Registry of Debt Collectors

Clearing Your Debts In Two Stages:

Working Examples

 

So how could this work out for you in practice?

Here are some examples of how particular cases with different levels of debt may be cleared using the two stage process. It is assumed that the following may be individuals or households (families). The law provides for loans not exceeding £25,000 to be written off if the original credit agreement is lacking in certain details. For this reason mortgages will usually not be covered, although secured loans or equity loans will be covered if they are under this figure.

Also it should be noted that an IVA will not be proposed by an Insolvency Practitioner unless there is at least £15,000 of debt and (usually) payments of at least £150 to £200 a month may be advanced.

 

Example 1

2 credit cards totalling £10,000 of debt
1 unsecured personal loan for £5,000
1 car loan for £5,000

Total: £20,000 debt

Solution:

Stage 1. One of the credit cards and the car loan are found to be in breach of the terms of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and are effectively unenforceable. They are written off, leaving only the other credit card and the unsecured personal loan, totalling £8,000 in remaining debt.

Now only £8,000 of debt remains to be dealt with by the Insolvency Practitioner.

Stage 2. The remaining debt of £8,000 is not enough for an IVA to be considered, so a Debt Management Programme (DMP) is used to pay off the debt over a number of years.

NOTE: While an IVA actually writes off a large proportion of the debt as part of its terms, a normal debt management programme has no such provision.


Example 2

5 credit cards totalling £20,000 of debt
1 unsecured personal loan for £10,000
1 car loan for £10,000
Total: £40,000 debt

Solution:

Stage 1. Three credit cards and the car loan are found to be in breach of the terms of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and are effectively unenforceable. They are written off, leaving only two credit cards and the unsecured personal loan, totalling £18,000 in remaining debt.

Now only £18,000 of debt remains to be dealt with by the Insolvency Practitioner.

Stage 2. The remaining debt of £18,000 is enough for an IVA to be considered, but in this case the disposable income is insufficient for an IVA to be implemented, so a Debt Management Programme (DMP) is used to pay off the debt over a number of years.


Example 3

10 credit cards totalling £55,000 of debt
2 unsecured personal loans totalling £25,000
1 store card with £3,000 debt
1 car loan for £17,000

Total: £100,000 debt

Solution:

Stage 1. Six credit cards, the car loan, one of the personal loans and the store card are found to be in breach of the terms of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and are effectively unenforceable. They are written off, leaving only four remaining credit cards and one of the personal loans, totalling £30,000 in remaining debt.

Now only £30,000 of debt remains to be dealt with by the Insolvency Practitioner.

Stage 2. The remaining debt is packaged into an IVA and reduced immediately by 65% to £10,500. It is paid off over 5 years at £175 a month.


Example 4

Secured loan of £20,000
12 credit cards totalling £65,000 of debt
2 unsecured personal loans totalling £25,000

1 store card with £3,000 debt
2 car loans totalling £27,000
Total: £140,000 debt

Solution:

Stage 1. Eight credit cards, one of the car loans, one of the personal loans, one of the unsecured personal loans and the store card are found to be in breach of the terms of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and are effectively unenforceable. They are written off, leaving only four remaining credit cards, one of the car loans, the secured loan and one of the personal loans, totalling £50,000 in remaining debt.

Now only £50,000 of debt remains to be dealt with by the Insolvency Practitioner.

Stage 2. The remaining debt is packaged into an IVA and reduced immediately by 70% to £15,000. It is paid off over 5 years at £250 a month.


From the above it can be seen how even the most seemingly impossible debt may be managed by the two stage process. Personal debt can be much higher even than this. But there is usually a sensible way out.

Why not take the sensible way today?

If you really want to write off your credit card debt and/or other debts, then visit our Write off Credit Card Debt website (offer applies to holders of UK credit accounts).

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