DFD We've had to drop our payment

[Imhotep]

We always looked at bankruptcy as a very last resort - so never gave it much thought.

Good for you

I was just a little surprised that someone with no assets would choose an IVA is all.

[Michael Peoples]

The rise in disbursements is not much and can probably be justified. However, what I would be curious about is why some creditors have not claimed yet the IVA is nearing the end. Has the IP paid out any dividends or are they sitting with a huge sum of money in the bank?

If a creditor has not claimed in the first four years they should be out by now and the money distributed to the other creditors. In you case this would shorten the IVA term so ask your IP about this.

[kazzy]

Hi Michael [:)]
I was curious about the creditors who haven't submitted their formal claims yet, I think there's 2-3 of them, and when I asked today about it I was told that the IP will make sure those creditors do recieve their money and as such I have to pay the 4k estimated unclaimed amount. I asked how they will know what amounts to pay if claims haven't been submitted but was told they have procedures to make sure everything is settled and it will all be ok (not a great amount of detail I know)

I was wondering if there was a certain amount of time that creditors had to make a claim, as I couldn't find anything concrete in my paperwork - although it isn't the easiest of things to read to be honest!

They have paid out dividends, I don't have this year's report yet but as of Sept last year they had paid 46.64p/£, with a balance of around £8k in the bank.

[Michael Peoples]

Your IP can issue a notice to creditors ordering them to claim otherwise they are out. I am surprised this has not been done in four years. Ask them again why they have not attempted to exclude these creditors.

[Broke of London]

The fee increase may be because your fees are a pc of monies realised...mine are 15%. ps 15% of 4k is £600 so it is in their interest for creditors to claim. But I'm a cynic!!

[kazzy]

I've emailed them this morning to try and find out why they haven't tried to exclude the creditors who haven't yet submitted their claims, will post here when I get a reply.
I don't have an issue with the fees they are charging, as they are pretty straightforward and don't seem to be based on a percentage of claims (unless it's very cleverly worded and hidden in small print lol). It's worked out on a set figure for setting up the IVA, a set figure for running the IVA and a figure for disbursements so I'm happy with that
Will post back when I have any more info from them - kinda wish they would exclude these creditors as it shortens the IVA further, but maybe I'm just wishing for too much now!

[kallis3]

Hope they get back to you soon.

I have no idea whether all of my creditors have put in a claim yet.

[kazzy]

Just thought I'd update anyone who is interested. Although I've sent them 2 emails over the last 2 weeks about the estimated amount and the creditors who haven't put in a formal claim - I've had no response. I want to find out why they haven't sought to exclude them yet, to clear up what figure we do actually still owe, but they don't want to contact me it seems...
I've received a letter today telling me that I've got to pay 10 more months at £1005 and one month at £411, but this may change if they get more claims in.... which is what they said before I questioned the estimated amount.... I give up! It's like they have totally ignored the emails I've sent.
I could call them but I don't have a specific contact and as such, there isn't a great chance the person who takes the call will be able to help anyways - I'll just get generic responses as I have in the past.
I guess I'm pretty powerless, just gotta pay for as long as they tell me I have to - I have to admit, this isn't as straight forward as they made it out to be in the beginning
So, altogether, I'm not happy, but I suppose I've gotta be near the end... fingers crossed

[liamjames]

This is an interesting one - is 100p/£ a required minimum dividend? If it was just an estimated dividend then our IPs tend to do things very differently, as there are generally allowances in the proposal for increased claims and a consequently reduced dividend.

I don't know enough about the case to comment, but I'm intrigued.

At the very least, communication appears to be poor.

[Michael Peoples]

This does not sound right Kazzy and you should take this up directly with your IP. It is a substantial amount of money you are being asked to pay without getting a proper breakdown or even a reasonable explanation.

Ring the company and demand to speak to the IP as two ignored emails in two weeks is grounds alone for a complaint. Do you mind saying who the IP is as if it is any of the companies represented on this forum, we might be able to get you a proper response.

[kazzy]

I'm pretty sure 100p/£ was the required minimum dividend right from the start and we were very happy that this was achievable.

I suppose they could argue I had it explained verbally to me about the amount outstanding, but this included the estimated amount and they are seemingly not willing to do discuss that.

To quote from the letter today:
"your arrangement term currently stands at 62 months as payment breaks have been authorised. It is anticipated that you will achieve a 100p return to your creditors, however as we have yet to confirm 3 creditor claims the final balance may change. Therefore the Arrangement term is to remain at 62 months to compensate for any increase in claims that may occur."
I've also just re-read the letter and noticed they've allowed for month 61-62 at £1005 - this is all really confusing me now.

As I've said before, yes we did have a payment break but we'd been paying a higher level of contributions for over a year so we we're still 'ahead' of where we should have been with our payments.

I suppose if they want to keep the 'estimated' amounts as they are, there's not much I can do about it.
The IVA is through Debt Free Direct

[liamjames]

Thanks Kazzy. Declan often posts here, and his contact details are available on the experts page. I'm sure he'll be able to get things moving for you.

[Michael Peoples]

Maybe speak to Declan from DFD who posts here and his details are under the experts page. If you can get the unclaimed amounts excluded from the IVA it will save you money personally so it is certainly worth a try. I am sure Declan will at least get you some answers and you will have a better idea where you stand and when your IVA will cease for sure.

[MelanieGiles]

Why does it take over four year to agree creditor claims? If mine take more than four months I am chasing creditors so we can distribute the funds we are holding.

[kazzy]

Just tried mailing Declan but got a bounce-back error saying it couldn't be delivered.
Hopefully he'll see this thread and respond or I'll try phoning DFD in a few days time (had wisdom teeth out few days ago and talking still hurts at the mo)
I'll let you all know if I have any success, and thank you all for the advice you've given so far