to get an IVA?

[tabbysarerude]

I've been contacted by a company selling IVAs. I'm going to research it all but just for some ease, has anyone here had one? Are they worth it? I have about 10K of commercial and unsecured debt and energy debt. don't own a house or car. On universal credit and self-employed to the tune of about a grand a month from my work.

Why would it be a bad idea?

Think it totally depends on your individual circumstances and whether you expect them to change over the next few years. I’ve worked for an IVA company in various roles for the last 9 years so happy to answer any specific questions you may have.

For that value I would do a DMP.
IVAs have a lot of management fees applied sometimes more than the debt you pay back.
If your excess income is under a certain amount a DRO may be the way to go

If you need an IVA Christians against Poverty will do one for free

They're good for getting out of debt that you simply cannot afford but will floor your credit score. You won't get so much as a phone contract for at least 6 years. This also means no credit card, no buying things on finance where you pay a month at a time, no overdraft etc.

Why not try stepchange instead of an IVA or DMP, they will work through your incomings and outgoings and provide you will all the forms to pass to your creditors. It's free whereas a lot of DMP's charge fees for helping with these.
Even citizens advice can help with an income and expenditure or print a form online so you can write it down and work out how much you can pay to your creditors monthly.

It might be worth investigating a debt relief order too. I know £10k is a 'low enough' debt but it depends on your 'spare' income after bills. I think a DRO only lasts a year so it is resolved quicker although still has a similar impact on your credit rating.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/getting-a-debt-relief-order/getting-a-debt-relief-order#:~:text=To%20be%20eligible%20for%20a,owe%20%C2%A330%2C000%20or%20less

Before deciding on an IVA, make sure you take advise from one of the free national debt charities like Step Change, rather than the companies that sell IVAs and stand to make money from them. Sometimes where you have no assets, bankruptcy can be a better option and a charity who gives advice for free are best placed to advise on that.

It's always better to go to one of the debt charities or a free service like CAB for help with debts. A lot of the companies that manage debt via IVAs charge fees that can be exorbitant.

Years ago, I had a client who was paying £80 a month on an IVA, but only £20 was coming off the debts, the other £60 was going to the company.

If you go down the Iva route bear in mind that it's a form of insolvency and will affect your credit rating, also please do not go with a company that 'sells' Iva's go through a reputable debt adviser like Stepchange or the CAB.

I have seen many Iva's in my job and it's not unusual for them to last 5-7yrs and involve unsustainable repayments, the arranging company often keep the first full year of payments as their fee. The companies know the debtor won't be able to maintain the level of payments for years and years but they don't care as they've had their fees.

Agree that it would be best to get a free one instead of one through a company you need to pay for.

Certain jobs do credit checks and will not allow you to apply if you have one.