IVA advice needed

[Dpresst]

Im considering applying for an IVA I’ve had advice from mums with debt and feel very pushed into signing up for one.
theyve rehashed my financing and askednme To forge notes from a family member saying they pay me £££ in board and lodgings. It’s got alarm bells ringing and I’m worried they’re pushing me to do something fraudulent. Can anyone advise me please. Is an IVA worth it?

Don’t do it! IVAs are almost never worth it. The firms selling them make literally thousands off you.

How much do you owe, what’s your income and how much do you have left after vital expenses. If you owe <£30k and have less than £75 spare income per month a Debt Relief Order is almost certainly a better, and much cheaper idea.

I had one and it worked pretty well, the budget was reasonable and they adjusted payments yearly to factor in cost of living increases. All worked out okay, paid it off last year and off credit file now and brought a house not long after. Can’t remember the figures now but def was worth while.

But we went with stepchange and they were very good, maybe speak to them they are reputable and give good advice.

I echo this, my situation matches yours completely.

I had over 60k debt, paid back £100 for 6 years and its now off my credit file completely- 3 weeks ago I completed on my first mortgage!

Please don't rush into one, they are only suitable for a very small percentage of people who are in debt!

Your alarm bells are ringing for a reason - they aren't pushing you into one out of the goodness of their heart, the sellers get a big cut out of the massive fees that you'll end up paying them.

Don't be pressured into rushing and making an expensive mistake! Go read / ask advice from Money saving expert forums

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/debt-free-wannabe

Wow. So who paid off the remaining £53000?

Please get advice on this.
consider contacting stepchange debt charity
they will give you unbiased advice.

a lot of insolvency practitioners just want to make money from you. But stepchange are very reputable

Thank you everyone. I will contact step change today

Contact Stepchange before making any final decision. I can’t comment whether a IVA is right for you but any company that is encouraging dishonesty is hardly going to be honest themselves and should be avoided.

I'd endorse all of the above.

The way in which IVAs are sold and operated is potentially the next big financial scandal. Both Martin Lewis and BBC's Moneybox have long cautioned against them.

As others say Step Change are a good shout as is National Debt Line.

Anybody looking for debt help should be very wary of Google; far too many results take you to outfits in it to make money.

I worked for an Insolvency Practitioner for over 25 years, never once were clients asked to falsify documents showing they were receiving more rent and board than they were, if you cannot make the payments to the IVA within your actual means, then don’t go for this IVA, go with one that uses actual income at your disposal.

How did you get on? I was also asked to falsify information, I have since put in a complaint but the company that put me up for the IVA are no longer trading, I originally was looking for debt consolidation loan and the guy said only option was IVA and didn't go over debt management or anything like that - I have just terminated my IVA after payments went from £100 a month to £394 a month - for a £6500 total debt. I have since contacted my debtors and spoken to them about my IVA and have made settlement offers with most of them and if not then payment plans.

Make sure you get paperwork that confirms your Supervisor/Trustee has been release or released you before entering into any new arrangement with creditors and get confirmation from Step Chance that it’s ok to do this.

I have termination certificate and it is marked as completed on my credit score, I have made offers to some of the bigger debts for partial payment and waiting for some of them to get back to me, I have cleared some of the smaller ones, I should have everything paid off and closed within 6 months hopefully

That’s good, I hope your creditors agree, often they do agree just to get some money and not have to wait years through an IVA.