Case Studies

Other people who have found help

A monthly payment IVA helped Nicole
A lump sum IVA was the solution Christine had been searching for
A Debt Management Plan worked for Trisha
Samir got back on track by Re-Mortgaging his house

An IVA based on monthly payments solved Nicole's Debt Problems

Nicole's story

"Looking back now, I can hardly believe how debt was ruining my life.

I felt like a complete failure. I used to lie awake at night worrying about my £40,000 of unsecured debt.

Five years on and completely debt free, I feel like I've been given a second chance to make a fresh start."

How ClearStart helped Nicole

Nicole had a huge amount of unsecured debt, no assets and could afford to make monthly payments of £400.

This made her an ideal candidate for an IVA based on 60 monthly payments.

Her creditors agreed to set up an IVA with Nicole which would allow her to make regular monthly payments, and in return they agreed to cancel 60% of her debt.

This meant that she only had to pay back £24,000 of her £40,000 debt.

A monthly payment based IVA might help solve your Debt Problems too

If, like Nicole, you have unsecured debts of over £15,000; no assets and a monthly income, then a monthly payment based IVA may be the answer to your debt problems.

With a monthly payment IVA it is usual for a significant portion of your debt to be written off completely (sometimes as much as 80%) and after 60 months you are deemed to be debt free.

A lump sum IVA was the solution Christine had been searching for

Christine's story

"Derek and I were at our wits end. After his accident, he was out of work for a good year and half and during that time we managed to accumulate £75,000 worth of unsecured debt by borrowing to meet our living expenses.

I don't know what we'd have done if we hadn't thought about setting up an IVA. Now that our debts have been cleared and he's working again I feel like a huge weight's been lifted off my shoulders."

How ClearStart helped Christine

Derek and Christine were able to re-mortgage their house to generate £20,000. They paid this into an IVA as a lump sum which cleared their debts immediately as their creditors wrote of the remaining £55,000 that they owed.

Might a lump sum IVA work for you?

If you own an asset (such as a property) and have unsecured debts of over £25,000; then a lump sum IVA might work for you.

If you set up a lump sum IVA, the amount that you pay to clear your debts will be much less than you actually owe.

In Christine and Derek's case they only had to pay back 27% of what they owed and after that their debts were deemed to have been cleared.

A Debt Management Plan worked for Trisha

Trisha's story

"I suppose it started when I got my first credit card. It was so easy to sign up to it, and then I just couldn't stop spending.

It wasn't long before I'd run it up to its limit on clothes and going out. I couldn't really afford to pay it off, but then it seemed simple enough to 0% balance transfer to a new card. Then that one reached the limit and I was using the old one again.

By the time I called ClearStart I had over £9,000 on credit cards, an overdraft of £1,900 and a consolidation loan for another £1,100. It's all back on track now, but I wish I'd turned for help earlier."

How ClearStart helped Trisha

As Trisha's debts were under £15,000 she was not able to set up an IVA. Therefore we advised her to set up a Debt Management Plan.

Her total debt when she contacted us was £12,000 and she was making monthly payments of £600. After we helped her set up a Debt Management Plan, her monthly payments were reduced to £150.

How to decide if a Debt Management Plan is right for you

If you have unsecured debts of under £15,000 or you can't afford the payments for an IVA, then a Debt Management Plan might help you.

Samir got back on track by Re-Mortgaging his house

Samir's story

"My warehouse job kept us going, just about. We'd been back to India for my niece's wedding and run up quite a bill, but I figured I could pay back the overdraft and the credit cards over the rest of the year.

It was then that the news came. The warehouse company was going under and was laying people off. To make things worse Rekah fell ill and it took a long time to get a new job while I was looking after her and the kids. My finances were pretty dire by the time I called ClearStart, and I even thought we might lose our house."

How ClearStart helped Samir

When Samir contacted us he had unsecured debts of £24,000 and owned a house. Therefore we advised him to re-mortgage his house as a way of reducing his monthly payments.

The re-mortgage released a lump sum which was enough to pay off his credit cards and overdraft so that all he had to pay after those were his re-mortgage payments.

This meant that before the re-mortgage Samir was making monthly payments of £1,800 and after it he was only paying £1,200 a month.

Is a Re-Mortgage right for you

If you own a property and the value of your house is much more than your mortgage, then a re-mortgage might be a good way for you to manage your debt problems.

Debt can affect anyone whether it is the result of a life altering event (like death, divorce or unemployment); an incident outside of your control; because you have overspent or simply because you have not been able to repay what you have borrowed.

Although being in debt can make you feel ashamed and miserable, it doesn't need to take over your life.

There are a number of very effective solutions to debt problems that really can help to give you a fresh start.