www.iva.co.uk

Hi

I owe 18,500 in debt to the bank as a personal loan. I work permanent full time Due to divorce. I can pay off all bills etc to my social housing. No other assets. Two adult boys live with me and they work and have their own assets like a car.

I have had an assessment with step-change they may take me via IVA route of 170 pounds per month for 9.5 Years. I want to go bankrupt instead but will this work ? I have no other debts ever.

You can look at bankruptcy, maybe better than an IVA. I imagine the figures and length may indicate a DMP rather than an IVA. Have a chat with other companies before making a decision. Depending on disposable income per month you could also look at a DRO.

What Stepchange have advised does not sound like an IVA, but more like a DMP, where you pay back the full debt over a longer period. You are free to declare bankruptcy yourself ( about £750 in court fees), but to research the ramifications first. Also have a look at Debt Relief Orders to see of you qualify. Stepchange, if they are doing their job correctly, should explain these options to you for you to be able to make an informed choice.

I have since looked at another company who are charging me fees of 480 per annum spread out the cost. 1st cost payout is 140 pounds per month for 3 months . Told me to open another account Nationwide which I did over the telephone. Also, they can negotiate according to my outgoings. Pay 100 in the 4th month for up to? years and then maybe get written off.

I was told not to go down to bankruptcy because it might affect my job as a Secretary in the NHS?

If you are going to do a DMP - stick with Stepchange -- they do not charge fees for this. What exactly is this second company suggesting ? Sounds like another DMP, with fees, --- unlikely anything other than running interest will get written off.

i have 14 days to decide with Liberty (independent insolvent accountant) but I also have an interview with Stepchange next week for 1 hour , I will see what other options I can take too.

I agree with Foggy - I'd give this other firm a wide berth. If it's a DMP you won't get anything written off and will probably last a long time, especially if you have to pay annual fees. Stick with Stepchange.

Thanks, both. I have been in contact with another company called debt guardians and they are offering me 100 a month write off after 5 years. no fees as well. they need bank statements just to verify I am not a millionaire (hahaha) Also a payslip and a passport/driving license. Straight forward questions and answers and they helped me too. But yeh.. I will go back to step-change too next week before I make up my mind.

Is that for an IVA or DMP? A DMP will not finish until your debts are paid in full. An IVA will incur fees which will be written into your payments.

debt guardians are offering an IV solution over 5 years. I do not qualify for DRO or Bankruptcy

Fri Jan 15, 2021 5:08 pmcolourful wrote:

Thanks, both. I have been in contact with another company called debt guardians and they are offering me 100 a month write off after 5 years. no fees as well. they need bank statements just to verify I am not a millionaire (hahaha) Also a payslip and a passport/driving license. Straight forward questions and answers and they helped me too. But yeh.. I will go back to step-change too next week before I make up my mind.

OK -- this one does sound like an IVA, but Debt Guardians should be doing a full examination of your income, expenditure and circumstances --- something quick, straightforward and no awkward questions does not 'cut the mustard'. BTW -- there are fees in an IVA - they are taken out of your regular payments. I hope they didn't hide that little nugget from you.

yes, they verified that the fees were in it for 5 years. I don't know if an IVA can be less than 100 pounds? Also, Step change recommended Bankruptcy but I understand 650 pounds in instalments is an option but will they hack into my account for 2 days as I recently paid the brother money I owed him? Will this impact their decision. Also I am newly divorced and all my household bills etc was paid via my joint account with my X-husband. So there is no direct debit as my boys took over my affairs and used their own accounts to pay off the bills etc until I recovered as I got seriously ill and could not manage anything on my own.

I have seen an IVA at £70, but the usual minimum is around £90 ... otherwise it costs more to run that it gets in.

In BR they will go into everything in detail, and could reverse the repayment to your brother, or seek repayments if they feel this move deprived commercial creditors of repayment. In an IVA they will examine accounts to establish income and expenditure (which is one reason they should not be quoting amounts on the back of a short phone call). They might go back three months and the repayment might not be looked at kindly and may colour creditors when deciding to accept or reject the IVA proposal, but they cannot reverse the transaction.

Surely if I explain that I needed the money for Divorce Solicitors and Emergency funds as I went through a crisis during Covid-19?























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You will need to seek advice from someone like Stepchange . We cannot say what they would do.