Hi everyone,

I put a post on here a couple of days ago with the heading is an iva best option for me.I had 1 response advising me to go to the CAB which I have done and i am more confused than ever. Heres a bit about my situation when the floods happen last year me and my husband were financially effected which resulted in us unable to pay most of our debts including mortgages, we had just had a new baby and was in the middle of an extension being built which was obviously put on hold during this time. After a couple of months my husbands wages picked up and i made offers to creditors to pay back the arrears occured during this time, but because all creditors were affected, they all wanted their arrears paying up more or less at once some were pleasant and some were real a**es. As a result i couldn't play catch up.

Now we are in the position where my car has been repossessed by a high court enforcer and the finance company requested a charging order to be applied which was dismissed by the courts last week, as the payment i was offering was satifactory and there is no equity in our property. Also we are due in court on the 19th november for a suspended possession order to be placed on the property. Most of our debts are with collectors and they are mainly store cards and catalogues.When reading through the forums I don't think an IVA is the best option but to deal with the bullies head on because if we were to get shut of the catalogue and card debts we would be more comfortable financially and should not occur any further mortgage problems.

Please can someone tell me i am right it my way of thinking and put any suggestions forward on dealing with collectors in a professional manner.

Many Many Thanks for taking the time to read this guys.

Hi Kezi,

You are not the first person to be confused by the CAB (and you probably wont be the last). the problem wit the CAB is that they are a Jack of all trades. My friend fell into difficulty because she was made redundant and couldnt keep up repayments. she saught help from the CAB (Citizens Advice Bureau) for some free advice on how to deal with her problems. they sent her away with a template letter which was of no use to her.

There was a company that helped my friend take on the bully boys, got her interest frozen and dealt with the debt collectors that were hammering down her door. (something which my friend wasnt emotionally strong enough to do.) The survey results will give you your options that are open to you as well as reasons to ones which arent open to you. you dont need to sign up to anything to get the answers just take the survey - at least you will know what options to consider.

My friend also found out by talking to this company that she was entitled to benefits what she didnt know about.

An IVA may / May not be the right way - it depends on a number of factors but its good to know where you stand with things.

good luck.