Debt Secrets

I started my tradefair account on the 10th of February 2009 with £75. In additon to the initial amount  I received a bonus of £75 makng an account total of £150.

I made some very clueless trades at the beginning but spread betting aggresively mainly focused on the forex market particularly GBP EUR paid off; On 20th of February, 10 days later my total account balance was £891.70!

I promptly lost it all (or at least most of it) and have documented my experience financial spread betting on tradefair here.

To get the winning trades I didn’t use any spread betting system but just used some of the spread betting tips from the newsprofiteer a forex trading tipper who bases his trades based on the days financial news.

Hi guys!

I’ve been trying to make some money on tradefair a spreadbetting platform run by the folks at Betfair, Hammersmith, London. For all u people who think they can make easy money on the internet - tradefair are currently offering a deal where u get £75 for free! (Email me if u are interested and I’ll give u more details on how to set one up - just use the contact form above)
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Did you know that you can save yourself a few quid on flights with Ryanair if you are willing to use a Visa Electron card? Read the rest of this entry »

IVA secret 7:
Never pay the Insolvency Practitioner any money in advance

Insolvency Practitioners are legally obliged not to start charging you until you have actually started your IVA. Make sure you postpone any fee payment until after the creditors meeting.

IVA secret 8:
Get the initial meeting for free.

Most Insolvency
Practitioners will give you an initial free meeting. Ensure that they don’t retrospectively charge you for this by invoicing you after the IVA has been proposed to your creditors. In general you shouldn’t receive any invoices as fees are written into the arrangement.

IVA secret 6:
Once you are certain that an IVA is best for you, go directly to an Insolvency Practitioner

Debt Management companies do offer a debt advice service. In addition they justify the fees on the basis that they ensure the IVA receives approval. Their argument is that you will have an advocate for your IVA, but the fact is that, besides giving initial advice, their overall value is, in my opinion, questionable. There is little that a debt management company can do that a customer focused Insolvency Practitioner cannot also do.

Sometimes Debt Management Companies claim that by collating your Statement of Affairs for the IP they are doing work cheaper and that saves on fees. That is not the case. An IP usually has an assistant prepare a draft of the Statement of Affairs anyway, so, if you come to the IP reasonably prepared the IP’s assistant can quickly organize it and present it to the IP for review.

If you want to do an IVA, you are probably better off going directly to the Insolvency Practitioner after you have taken initial advice that an IVA is the best move for you.

IVA secret 5:
If most of your debt is owed to one creditor then consult them first before you try to do an IVA.

As 75% (in value) of your creditors have to vote in favour of your IVA proposal there is no point in going ahead with the IVA proposal if that creditor does not already view it favourably.

For example, if you owe £80,000 to five creditors and you have an unsecured loan for £61,000 with one of those creditors then that creditor has 76% of the vote – a sufficient percentage for that creditor to cast the deciding vote on whether you can proceed with an IVA or not.

So you should save yourself time and hassle and consult with them first either about the possibility of an IVA or you might even try negotiating a settlement to your debts (see the options and template letters in the resources section). In any case many IPs stipulate that you should have at least 3 creditors before they will arrange an IVA for you.)

Let me tell you; if you really want to do an IVA and not go bankrupt then a “Full and final settlement” IVA is better. Being in debt to a friend or family member is far better than being exposed to the stringent rules that govern a repayment IVA. In a repayment IVA you could suffer the punitive measures that apply in the case of IVA failure – which can occur if you miss 3 months payments. In a repayment IVA you could be paying monthly for 2 years and then not be able to afford an IVA and end up bankrupt anyway. All that money you paid would be then “lost”. Also in a full and final settlement IVA you can get better terms, usually a lower settlement and the IVA is completed in a matter of weeks not five years unlike a repayment IVA.

However all of this is subject to your creditors accepting your proposal for a full and final settlement. Your creditors will compare the lump sum they will get with the full and final settlement IVA against how much they would get if you paid into the IVA monthly for the five year period. If they can get a lot more out of you in the repayment IVA they will insist you do that.

IVA secret 3:
Vested interests might be pushing you into an IVA when bankruptcy is a better solution

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IVA Secret 1
Open a new bank account before you start your IVA

This advice applies to people who owe money to the bank that holds their day to day account. The bank, once they discover that you are doing an IVA, may be tempted to take your salary lodgement in your main bank account to repay your loans and overdrafts. To avoid this scenario it is best to move the bank account to another bank before starting the IVA.
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A person petitions for Bankruptcy when they cannot afford to pay their debts and need to start afresh. Bankruptcy is a formal solution that you can solicit yourself at the court. It’s rare that a creditor will petition the court to make you bankrupt as it costs them money but it can happen.

Typically bankruptcy lasts 12 months and then you are discharged i.e. you are released from the restrictions imposed on you. It can however last much longer - from 5 years up to even a maximum of 15 years. A Bankruptcy Restriction Order is applied beyond the initial 12 months in cases where the bankrupt was dishonest or especially blameworthy for the bankruptcy. Such cases include when the debt was incurred through gambling, fraud or negligence. However misconduct prior to 1 April 2004 will not be taken into account.

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