Thanks for your replies. I have actually spoken with someone today, regarding an IVA. My total debt is over £23,000. They said that I could pay £90-a-month for five years, and that the other £18,000ish could then be written off. To me, it sounds like a good option. Why might it not be?

Thanks for your reply. You're right, lol, it was. I take it that I can find out about pro-rata letters, here?

Andyorch: Thanks Thanks for your reply. Out of interest, why is it a bad idea to go for an IVA? To clarify, does a default actually damage your credit file for a whole six years, almost as much as an IVA/DRO would?

Hi Slick, Yes, so it would seem that a DRO won't work. I was just wondering if there are any other options.

Thanks for the response. Actually, I am earning more than £50-a-week, let alone a month, from the second income, so I guess that rules me out. Interestingly, when I liaised with someone regarding a potential IVA, they seemed to think that my income levels, from both my job and second income, wouldn't rule me out in terms of their amount; only that the second income would make me look like a gambler. I'm probably scraping the barrel now, but are there any other options? I presume not, as I'm not sure there's anything 'below' a DRO.

Thanks for your reply. I believe that one of them is defaulted on my credit file. Would a DRO potentially still allow me to get a mortgage, quicker than an IVA would?

MY debts total some £23,000. Just over £3000 is with Capital One, around £750 is with Tesco Bank for a credit card, around £400 is with Aqua, and just under £19,000 is with my bank, HSBC, for repayments of a personal loan, for which the agreement was to pay back £325ish a month. Only the Tesco Bank debt is with a DCA. I've been paying only the actual creditors, as I haven't made a payment on the one that's with a DCA, since it was. Really, I just want to ascertain whether there's a way of writing off any debt, without the effect being so detrimental to the ability to get a mortgage. If it would make it very, very difficult for me to get a mortgage for a whole five years, then I feel I should perhaps just work on paying them off. There's also, as mentioned, the question of whether matched betting income would look too strange on a bank statement, as to rule me out of such assistance.

Thanks for your reply, Andy. Do you think the matched betting income would be problematic?

Hi, I have debts totalling some £23,000. J ust over £3000 is with Capital One, around £750 is with Tesco Bank for a credit card, around £400 is with Aqua, and just under £19,000 is with my bank, HSBC, for repayments of a personal loan, for which the agreement was to pay back £325ish a month, but I've defaulted for around a year. They have just got back in touch regarding the default in payments, with covid having stalled their chasing. I earn £22,350-a-year, with an annual bonus usually averaging between £1500-£2000, although this was lower this year, unsurprisingly. I live with my partner, who I support, as her income as a freelance-writer isn't yet too considerable. I also have a dependent, who I pay child support for. Over the last few months, I have been making a second income, doing something called 'matched betting', which is a (legal) way of making money, by using free bet offers and voting at bet exchanges against the same thing. This could amount to over £5000-a-year. When I looked into an IVA, I was told that this would complicate things considerably, as it would look like typical gambling, on my bank statement, and would be hard to reconcile. The practice is actually not gambling, as winning is guaranteed, and you even know the amount you're going to win. Despite my debt, as my income isn't terrible, I'd like to be able to get a mortgage, at some point in the not-TOO-distant future. My credit score puts me only just in the 'poor' category, at the 'very poor' end. My two questions are thus: are there any ways of writing off debt, without going as far as having an IVA? With my debt and low credit score, I'm hardly the best candidate for a mortgage, but am hoping that I might stand a chance of getting one sooner than the five or six years I would be barred from having one, should I take an IVA or go bankrupt. Secondly, will any other options be affected by my matched betting income? Will any agencies simply see it as gambling expenditure? Any advice much-welcomed. Thank you.