Can I keep a car in an IVA?

If you are insolvent and are considering offering an IVA proposal to your creditors, you need to consider the implications for your transport needs, particularly if you already have a car or other vehicle. The first question you must ask yourself is whether you need a car in the first instance. Creditors may ask this question and you should be prepared to answer it. Provided you use a vehicle for the normal transport needs of your household or you need it for traveling to and from work, your creditors usually will have no objections to your keeping a car. Continue reading

Balloon payments in an IVA

Not all lenders financing car HP agreements allow their customers to enter into an IVA. Some lenders have clauses written into their HP agreements specifically prohibiting borrowers from offering IVA proposals to their creditors on pain of the HP agreement being nullified and the car being immediately subject to repossession, in the event that the borrower breaches their HP agreement in this way. Continue reading

What Insolvency solution should I do?

When faced with serious financial difficulties, the debtor may have various options suggested to him by friends, family or other colleagues in whom he may have confided. Or it may be that his bank manager, one or more of his creditors or his business colleagues suggest what he should do, again assuming that they are aware of his financial circumstances. As in any important decision making process, it’s best to avoid plumping for what might seem an attractive solution at first and the well-meaning but sometimes erroneous advice of friends or colleagues. Continue reading

IVA and Bankruptcy statistics

Back in 2012 we noticed a significant swing away from bankruptcies and towards Individual Voluntary Arrangements or IVAs. It is interesting to look at what has been happening since then and particularly whether that trend has been sustained. The short answer is that it has and the numbers of individuals choosing bankruptcy continues to decline sharply.

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Get out of debt

Roy Keane’s supposed philosophy in relation to football at least was neatly summarised in the catchy phrase: ‘Fail to prepare, prepare to fail’. People talk these days about what they call ‘unsustainable debt’ usually referring to the national debt of countries such as Ireland or Greece but sometimes in the context of personal debt. Continue reading

Annual IVA review may affect payments

When you offer creditors an IVA proposal, they will carefully consider if your offer of payment is fair. They will look at your income and your household expenses and take into account any special family circumstances that may impact on your ability to make your debt repayments, such as a family member having a medical condition with special medication, dietary or care needs. Continue reading

Debt Relief Order changes

Major changes have been announced in the Insolvency regime in England and Wales so as to make access to a Debt Relief Order much easier for people struggling with debt, particularly a certain category of insolvent debtors who were caught in a dilemma whereby they did not qualify for a Debt Relief Order and neither could they afford to pay the costs of bankruptcy. Hence the contradictory term: ‘too poor to go bankrupt’. Continue reading

Debt after Christmas

Even if we didn’t overspend at Christmas, it somehow feels as if we did. Spending just seems to expand so as to consume all available cash and then some. It doesn’t seem to matter if we are paid weekly or monthly, Christmas just seems to be like a good vacuum cleaner, sucking up every spare penny. Continue reading

Improve credit rating

Once you default on repayments of a loan, credit card or other form of debt, the chances are that your credit rating will be damaged. Even missing a single payment may cause an adverse record to be made that can make it more difficult for you to obtain credit in the future. Continue reading