we can no longer carry on hiding away

[stucktoffee]

Hello,

We have been reading this forum for sometime and now me and my wife realise we can no longer carry on hiding away from our debt problem.

It's particularly hard to open up to people knowing that our situation is made up from our selfish attitude to spending money and our inability to deal with our debts we have a lot earlier on. The worst thing is we have always paid our bills on time and continue to do so but only with the help of our existing credit which is now running out. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and we wish we had tried to deal with the situation some years ago however, we've mad numerous mistakes i.e. drawing funds on our house hoping it would give us enough breathing space to get straight but it never has.

The overall state of play is that me and my wife have combine unsecured debts of 160k (I know shocking) which for both of us Northern Rock are the biggest creditor due existing loans and the together mortgage we took out 18 months ago in one last attempt to get some handle on our problem. What a mistake that turned out to be!!!

We both have good jobs and work for reasonably safe companies, plus having a young family we want to try all we can to keep our house but the amount we owe does make me wonder how we start dealing with it. We have so many questions to start with and not sure how best to start.

Do we go to CCCS or go to an insolvency practitioner. Do we start on DMP first and see what response we get and then see if we can pay back over the next 15 years or go down an alternative route first. What do we do with our bank accounts given we're living in an overdraft. Our car is on PCP therefore do we change it now whilst we can still get credit and go to a HP loan????

Just so many things to think about and feel so embarrassed of asking questions given how selfish we have been getting into this state.

[Viki.W]

Hey stucktoffee, welcome to the forum, you are amongst people who understand and are in similar situations. It's only my opinion and I am not an expert but I would contact Melanie Giles who is an insolvency practitioner and posts on here. Initial advice over the phone costs nothing. Good luck. viki X

[kallis3]

Hi stucktoffee and welcome to the forum. You have now taken that first step which is admitting that you have a problem. It took us a long time to start to sort ourselves out, but we have now started on the road to debt freedom.

One of the experts will be along shortly to help you.

[ianmillington]

You need to talk to an Insolvency Practitioner to discuss all your options before you do anything. FWIW, I think with debts of that magnitude you may struggle to keep the wheel on a DMP, but that will of course depend on your net disposable income, as will all the other options.

Again until you have gone through your options from a strategic point of view I would not advise you to even contemplate taking out new credit in the guise of an HP agreement which has the potential, from the point of view of certain creditors, to be a red rag to a bull.

Make sure that if you don't get to speak to an actual IP the person you speak to knows what they are talking about as your position is not exactly straightforward.



Ian

[MelanieGiles]

Hi there and welcome to the forum

Don't be too hard on yourselves. There are lots of people in the same boat as you - usually for very good reasons. Insolvency practitioners are not here to judge you, or tell you off for poor budgeting, we are here to help solve your problems and broker a settlement with your creditors which is affordable and will allow you to live reasonable lives until the debts have been repaid or are formally written off.

[Emily]

Don't get too worried about NR, they have announced that 6% of their 700,000 or so mortgage customers are in arrears. NR these days is atirred with the reputation of 'Disgrace' and 'Complicit' to the first degree.

Doesn't matter how much your debts are debtors are NOW in the best economic scenario to now call it a day with the debt problem. The entire monetary structure(Credit,Debt,Investment,Inflation etc) is heading towards a convulsion with no known immediate cure.

As for your indebtedness, go to see an IP and discuss how much you can afford to pay back There are people paying 17p a pound to resolve their debts, so how worse can your situation be. Even if you go for Bankruptcy it is better than to be tethered to this debt behemoth. I am to the view given the pages and chapters of rancour and schadenfreude onthe debt spiel- indebtedness is very much a produce of irresponsible lending. Think Subprime USA! This is also where UK lending banks have ventured [blind] and got their malthusian nightmare

There need be no contrition on your part in your indebtness.

[MelanieGiles]

Northern Rock are unlikely to be a problem, and are certainly accepting over 95% of the proposals I am putting before them at the moment.

[stucktoffee]

Thanks for the quick responses. It's the first step to knowing our future and it helps knowing there are people who can give us some direction.

I think our next step is to sit down and put together complete details of our debts, incomings and expenses and then start contacting a few IP's.

Is the consultation with any IP free and none committal? Also how do we deal with the bills that are continuing to come in, do we start defaulting or still paying what we can?

[ianmillington]

If the first consultation with the IP is not free and without obligation, then run a mile, although I think that those who charge for this are relatively few nowadays and are unlikely to be IVA specialists. My recommendation would be to see how much you realistically have available, and pay that on a pro-rata basis to the creditors until you have had your IP discussions and made a decision. Obviously, if that process takes only a few days then the pro-rata payments become superfluous.

Ian

[facingittogether]

hi and welcome!

just want to say that your situation sounds very similar to ours!
we too had 160k worth of debt and nr our biggest creditor!
we had our iva accepted on 28th april and melanie is our ip!

dont be too hard on yourselves and be proud for facing up to your problems, there will be a way forward for you = there was for us - so ask for some professional advice and getthe ball rolling! i promise it will be the best thing you ever did!

barb x

[iva.com]

Hi Stucktoffee, There is an online form on which to calculate your monthly disposible income, and review boards of many IP's on our web site. I also agree with the other members - don't be too hard on yourself you have addressed your problems now and that is not mean feat. Good luck!

Best wishes
Susan Macdonald

[kal]

Just wanted to say hi, and well done on making that first step, in trying to make things better.
We too have debts over 100k, and NR are our main creditor - I have found them to be very helpful and they accepted our proposal.
Good luck in your journey.
k.

[Soulgrowth]

Just wanted to say welcome to the Forum ... and you are definately heading in the right direction in wanting to address your situation.

Good luck ... and I would reiterate the advice of others here ... in that you could do a lot worse than to make a phone call to Melanie Giles' IP practice.

Keep in touch with the Forum ... we are all here to support you.

Debbie