disillusioned

[Kevin.hm]

I am getting more and more despondent with the lack of service, mis and changing information and responses I am still receiving from my IVA provider and have noticed similar concerns posted by other forum members.

I still have not had my initial complaint letter dealt with - originally sent 11.Oct 2013. Rang IVA provider today, again, and same old story. Will put notes on my file and ask the complaints team to contact me.

I also received my annual review statement - with an inclusion to attempt to remortgage my home. I did not agree to this, but was forced to sign a form and was told it was not for re-mortagage purposes but was used to register an interest on my property to stop people selling their houses and making profits and moving away. ( I have a copy of the letter stating this) I was also told at the time of applying for my IVA - my home would not be affected by the IVA in any way as all of my debt was not secured against my home - not the case it seems ! Can I challenge this? and How can remortgaging help the debtor - it just puts you back into more debt, i thought the whole ideas of the IVA was get you out of debt.

One of the items in my original queries to the IVA provider was regarding the fees. My IVA agreement stated that i would pay a set fee and a figure entered - this again does not appears to be the case as the Iva provider now states they can adjust this amount based on % figure on what you pay. Is this correct ? At best it is a rip off and at worst breach of the contract? This would imply that no matter how much you pay extra into the IVA contributions to pay off the creditors the IVA provider will take more fees instead before hand - so really your not paying off as much as you thought or told by the IVA provider.

I also find that i am paying more in IVA payments a month than the original fixed loan repayments with the interest, some of which were for a lesser term than the IVA period.

When i was made redundant and was struggling with the amount of debt that i had, I really felt the advise from the debt advisor/IVA provider gave, that they had my interests at the fore and the IVA was my only option. Now i feel totally disillusioned, duped, mis informed by the whole affair and feel they now no longer have my interests at the fore and don't respond when they say they will, and only interested in what they can recover for them selves themselves and the creditors by a multitude of options they can apply at any time. It seems a lot of us feel this way reading thru the posts.
YES i read the information on the contract but did not fully understand the jargon despite my questions at the time , and was directed to look at only two particular clauses on the agreement (which were marked) , the cost of the iva and term and the plan of schedule repayments. At the time also, i was more fearful stressed about of the debt situation I was in.

I am not hopeful the IVA provider will respond or meet with me to finally go thru my concerns and complaints. But I am now seriously considering to refer the matter to the FOS - has any one else took this route and what was your experience of FOS getting involved to help?

Thanks for reading or responding (if you can help or give advice)

[Foggy]

Hi. First off the FOS is not the way to go as they have no interest in IVA providers. You will need to direct any complaint to the provider's Regulators via:

http://www.bis.gov.uk/insolvency/contac ... ts-Gateway

Regarding the points raised. You can only be bound by what was in the agreement and Chairman's Report. This will include details regarding equity release and fees. It is most likely that the IP originally wanted fees on a fixed fee or time spent basis .... 9 times out of 10 these days this is changed by the creditors to a percentage based structure, and will be detailed in the Chairman's Report.

[Kevin.hm]

Thanks Foggy for the link and advice - appreciated
Should I not be consulted on the changes to the agreement in advance of them happening ? just seems all one side once you sign up to the agreement and no longer party to the agreement or the processes involved!

[Foggy]

What should have happened was that you read, understand and agree the original proposal -- and a good IP would ensure all your questions were addressed.

Then this agreement is put to the creditors at the meeting. It is either accepted as drawn or the creditors propose alterations. Now ... this is the crucial part and where many IP's seem to stray from the path ... amendments should be put to the debtor to agree or propose compromise ... or, indeed, refuse. My feeling is that it is rarely made clear that you can adjourn the meeting to consider and many IP's seem to press for an on the spot response.

[MelanieGiles]

If IPs feel that their clients are not fully understanding modifications proposed by creditors, the of course meetings should be adjourned to allow more time for this - this is regularly used in my experience, where necessary.

From your posting, Kevin, it is difficult to see whether your IP has acted inappropriately at all - your IP is entitled to charge their fees based on a percentage of realisations, and I am not sure why you feel that this is a rip off - as presumably you agreed to those terms in the first place.

If you have real concerns about the way your IVA is being administered by your IP, then I suggest you arrange to have a meeting with them to iron these out.

[ClareSilver]

You state in your post that you did not agree to remortgage your property, yet this appears on your paperwork. Was there a clause in your IVA stating the the property was excluded from the Arrangement? Which company are you with?

[MelanieGiles]

It would be very unusual in today's world for anyone owning a property not to be required to re-mortgage, and this certainly ought to have been discussed with you fully at the time you were considering whether the IVA was the right solution for you, Kevin.

