. . . and I'd never thought that could happen to me. I had a full time job as an IT manager and no debt backlog. It wasn't hard to spend what I wanted to and meet all of my commitments. Then redundancy hit. I was shocked to find that I wasn't even entitled to redundancy pay. It took me 12 months to find another job and I had to rely heavily on my credit cards to supplement my £50 a week job seeker's allowance.
I was delighted with my new job when it finally happened, but my credit card repayments were taking a large chunk of my salary. I decided I had to take positive action and took out a £20,000 consolidation loan.
Things seemed better at first, but then my long term partner and I separated and I had to move out of our home into a rented flat. I needed money to pay the bond and I had to furnish the flat too. The only way I could do this was by using my credit card and this ran up another £3000 worth of debts.
Things got even worse when I had to move again and pay another £860 bond on my credit card. By now my salary barely covered my creditor repayments. I was using my card to buy everyday items. I tried for another consolidation loan without luck.
It was then I talked to Debt Free Direct. They explained to me that I didn't have to go bankrupt because an IVA was a much better alternative for my own situation. They didn't charge me anything and it was such a relief to receive clear, impartial advice. With their help I've avoided bankruptcy and I can be realistically debt free in 5 years.
