Well this time last week I was still waiting for my decision. Thursday morning was heel. Thursday afternoon was heaven.
From anyone who has read my blog will know that I ran up my debts through spreadbetting the financial markets. A very dangerous game I played for a few years.
In December I would have said Debt had ruined my life but in some weird way it has enhanced it by pulling hubby & I very close together & making me a lot nicer person. I have lost that anger & bitterness that had crept into my personality.
I also have to say this forum has been a god send all you posters with supportive messages have got me through one of the worst times of my life.
Like most here I did not contact my IP (Melanie) for a month or so as I was still trying to face up to what I had done & the guilt was awful. I spoke or rather cried to Tina on the 5th February. That phone call changed my life. I felt I had help at last I was not sinking any more. There was a way forward. I work for myself & my earnings are erratic so I could not even entertain a DMP or an IVA over a 5 year period so I had to opt for a F & F upfront. My hubby only made one request to change the tel number which I did & I can say it was the best thing I did. All the calls stopped all the letters went of to Melanie & I got on with the next few weeks. I had a meeting with Mel in Cardiff which was great & we turned around the proposal there & I came away with a creditor meeting date. I also met Sarah who was chairing my meeting which I thought was good.
We cashed in every policy & the silver plus a loan from my sister & friend and came up with 25p in the pound. I felt very positive. 10th April came & I was approved what a relief to say the least.
All my creditors voted yes aprt from Amex. MBNA did not even bother to vote
My IVA with Melanie took about 9 weeks from contact to conclusion.
My debts were run up by spreadbetting (Gambling in effect)all 150K
I changed my tel number ( I know some people fell worried about it but it had not bad effect at all on my outcome but it did make the days easier to cope with without horrid calls.
I did not pay any creditor a token payment
I only managed to offer 25p
The 9 weeks flew by quickly & dare I say very smoothly
So for anyone still thinking of picking up the phone and making that call to start the IVA process . Just do it! It will be the best move you make. My case was not an easy case but I still had a great result.
Yes I feel very lucky at the outcome of my creditors meeting but I think I got away with it as debt has taken its toll on my emotionally, mentally, physically &financially.
