payments that it would work in my favour...

Catrin

It's a debt that will be taken into account to assess whether you can afford another mortgage.

They may also ask why you have it.

We are with Leeds. Completed in feb and I rang in may because we were also on interest only and they had asked how we intended to pay the funds at end of term. I was booked a telephone appt with a mortgage advisor who worked out what we could afford. We are now on repayment with a slightly longer term. I was upfront with them about the iva and that I wanted to sort out our finances as a priority.

That's good news Brigadeen. I agree its always best to be 'upfront'. On reflection I think I have nothing to lose by ringing them up and talking to them. At least that's better than not knowing, which I find very unsettling. I'll let you know how I get on.

Thank you everyone.

Catrin

Your right ..nothing to loose and you will then know what you have to do ... let us know how you get on

Good news briggadeen - glad you got sorted andhoopefully Catrin will have good news as well.

Speak to Ryan or Shaun on here they are experts when it comes to post IVA mortgages.

My one regret going interest only. I feel it's too late for me now due to our ages to go back to repayment. I can only hope the house increases in value...

I imagine most lenders would be keen to transfer from io to repayment as at least it ensures that they get their monies back. I'm on io and part repayment and as soon as the iva is complete I'll contact the lender to make some changes and just hope that they'll be helpful. The alternative is of course to sell - not keen on that option though.

Always be careful about switching to repayment from interest only as it will be almost impossible to switch back should circumstances change in the future. You could ask your lender how much the monthly payments would be and make voluntary overpayments to reduce the balance without actually committing to having this sum every month. Overpayments are usually penalty free but check this out too.

That's a good idea Michael. Just remembered my sister has been doing that and it's worked well - best of both worlds!!

That's what we do Micheal.

We pay our normal payment and 50% on top.