dept problms

[herbie]

My husband is self employed we owe about 35,000 in unsecured debts mainly to banks and credit cards it now got to the stage were we have NO spare money as we struggle to pay these depts and can see no way out. we are both in our 50s and i think we should try one of those iva arrangments but dont know whats involved has anyone got any experiance with these good or bad?.Thanks in advance

[flipflop104]

I've not got experience of an IVA but I know someone who went through the whole bankruptcy thing. They contacted CCCS for help and advice - CCCS were very helpful and, more importantly, FREE. They negotiated with creditors and all sorts. Contact them asap.

And good luck. It's not as bad as it seems right now. The people I know, have now rebuilt their lives (it was just about a year ago they went bankrupt) and apart from not owning their own home, their standard of living has not changed for the worse (in fact, it may be slightly better)

http://www.cccs.co.uk/

[themas]

I agree with the above. If you have no spare money to pay creditors you could not get an IVA anyway - they all require payments of (probably) a minimum of �150 to �200 per month for 5 years. Whatever you do, go to a free service - not to any of the outfits that advertise on TV & the internet.

[herbie]

Thanks for the answers i inquired at one and they wanted 800 a month which is only about 100 less than were paying now BUT after the 5 years we would actually save 28,000 over the next 3 years but still not sure if its worth losing our credit rating (well hubby isent) Thanks Again

[themas]

I misunderstood your original post - I thought you had no money to pay creditors at all.

Now, I don't understand your figures! If debts are �35K and you had to pay �800 p mth to IVA over 5 years you would have paid �48K - well above the total debt. Also, if you are paying �900 p mth now, you could pay off all the debts in 39 months, assuming interest is frozen (which may be unlikely) and that you don't add to the debts.

You are concerned about loss of credit rating but you are going to lose it anyway unless you keep up at least the minimum payment on each debt - and if you get to a position where you can only make minimum payments your debts will spiral upwards and go out of control entirely.

If you want to pursue the IVA route you could talk to Grant Thornton, or to Payplan (who are linked with Shaws) or to CCCS.

[banjosister]

Hey Herbie,

It might be worth contacting the National Debt Helpline just for a bit of advice, I found them very helpful when helping my son with his financial catastophe!

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/

Good luck xxx