Around three years ago my non priority debts started to get unmanageable, it seemed they would never go down as I couldn't afford to make large enough payments so was mainly paying interest. I had debts spread over credit cards and a bank loan all in totaling around £17k. I work as a Hospital assistant and was then on £16k pa. I decided to seek help through Payplan an IVA company (who ended up making money out of me and i was left no better after a year owing practically the same amount) and they accepted to take me on and I started paying monthly amounts through them to settle my creditors. After about a year I fell pregnant had my baby and had 9 months maternity leave and have gone back to work 2 days a week. Through the maternity leave Payplan agreed 2 payment holiday which i gladly took, i warned them I wasn't sure how I was going to start making the payments again at the same amount that I had been . Reducing the monthly amount was not an option to Payplan and they failed my IVA. I collated all of the creditors address and my old account numbers and decided to contact them direct with a view to asking them to write off the debt. I gave details of my income and expenditure, explained I have no assets to be called upon and that I never intended to not pay back what I owed, and that's the reason I approached an IVA company in the first place, I thought that promptly replying to every letter the creditors and now solicitors sent would put me in good stead, but thats not the case, every letter I reply to with a letter asking for them to consider writing off the amount owed is ignored and they are demanding payment. I have even offered a nominal amount of £5.00 a month on the basais they could continue to frezze interest and I could pay that until I'm in a better financial position to make larger payments. This has been ignored as well. I have now received a letter for one debt of around £550 from Dydens fairfax Solicitors, telling me that If i dont settle in full in one week they have authority to commence legal proceedings and that i may be liable for court costs and that i should not underestimate the seriousness of this letter. I am so worried, I don't know what to do, I live with my boyfriend who has his own debts to pay, hes a homeowner and pays all the mortgage and all bills, all my debts were incurred before I met him so I don't thing he will be liable will he?. I contribute about a 1/4 of what he pays out in outgoings towards the upkeep of the house. I have literally no money to pay them back, My boyfriend said he would help out towards paying the £600 odd it costs for a bankruptcy. Is bankruptcy a route I should go down in this case? and what are the implications of this? Looking forward to hearing your views. Thanks