With stricter lending conditions and banks reluctant to let us borrow money, many people are in desperate need of some debt advice that can alleviate their debt management issues.
Professional solutions
Professional debt solutions such as Individual Voluntary Arrangements
(IVAs), Debt Management Plans (DMPs) and Trust Deeds do not involve
borrowing more money and do not require you to pass a credit check.
This means that you no longer have to go further into the red each
month and can get out of debt
for good. All of these allow people who are struggling to maintain the
payments on their unsecured balances (personal loans, catalogues, store
cards and credit card debts etc) to regain control of their finances
whilst still repaying all, or a proportion, of the amount that they
owe.
Informal professional solutions (like a Debt Management Plan DMP)
work by gathering all unsecured balances into one single monthly
payment which is paid to the debt help provider thereby simplifying finances, as only one payment needs to be made each month.
The provider then distributes this payment between creditors on a pro
rata basis, so the more that a creditor is owed the more of the monthly
payment they will receive. Reputable providers will also negotiate to try and have
interest and charges reduced or frozen, which reduces the total amount
owed.
A DMP is classed as an informal
arrangement as there are no contracts involved so you have the ability
to use this solution as-and-when-required. There is also flexibility
with payments on a DMP, as the amount you pay is dependent on your
affordability you only pay how much you can realistically afford once
priority payments like your mortgage/rent, council tax, food, travel
etc have been accounted for.
More formal debt solutions, such as an IVA
or Trust Deed, also enable multiple unsecured balances to be repaid but
involve a contract. The agreement protects you from creditors changing
their payment demands or from the terms of the agreement being changed.
The insolvency practitioner can provide support and IVA advice
or guidance throughout the term of your IVA or Trust Deed. IVAs and
Trust Deeds are repaid over fixed periods of time. With an IVA this is
generally within a five year period, whereas with a Trust Deed it is
typically over three years.
One of the most appealing benefits of a more formal solution is that
they allow a proportion of the debt to be written off after the term
has been satisfied this means that any remaining unsecured debt is
written off and you can walk away debt free.
Professional debt solutions like those listed above can be used by
overstretched individuals to prevent bankruptcy and are generally
offered following some impartial advice from a reputable debt help
organisation.

Source: Daily Express (Your Money)

Individual Voluntary Arrangements The Advantages

IVAs dont suit everybody, but for those who do meet the criteria, the benefits are fantastic:

• You can legally write off up to 75% of your debt.

• You can reduce your monthly repayments by calculating how much you can afford to repay each month & then make just one affordable repayment.

• You can stop all your creditors, debt collection agencies & bailiifs hassling you (your Insolvency practitoner will take care of all this).

• You can avoid Bankruptcy.

Example Scenario:

Tony has 125,000 worth of Debt including 5 credit card debts, 1 personal loan, income tax debts & business debts (with personal guarantees). He also owns his family home which has a current open market value of 200,000 with an outstanding mortgage of 175,000.

Tonys monthly debt repayments (credit cards, personal loans etc) currently amount to 1200 per month but he is currently living off his credit cards to enable him to stay on top of these repayments he is basically robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Tony has been approached by a Company who claim they can write off all his debts for a fee of 1800. Tony has correctly stated that even if they are successful (which is a gamble in itself) he will still have his tax debts & business debts to worry about, so there really is no point (Nice try though, eh)

Tony has a monthly income of 2500 (after allowance for tax) and monthly expenses of 2225 (without the above debt repayments).
Tony has entered into an IVA that protects his family home by selling the equity in the house to his Mother & Father for 15000 (using a realistic immediate sale value, less costs) & paying just 275 per month for 5 years.

Tony has therefore cleared all his 125,000 debts by paying only 31,500 & reduced his monthly debt repayments from 1200 to 275.

Tony is a very happy man

IVA Services
Entering into an IVA can be very daunting, thats why I provide the following services, entirely Free of charge to all my clients:

• Initial Free assessment to ensure an IVA is the right debt solution for you & your circumstances.

• Preparation of your Income & expenditure account.

• Preparation of additional financial statements, including cash flow forecasts, budgets and forecasted Profit & Loss accounts where required.

• Advice on saving your family home in an IVA.

• Attendance at meetings; the IVA meetings themselves can often be quite daunting, if necessary I will attend your IVA meetings with you to advise & assist you through the process.

Call me now on 0800 533 5370 for further details of IVAs & how they can solve your debt problems.