good, the bad and the ugly

[alexbe1971]

We have been miss-sold because although we told about fees where never told until 2 years into our IVA that they would be as high as 48%. This is far to high & in year 4 we will have to re-mortgage our house at a high rate of interest so that they recover ALL the money & Debit Free Direct makes a fat profit out of it.[:(!]
In the end we will be not better off [V]

[MelanieGiles]

Why do you feel that the IVA is not putting you into a better position than before Alexander? And why did you agree to the fees and the equity release at the time that your proposal was presented? Surely the basis of the IP fees was carefully explained within the proposal documents?

[jpj]

James C

1.Most people do not FULLY know what they are getting into when they enter an IVA! they are very complicated tools!
2.just because people go banckrupt does not make your IVA "responsible" and their bankcrptcy irresponsible...some people dont have the luxury of choosing between the 2!

The whole point of this forum is open,multi sided debate...If someone wants to" have a go about IVAs" they are free to do so,If someone wants to rave how great their IVA is they are free to do that too!
Thats the beauty of this site,it is an open debate, and should never become a shrine to IVAs.

[maxdebt]

I found the whole IVA option very simple. My unsecured debts were costing me £2000 a month! With an IVA , my creditors agreed to accept considerably less than that a month, and then, after 60 months, write off the remainder of my debts. [8)]

[alexbe1971]

We at no stage were told how high the fees would be before & after our IVA was approved. The true cost wasn't revealed to us until a copy of the Annual Report to Creditors was sent 2 years later.The company we were stupid enough to sign to is Debt Free Direct[:(!]
We were taken in by their misleading advertisements [V]

[johnt]

james.c, honestly the biggest problem with IVA's are that by there very nature there a bussiness, another means of makeing money, bottom feeding, whatever else you want to call it, and here in lies the problem.

How is it possible to help someone in very dire need and profit from it at the same time.

There will always be a conflict of interest. Consider also that this is a growing and increasingly competitive business.

Your original post isn't entirely fair in this respect, while there's money to be made then there's plenty of oportunity for the less scrupulous to play nicely. Not everyone is quite so smart and discerning.

[anfieldbabe]

i am in the middle of signinig a iva i could do with some advice before i do i was told the fees would be 3000 plus 900 with dfd

[Skippy]

James, while I agree that a lot of people knock IVA's, I do think that people need to be honest about their experiences. My own experience in an IVA was a negative one, and the reason I have posted about it on here is not to knock IVA's, but so that other people can learn from my mistakes.

I don't feel that I was being irresponsible going BR - I tried an IVA and at the end of the day it wasn't right for me. I couldn't manage after 4 months, and with the way prices are increasing I know that I would be going BR now anyway.

[welshman]

I totally agree with Skippy. A discussion forum is exactly that. If you have had a bad experience with IVAs, let people know so people are armed if they ever find themselves in the same boat. Likewise, if you've had good experiences, post those and tell us who the IP was. It's only by getting feedback from users on who the good, the bad and the ugly ones are that people know who to go with. As one user has said, don't make the site a shrine. You might as well rename the site shrinetoiva.co.uk.

[cr15py]

Anfield - firstly, your fees sound around the norm, I don't see a problem with those fees.

I think the majority of people are happy with their IVA, and I think we accept that. BUT, as is the case in general life, you only remember the bad stories. There are some genuine cases of mis-selling IVA's I'm sure, in fact there was a post on another site that someone suggested my IVA was mis-sold - BUT I wanted to be in an IVA - it worked best for me. IVA's don't work for everyone, and sometimes that doesn't become evident until you are in it. You only know what you are told and what you read. They cannot possibly include every single scenario in to any letter, brochure, leaflet, etc - sometimes IVA's can also fail because of a change in circumstances that the IVA model cannot adapt to, that is no-one's fault, merely a fact of life. As Skippy quite rightly says, if an IVA isn't for you, sometimes you don't know until a few months down the line.

There are also the perenial whingers who wouldn't be happy if their IVA worked perfectly. Those are the people who get on my nerves!

I perhaps could have gone bankrupt, but it would have been in the paper, my landlord (who is also my employer would have known as I understand it). My job might have been at risk as well, I don't know - I haven't asked! BUT I did want to try and repay as much of my debt as I could.

I think we have to respect the fact that some cases of people mis-selling IVA's are genuine cases; some are trying to work out if they are missing out on something (i.e. the genuine opportunistic person!), and some who are just here for a good moan!

[Skippy]

My one regret is that I was so scared of going BR at the beginning, and that the company I was with didn't really explain BR to me. I read the leaflets I was sent, and it still sounded scary, so maybe if things had been explained more clearly I would have made a different decision at the start.

That's what's good about this forum - you get to read real people's experiences. I found the forum too late, and there wasn't so much information available 18 months ago.

[wen]

I am going Bankrupt tomorrow, and I think as Skippy mentioned, it is important for people to realise that some people who go bankrupt DO feel responsibility to pay their creditors, but just cannot do it.

I feel responsibility to my creditors, and tried to get an IVA, but my surplus income would not go anywhere near to paying off an IVA (and with HSBC as a creditor too -- no chance!)

I think it's just important that all bankrupts are not immediately thought of as 'not giving a damn about their creditors', because trust me that is not the case. We just have no other option.

[Sensible77]

This is a lively debate! I don't like to assume but is alexbe1971 from the IVA Council?

[MelanieGiles]

Probably not - but for someone to say they were not aware of the basis of their IP's fees is ludicrous - these (by law) have to be clearly stated in the IVA proposal, and this has (by law) to be signed by the debtor. If the debtor did not read it properly before signing however ......... ??

[louisa.s]

This subject is very contentious and will produce very conflicting views but I do feel that the moan is specifically aimed at the minority!

1. I think it does depend on the advice you are given and the advice that you actually hear and understand! When we did ours we were informed of our all our options and made aware that we were a borderline case for IVA/Bankruptcy. We signed our R3 slip and made OUR choice to go with the IVA

2. With the exception of losing your job there is always the option of going bankrupt but it is either down to personal choice or no choice.

3. Once your are in your IVA/Bankruptcy it is your duty to co-operate and work with your IP/supervisor/trustee. Thus also giving you a degree of control back into your life as opposed to it being there in the background and surfacing when problems hit.

4. This forum is principally there for people with questions, queries etc who don't always feel that they can go to their IP or just to get a straight forward response that is easy to understand. It provides support, friendship to people who cannot inform people about their situation and for others who want to help and support others through it all.

I think alot of the knocking is done through people not fully understanding the proces which leads me on to a suggestion that popped into my head during one of those lightbulb moments!

Perhaps IPs/supervisors/trustees should produce an A4 document which spells out the proposal/review in clear and easy terms that everyone can understand or at least hihghlight the areas that need to be drawn to our attention.

I work in a legal environment so can cope with all the technical terms and phrases I still look at my proposal sometimes to try and make complete sense of it having absorbed all the relevant bits and pieces.

Sorry for the essay.

Lou