HELP! Confused! Worried!

[SLM]

Our IVA was agreed on the 10th August, however, when the paperwork came through we realised that it didn't appear that any allowances had been made with regard to mortgage interest rates. Since our original I&E, our outgoings have increased by £118 per month due to increased payments on our mortgage & secured loan. I therefore contacted our IP to query whether any modifications could be made & the amount of our IVA reduced by the £118. They said they would need to call a creditors meeting & to leave things as they were & not sign any paperwork until this decreased payment had hopefully been agreed. Our IP also asked for a cheque for our first payment before anything was agreed, which we did. We have now received a letter today from our IP saying we have defaulted already by 2 months & we should have been making payments whilst the modifications were being considered! We had not been told this before & we are now really worried. We were told that our first IVA payment would be made one month after agreement (which would have been 10th September), therefore, if we have defaulted then surely its only by one month! Although our IP told us not to sign off any paperwork until the modifications had been agreed!
Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Looking to a debt free future!

[Adam Davies]

Hi
What a mess.
This should have been factored into your IVA prior to the original creditors meeting.
You need to speak with your IP direct,and make sure that it is your IP and not a case worker,and clarify where you are and what you will have to do to keep your IVA live.
I presume that you still have the monthly payments that you have not made put by ?
Regards

Andy Davie
IVA.co.uk Spokesperson

About me:
http://www.iva.co.uk/andy_davie_profile.asp

IVA Helpline: 0800 197 4838
http://www.iva.co.uk/iva_helpline.asp

[SLM]

Andy
We do have some of the money but took the opportunity of putting our car in for a service which cost quite a lot due to the age of our car. You may be right about speaking to a caseworker, we have never even spoken to our IP, all the letters that come from him are "pp'd" by someone else.
We are extremely worried about defaulting & what that may mean even though we don't feel thats our fault

Looking to a debt free future!

[Adam Davies]

Hi
I suggest ensuring that you talk with your IP,explain the situation and raise as much of the money as you can.
The worst scenario is that your IVA will fail,and very unlikely that you will be made bankrupt,You will be back to square one.You can look at a DMP or ask another IP to propose a new IVA.

Regards

Andy Davie
IVA.co.uk Spokesperson

About me:
http://www.iva.co.uk/andy_davie_profile.asp

IVA Helpline: 0800 197 4838
http://www.iva.co.uk/iva_helpline.asp

[SLM]

Thanks Andy, I've just spoken to someone (not IP) who said pretty much the same as you.
We are now just hoping the modifications go through & our creditors agree .... fingers crossed.
Thanks for your help

Looking to a debt free future!

[MelanieGiles]

How silly to have to modify an IVA so early on due to interest rate rises? There have not been any in the timescale you are referring to, so why were these not taken into account when the proposals were signed.

This sort of issue continues to give IPs and IVAs a bad name, but I am glad for you that it is getting sorted out.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

To have me propose an IVA for you, please visit:
http://www.melaniegiles.com/ivaEnquiry.asp

See customer feedback at:
http://www.iva.com/iva_companies/IVA_Advice_Bureau.asp

[SLM]

Thanks Melanie. As you say, all the interest rate rises took place before August so I wish these would have been taken into account but our IP used the same I&E sheet from back in April. It was only when we received another letter from our secured loan lenders in August about another rise that it made me stop & think about how much our I&E had gone up since April (our secured loan lenders are a little slow in actioning interest rate rises - surprisingly).
Andy also mentioned about speaking to our IP who interestingly we have never spoken to, we are now speaking to person number 4, it always gets very confusing for us because we never know who to ask for when we call!

Looking to a debt free future!

[MelanieGiles]

That is ridiculous. Your IP should have altered the figures before they were represented, and has put you in this situation - assuming that you had informed them about the increases.

I find it hard to believe that an IP would present an IVA proposal to creditors without verifying the information contained within it for accuracy, or that you would have signed a proposal knowing that you were paying higher figures which would affect your affordability.

I am afraid that the fact that you keep speaking to different people in the company, probably relates to the fact that you chose a large firm to represent you rather than a smaller specialist practice.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

To have me propose an IVA for you, please visit:
http://www.melaniegiles.com/ivaEnquiry.asp

See customer feedback at:
http://www.iva.com/iva_companies/IVA_Advice_Bureau.asp