Thursday 10th of December 2009
If you are currently in serious debt and worried about your financial future then you may sympathise with the plight of mother-of-three Lisa Gardiner, from Dumfries.
Speaking to the Dumfries and Galloway Standard, she explains how her family could lose their home before Christmas as a result of her husband’s business collapsing and the current economic climate.
However, if you are in the situation where debts top the £15,000 mark, you may find an individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) answers your plight to keep your family home.
Unlike bankruptcy, an IVA can ensure you keep your home so long as you are able to meet your new monthly and lower-interest repayments.
While an IVA is in place, creditors are advised not to contact you or threaten you with legal action and communication is carried out through a specialist IVA negotiator.
Ms Gardiner, 29, tells the newspaper: "We had our own house in Dumfries repossessed six months ago because of the credit crunch and my husband lost his business."
Rather than living with a cloud of debt over your head, getting more of your questions on IVAs answered could highlight how there is an alternative to bankruptcy that can clear large debts and safeguard your home.
By Chris King
- House price rise 'may not indicate recovery'
- Equity release 'needs to be increased'
- Need for IVA help could increase as expert predicts reduction in lending
- Government announces 'breathing space' for those needing IVA help
- Lack of subprime lending creating need for IVA help, expert suggests
- IVAs could repair the damage of loan sharks
