www.iva.co.uk

My husband and I have to return to Ireland, but have incurred 40K's worth of debt in the UK. We need to either go bankrupt or secure an IVA.But we have three weeks to do this before we have to leave. Would we be able to have an IVA, if for the first months of being in Ireland, we will have to live on social security?

Hi Angela and welcome.

No, you can not enter an IVA if you are on benefits.
Perhaps Bankruptcy would be the better option, although i dont know whether you could have it sorted in just 3 weeks.

Creditors will not approve IVAs for people living on benefits as their only or main source of income as the levels of benefit payments have been set by the government to cover essential living expenses and not allow anything for the repayment of debt.

Perhaps you need to go bankrupt, or alternatively wait until you return to Ireland and then investigate the Irish insolvency legislation, regrettably I cannot advise you about that except to say that being another EU country, insolvency proceedings instituted in Ireland will be recognised by UK creditors therefore all your UK debts will be included in this.

Irish bankruptcy lasts for 12 years - if you are moving to Southern Ireland! So I would definately try to avoid that route. In Northern Ireland the rules are similar to England and Wales. You can still file for bankruptcy in England once you move to Ireland, but as Philip has already suggested perhaps it is a better idea to get settled over there before making a rash decision. You should write to your creditors before you go to advise them of the situation, and try and keep them informed as best you can until you find alternative sources of employment.