Is IVA right for us

[ludlum]

Hi my wife and I are in a pot of debt, as follows.

 

Joint loan 12,000

My Credit card 6,000

Her 2 credit cards 8,000

my car finance 5,000

her car finance 5,000

eye surgery HP 3,000

 

TOTAL 39,000

 

We have a home worth about 225,000 with no equity and 2 boys of our own to care for. Losing our home is not an option.

 

Losing the cars is not really an option as we are both essential NHS workers.

 

We can afford our household bills including mortgage of 1,000 but the credit paymement are making life a bit tense.

 

Would an IVA suit our cause?

 

Does an IVA look at us both together or do we have to do separate ones?

 

Would we both pay IVA fees or is that too looked at jointly?

 

Please help?

 

Lud.

[debtinfo]

It is difficult to say and i don't make recomendations. But in general IVA's are good for protecting assets but generally more expensive than bankruptcies. You will need to have a significant surplus each month to pay the IVA. You should seek free independant advice, National Debtline, CCCS, and CAB will all do this. My specialty is bankruptcy so if you decide to go down this route i would be happy to answer any questions about procedure

[loobyloo85]

Hi

 

An IVA is an option available to you. As long as you have a joint surplus of at least £200, you could look into trying an IVA. An IVA is an individual voluntary arrangement, so you would both have individual agreements, however, you can go through the IVA process together using the same income and expenditure details.

Debt Info is right that IVAs can be expensive, but if you choose a company that does not charge upfront fees, such as payplan, you will have nothing to pay other than your monthly payment.

If your finance is secured on your vehicle, this will not be included as a unsecured debt in your IVA. This payment will be allowed for within your expenditure for you to keep the vehicles. You may wish to check if it is definately secured.

All of your assets are protected in an IVA, and an IVA does not carry stigma attached to it like bankruptcy does. If you have equity, you would be required to release 85% LTV your share into the IVA in the fourth year by remortgaging however, if you do not have any equity, you will not be expected to pay anything in.

I hope this helps, best wishes

[sezden]

which loans are secured and which is unsecured as only unsecured debt can be included in an iva as far as i was aware when i entered mine 2 years ago

[loobyloo85]

Yes you are right sezden, it is only unsecured debts that can be included in the IVA, therefore ludlum would need to double check that their HP agreements are not unsecured (sometimes the companies make out that they are secured, when they are not, which can then be included in the IVA) x