CCJs and IVA's?

[Mr and Mrs Brassic]

Hi all we are newbies to all this so please be patient.

I have been on a debt management plan for around 3yrs with no real problems (im with Harrington Brooks).

Around 6mths ago my wife decided that her debts needed to be managed so she went to Moneysolve. Shes been through all the rough and they told her that she would be better with an IVA, however their initial managent still incurred 4 CCJs (GE Capital Bank), and now there applying for the IVA, these all happened in june. Today she recieved notice that one of the companies hadnt been paid scince May! she rang moneysolve and they said that all payments had stopped until the IVA had been set up. They then said that she needed to pay £40 a month court fees as well as her usual payment to them??? which she cant afford otherwise she wouldnt have gone to them. As Moneysolve arnt paying the creditors especialy the one with the CCJs shes worried further action will be taken?

Can anyone advise? we are more than a little concerened.

thanks
Mike

[ianmillington]

Hi Mike

If I read you correctly your wife has been paying into a DMP for 6 months but nothing has yet been paid to the creditors? If so, what have they been doing with the money?

To get a better feel for the situation, how much is your wife paying each month, how many creditors does she have and how much in total does she owe them?

Ian

[Viki.W]

Hey Mike, just wanted to welcome you to the forum. You're certainly in the right place for advice, as Ian says, if you can post a few more details about the debt then the technical experts can help you further. X

[Mr and Mrs Brassic]

Just to add as weve just had the post in! Moneysolve have passed the account to Beesley Nominee services for the IVA.

However theres a paragraph that states;

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Voluntary Contributions

I understand from Moneysolve that whilst we are preparing the documentation for an IVA on your behalf, that Moneysolve will continue to collect the monthly contributions that you make. That money will be transfered to this firm to cover the costs involved in preparing and drafting your IVA proposal document. Because these costs will be quite substantial there will be no surplus funds available from these monies to refund to you or dispurse to your creditors in the event that your IVA is not accepted at the meeting of creditors.

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This has us even more worried!

Thanks
Mike

[Mr and Mrs Brassic]

Oops looks like you both replied while I was typing the last essay.

Ian,

She been with them a little longer than I thought.

Theyve paid 6 out of 10. Theyve now had £800 that hasnt been paid to anyone! she pays them £200. She has around 6 creditors (ill clarify that later as she isnt in) and owes £16000.

Viki,

Many thanks for your advice.


Thanks to both and all.

Mike

[Til]

Welcome to Forum from me too! [:)]
I'm sure the experts will advise you on this soon Mr & Mrs Brassic (love the names by the way!) but if I were in your position I would perhaps talk to some other IP's as many don't charge any up front.

We are with Debt Free Direct who have been great to us but get mixed reviews sometimes - however Melanie Giles who posts on here gets fab praise - or check out www.iva.com for a list of IP's - either way you might find going with a company that doesn't charge up front fee's is better for you - especially as sometimes IVA's are not accepted and you would lose the money they are talking about.

Good luck - you are in the right place for expert advice here and sure they will advise you shortly.

[ianmillington]

Basically what they are saying is that you will continue to make the payments whilst they prepare your IVA proposal and if it doesn't get approved you won't get it back as you are still responsible for the nominees fees.

Noting illegal about it, but the question must be asked as to whether you would be better speaking to someone who is prepared to act on a no-win no fees basis, which frankly is the norm nowadays for a consumer IVA. What they don't say is, in the event of approval of the IVA, whether the payments already made count towards the 60 you will make into the proposal, or whether they are in addition. You should clarify that too.

Has your wife signed an engagement letter in favour of Beesley's?

Ian

[Viki.W]

Sounds to me they are charging you up front fees which you will not get back if your IVA is rejected. You don't need to pay a company to set up an IVA, you can go straight to an Insolvency Practitioner. I'm pretty sure that all the IPs that post on here will only ask for the first months payment up front and then the fees are taken out of your monthly IVA contributions, also they will refund the money if not accepted. Do you know who your actual IP is?

[Viki.W]

Sorry Ian, I'm a slow typer, your post wasn't there when I started.[:I]

[ianmillington]

Not to worry Viki I think we are all tripping up on this one!

Mike - £200 a month and 6 creditors with £16k debt is IVA territory. With a DMP I would expect the first payment to be kept by the provider as a setup fee. The question I am asking is what has happened to the remainder? Has some of it been retained by the DMP company? The letter from Beesleys could be construed as referring only to future payments.

Has anyone told you what the overall fees are going to be from both firms as I see the potential for your wife to shell out a lot of money which, if the IVA is not approved, will be lost.

Ian

[Mr and Mrs Brassic]

Thanks for the advice, I think we found this forum a little late as she has signed somthing and sent it back to beesleys.

The other worry is GE Capital Bank, they have been the biggest nuicance in regards to hastle and then the CCJs.

There are actually 9 creditor instances against the wife 4 are with GE Capital.

Has anyone else had any dealings with them with IVAs?

Thanks
Mike

[ianmillington]

I don't think GE Capital are particularly hostile to IVAs. They don't appear to be tied in to any IVA voting agency.

So far as Beesleys are concerned, they have been around a long time and whilst I don't know them personally I have not heard anything that would cause me to say anything adverse. However, I would strongly advise you to recommend to your wife that she gets a full breakdown of the monies handled by the DMP firm so you know how much has been kept by them in fees and how much has been handed over to Beesleys.

Ian