Payplan IVA is this a good move or not?

[shrunkenhead]

Just that really. Very in debt due to changes in jobs/circumstances (going from 2 full time salaries to 3 zero hour contracts etc) currently in the process of trying to arrange an IVA through PAYPLAN but just worried there might be a catch.
I understand their fees are taken out of your agreed monthly sum and this s paid for 6 years after which any outstanding debt will be written off.
Has anyone had any experience of this and does it actually work?

Fuck that, call Christians Against Poverty. Theyll set uo a budget, negotiate with creditors and have you paying only what you can afford. no fee, you just give them control over your debt repaymemt and bills componemt of your income. They are bloody good. IVA ONLY when necessary (not as a moneymaking scheme) do it now!..:)

I went from feelimg disorganised and swamped to batting away asshole finance dire tors within a few weeks of their support..they do a 'you and us in it together to beat the debt' its quite nice!

If you need an IVA, Payplan are one of the good guys, they will only recommend it when it is beneficial to you.

In your circumstances I would be concerned that your income from zero hours contracts isn't stable enough, but what they might do is work out payments on low earnings but then put a clause in the contract saying you have to pay some or all of any extra income into the IVA too.

Have they worked out an expected dividend for the creditors? Do you own your own property? Have they explained why bankruptcy isn't appropriate? Is it a joint IVA or just you? If you are in any doubt about whether an IVA is best for you, I suggest posting full details of your income and outgoings on the debt free wannabe board of moneysavingexpert - that's where you will get the best advice.

Try Stepchange who don't charge fees for their advice. There are other options than an IVA. Make sure whatever you agree to is sustainable on your current situation.

Thanks for all your replies.
I just want the debt to go away.
Our jobs are stable (in spite of being technically 0 hours we've held them for a while and our employers value us)
We do own our own house (although still paying mortgage)
It's a joint IVA.
Bankruptcy isn't appropriate as we'd lose our house.
Scaryclown, whereabouts are you in the IVA process?
Thanks BarbaraofSEville, I will look into MSE.

I am pre iva. £1 per week to secondary creditors, rest of income paid at shared equal priority to primary debts.

Several creditors have already offered 20-30% discount. .ie i pay 70% to 80% of the debt.

The advice i have so far is that lump sums may get crefitors to settle for as low as 20% of the debt. Of course those that agree first will get priority. This means that on a 20,000 debt, if a creditor agrees to settle for 4,000 they will get 4,000 otherwise that will go to someone else, and they will comtinue to get a fair share of the £60 or so i can pay to secondary debts. Each creditor is getting about £2 a week.

Most debts outstanding for some time are worth about 10% of their value or less when they are sold business to business. 20% of the debt paid now is an acceptable profit, compared to waiting 20 years for more money.

That equation worsens for them if inflation rises as its predicted to do so, and so creditors ought to bite your hand off to settle for 20% of debt.

Some orgamisations in the debt world know this, settle, then let yoy pay THEM the fuller balance, so be careful!