[Judith Anderton]

Dear Kevin.hm,
Please contact me via the email address in my profile so I can take a look into your case and address your concerns.
Speak soon.
Thanks,
Judith

[newdidit]

Kevin, can I say that finally someone who sees things in a similar view to my own and I totally agree with you.
I, at times wish I had never taken my IVA but had discussed personally with my creditors what we could arrange to get my debt paid off.
This is because at the time of my financial problems being at their height it seemed the most obvious way out and someone else would deal with it and I'm not sure you think straight or to far ahead because your head isn't in that place.
For myself at this time I paid a full and final settlement but still have no certificate of completion almost a year down the line due to PPis being chased, today even is the last day for the final company to respond so I ring EinF ever hopeful that this is it the final hurdle only to be told that it is still being investigated by Northern Rock and they informed EinF that they have found anger account in my name which they (northern rock) will also look into to.
My thoughts and expectations are long expired but I do think the will come a time when complaints against IP companies will come along and then we all be putting applications for refunds. It seems to me there is no where to go with concerns about the way things are run only your IP company and if I here once more about how they are working within the remit of your IVA I will explode. I have totally given up now and probably bit my nose off to spite my face because I asked for my CofC whilst my PPis were being chased and was told NO.
Now I have a letter saying as things are taking longer than expected they are offering me the opportunity to opt in to have my CofC when the girl rang me to say I had not responded to the letter she asked me what I wanted to do and I said NO I didn't want it I will wait thank you as now so close she was dumb struck.
I feel I have learnt my lesson I did not want any more jargon about clauses etc etc I just want this night mare to end NOW please.
PS I would not recommend anyone take out an IVA don't get in that position in the first place

[MelanieGiles]

It is a real shame that you have these thoughts over what is a very good solution for people to repay their debts. IVAs work for many many people, and whilst I can understand your frustration in your own case, and it is a shame that your firm seems to be taking so long to deal with the PPI investigation, I think it is unfair to recommend at large that people don't consider them.

Folks get into debt for a variety of reasons, and in my experience the very vast majority of the causes relate to events outside of their control and they do actually want to repay their debts whatever way that has to happen.

[Til]

I agree Melanie - our debt nightmare was tipped over from manageable to out of control because of an accident my husband had that put him out of a decent wage for a long time.

Our IVA was the best decision we could have made and really saved us in many ways.

It has got us out of a nightmare situation, taught us how to manage our money properly, allowed us to retain some dignity in paying back our best effort, and most importantly saved our home from being lost.

I have found working with our IP firm (DFD) has been a fair process and I have always had replies to emails (albeit having to wait a few days sometimes which is hardly a bad thing).

I cannot slate the IVA in any way - it is hard but then we should not have taken our debt levels to where one of lifes twists could throw us to the wolves. Lesson well learned.

[MelanieGiles]

Yes - I generally do not think that people borrow money with the deiberate intent of not paying it back. Circumstances usually dictate debt problems.

[MikeyM]

I think it's fair to say that IVA's are for some and not for others. In our cases it has been the absolute correct answer to mine and my wife's situation. We both have IVA's. We were just about coping (well we thought we were but on reflection in reality we were heading down a blind alley and kidding oursleves). Sudden interest rate rises out of the blue of up to 10% on our almost maxed out credit cards tipped us over the edge. We could pay the monthly amounts, but we had no money left so then you find yourself robbing Peter to pay Paul until you end up in a vicious circle. OK we realise now that we went over the top on the cards, but we earned good money and fortunately still do, but we never did it with the intention of not paying it all back. That was when we decided to address the issue. We looked at the options. We took advice on all the options and decided that the IVA was for us. We do not regret that decision for one moment and I can honestly say that the service we have received from our IP and firm has been second to none. If all companies (and I don't mean just all insolvency companies) delivered that level of customer service there would be no need for 'complaints' departments in any company.

[newdidit]

In June it will be 2 years since I offered a full and final payment which was accepted and paid on June 26th 2012.
Today is the 20th March 2014 and I still have not completed because of PPi claims please someone tell me if this is acceptable ???? I feel it is a bit extreme. Yes I know this ppi business is a lengthy one but I have a very close friend going through the same process and there IVA has been completed, ppi's sorted and CofC received all tided up and done deal with none of this. I just truly feel this is an excessive amount of time and that is what is frustrating me so so much

[MelanieGiles]

Which firm are you with? Two years to deal with PPI seems an awfully long time. Are you being provided with regular updates of the claims management company's progress.