I have phoned a few debt charities and nobody can give me a solid answer as I have already entered in to an IVA. I started my IVA in October last year and I have already been told by my IVA company that this will last for six years following 35k worth of debt. I was encouraged to enter in to an IVA as I was told that it would be better for career choices and finding a mortgage in the future. After having conversations with people and looking online I believe that bankruptcy would have in fact been the best option. My experience has been that an IVA and bankruptcy are both looked upon exactly the same when it comes to certain professions and mortgages, has anyone found this too? This month I was off for a week sick and as my company do not pay sick leave I am a weeks pay down. I told my insolvency company and they said they could only cut my IVA payment down by £100 this month (I will be £300 down) and that my other monthly payments would have to increase to cover this. I feel like this is unfair as I was under the impression that an IVA should reflect what you can manage and can be frozen if struggling. To be honest I am so miserable right now and the last few months have been agonising. Six years feels like forever and I am now wondering whether I should have applied for bankruptcy from day one. Has anyone had the experience of moving from an IVA to bankruptcy and what was this like? I am slightly scared to miss IVA payments incase I get angry phone calls and letters but I believe I need to do this in order to becom bankrupt? Do I have to tell my IVA company that I want to be bankrupt and that I will be missing payments or do I just cancel the direct debit? If anyone could give me any advice on this process I would really appreciate it. This is hugely embarrassing for me but I just want to get to the other side of the debt. I meant to say that I do not own a house or have any expensive assets. My car is worth £2000 and I rent accommodation with my partner who is the main tenant on the agreement
Thank you in advance for any help or advice