www.iva.co.uk

I have started the ball rolling on starting an IVA. I currently have 47k unsecured debt, however this is my debt, not my husbands, our mortgage is paid in full and this is my own private debt that I wanted to get sorted on my own. is this possible?

Hey Laura, welcome to the forum. When you say your mortgage is paid in full, do you mean you haven't got a mortgage, it is paid off? If that is the case and you own the property then you are not insolvent so you couldn't do an IVA. If I didn't read that write, sorry. If you mean that you have a mortgage and the repayments are up to date then you can propose an IVA but you will have to release some equity during your IVA. Viki X

Hi laura, welcome to the forum.

You may find you'll be expected to remortgage the property to pay your creditors - is the house in joint names? If so they can only take into account your share of the equity.

If you do get an IVA, it will be in your name only, however your husband's income will be taken into account. This is so they can work out his share of the household expenses.

Have you contacted an IVA company yet?

swans_girl, thank you, you was correct the first time, I don't have a mortgage, the house is paid for in full, although my name is down owning the house I have never paid a penny to the mortgage or utility bills, I don't earn much, I always bought the food but have got into terrible debt on my credit cards which my husband does not know about, or know the full extent. Is there anything else I can do to lower these payments on my own without my husband knowing.

Hi Laura

If your equity exceeds the amount you owe, you shouldn't be attempting an IVA at all. It would be highly unlikely to be accepted by the creditors who would want to get paid by way of you mortgaging instead.

Is there any reason for the property being in your name when you indicate you have made no financial contribution to it?

Hi Laura,

If you give Ian more info on how you own the hose, value etc. he'll be able to help more than I can.

Is there no way you can share this with your husband? A few cross words at first but then maybe you could remortgage to clear the debt or enter a repayment plan with your debtors?

As Swans_girl says - a trouble shared is a trouble halved. I made my old man ill because I didn't tell him the extent of our problems. Now I hide nothing from him and things are so much better.

I am sure he will understand and want to help you

thanks for all you replys, really kind of you.

thanks for all you replys, really kind of you.

We're here to help Laura. We've all been in a mess with debt at some point thats why we're on this forum. AS Kallis says she hid it from her hubby so you're not alone.

Mine was the opposite - all the debts were in my hubby's name, I didn't know the half. We're facing it together - if anything I've taken over ( that's the boss in me) but at least we can talk about the worries and look forward to being debt free again.

If you cant share it with your hubby we'll understand - so share your worries with us and we'll try to advise. There's a great team of experts on her and the advice is free so please take it. x

Hi,
Just wanted to welcome you to the forum - you will get great advise.
I agree about telling your husband - we both are in an IVA, but i kept things hidden from him, and it used to keep me awake at night.
Now it is all in the open it is so much better.
Good luck in whatever route you take.
k.

Hi Laura, don't hide this from your husband, you will only compound the problem further down the line. Tell him what has happened and try to sort it out TOGETHER.

If your property is payed for, would it be worthwhile loooking at equity release to solve your problem. this way you need not worry about taking on more credit.

It will be hard to tell him but you will feel a lot better for doing so, don't make yourself ill, we are human, we all make mistakes. Best of luck.

Hey Laura, as everyone here has said, we are all here for you.

If you really don't think you can tell your husband and want to sort it out on your own then you could try and arrange a debt management plan through CCCS or Payplan. I would advise that you go to the Citizens Advice Bureau and see what they suggest.

Please bear in mind though, that it could take years to pay it off that way and may not be accepted, but it would probably be the only way for your husband not to find out.

I agree with everyone else, I bet if you discussed this with him he would be happy to help.

Good luck and keep posting. Viki X

In my opinion an iva is made easier if your other half knows exactly whats happening. Its too big a thing to keep secret about and he would probably rather find out from you than from someone phoning to ask why X or Y bill hasnt been paid!!

If your name is down on the house deeds your creditors can check with land registry and then try and secure their debt against your house. you definately need to tell your husband whilst the matter is STILL in your control.

As Ian Millington says, you are probably not suitable for an IVA!