My debt problems started the day I left University. I had amassed about twenty thousand pounds worth of debt, and at least ten thousand of that was not my student loan. I had wanted to play hard and work hard throughout my time at College and that’s exactly what I had done. I knew that I would have a lot to pay back, but because I was training to be a solicitor I was fairly confident that I would be able to pay my way out of trouble quite easily once I had achieved gainful employment. What I hadn’t counted on was a worldwide recession and a massive shortage of jobs in my field in the area in which I lived. One thing lead to another and I found myself even further in debt five years down the line with a low paid job and what seemed like an impossible situation to get out of. I had creditors writing letters, and bills that I just could not pay.
I knew at that point that I had to do something about my situation. I had to find some worthwhile debt advice. I found an excellent website online which really helped me understand my position. I didn’t want to go so far as to bankrupt myself, despite the current trend. I was hoping to find some sort of halfway house which would allow me to repay some debts without the threat of court appearances and without declaring myself bankrupt. I discovered that I could apply for something called an IVA. An IVA is an agreement between yourself and your creditors which must be set up by a licensed insolvency practitioner. The advantage of this is that you pay off what you reasonably can over a ifve year period and after this time, the rest of the debt is usually written off!
Luckily for me I managed to set up an IVA and after five long hard years I am happily debt free!
24 Feb
