HELP ME PLEASE IVA COULD FAIL

[amanda221]

I entered into an IVA in December 2005 and told the IVA IP that i was in ongoing litigation, with my ex partner. He drew up an IVA for £45000 £5000 i paid for the first year and the sale of my property in Spain would pay the balance off.

I told the IP that this may not be a sure thing that the property would be sold off and that i could pay the IVA as my ex is fighting me for the property, iam in the situation where now because of ill health i have been unable to attend court hearings and therefore the costs are now outweighting the equity in the property and i now could be obliged to sign the property over to my ex partner, making me fail the IVA. I did not tell my solicitors that i entered into an IVA as i didnt think i needed to my IP was fully aware of my ongoing litigation and did not advise me to tell the solicitors, the solicitors are now pulling out of the case as they are saying that i could be in contempt of court by not telling them. I have been told that i have been given bad advice by the IP and need to speak to someone who regulates IP, I dont know who this is so need help with that and also what implications does it have on me by me not telling my solicitors that i entered into an IVA. They have been paid £30000 by a friend so it is not as if they are out of pocket.
Please Help

Amanda

[scaredkez]

hi amanda and welcome to the forum, i am sorry to hear about your situation, i am not an expert, just another person in debt, however i have just made a compliant to the regulatory body of my ip, their governing body should be on any letters that they have issued to you mine was on the very bottom, then maybe one of the experts here will be able to give you their address or google it on the internet, hope you get some joy soon
please keep us posted and let us know how you get on
kerri

Please view my blog at: http://scaredkez.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[Storm]

It is likely that your lawyers believe you are in contempt of court which normally involves either a lie or material facts being witheld during a hearing(s). You will get the barge pole treatment because the courts take a dim view of this.

Your lawyers will also be aware that they will have little chance of recovering fees if they continue to represent you and the IVA survives.

If you are in contempt of court and you loose the case there is also a significant chance that the other side will apply for and possibly win costs. If you have spent £30k then I presume the other side have spent the same and you could end up a lumpy bill.

Did the IP specifically say 'don't tell' the lawyers as I am not sure it would be for him to specifically say you must tell your solicitors about the IVA.

Possibly not what you wanted to hear.........

[MelanieGiles]

Hi Amanda

I am not sure whether there are actually any serious implications of you not telling your solicitors about the IVA, although it would have been sensible to do so as it appears that your equity is seriously being erroded by ongoing legal costs. What provision was made for ongoing costs (if any) within your IVA proposal?

Also what was the basis of your IVA - was it a one-year arrangement to allow you to sell the property, or is it running over five years?

The main problem here seems to be that the IVA is going to fail due to lack of funding which was to come from the property in Spain. I feel that your IP should have been more certain about the nature of this asset, before advising you to commit to an IVA on the back of you potentially winning your case.

The worst thing that can possibly happen here is that the IVA Supervisor will fail the case, and you may be required to go bankrupt. If so, then your assets will vest in a Trustee who can continue the action against your ex-partner if he so chooses.

Looks like your friends are likely to be the main losers in this as they have funded your litigation costs and may not eventually be repaid.

If you feel that you have a claim to make against your IP for poor advice, do make sure that you attempt to resolve matters with him/her first, but if this is unsuccessful then you must find out his regulatory body as Kez has suggested above.

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

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

[amanda221]

Hi Melanie

Thanks for your reply and also to kez, my IVA agreement had been proposed for one year of monthly repayments and then the spanish property was to pay off the rest if i suceeded in winnning the case, the IP was fully aware of ongoing litigation and also knew that the costs for the solicitors were being paid via a third party, he also knew that the ongoing litigation was not straightforward and therefore it was not a sure thing that i could win, he suggested that if that were not the case he would then put forward a new proposal, this proposal was put forward last month and was rejected, so therefore another meeting is set for 26 th of feb to draw conculsion on the matter which i think will resolve in bankruptcy which i have now accepted could be the case.
The IP, i have been told by an advisor acted inappropriately as he should not have taken the case on knowing that i may not win the case. Bearing this in mind i am now trying to find out who regulates them, there is no governing body at the bottom of their letter but the company name is mccambridge duffy

Thanks for your help

Amanda

[MelanieGiles]

Amanda

What is the name of the individual IP there, and who referred you to that particular firm? Who did you meet when the IVA was being put forward - was it the IP, or a member of his staff?

It is difficult for me to advise whether you have a good case against the IP - this will largely be dependent upon the manner in which this was presented to your creditors. Did you definately say that the property would be sold, or was there always some element of doubt - and therefore creditors were invited to also share in the risk that this option may not come good.

Also, if you have paid contributions of £5,000 in the first year, what is there to stop you contining with these as an alternative? What is the basis of this second offer which is currently on the table for creditors?

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

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

[amanda221]

HI Melanie

I am now dealing with a lady called Dorothy Brown although i have never spoken with her only her secretary, and i have never had a face to face meeting, i went on to the internet and was referred that way.
The IP was fully aware that I was in litigation and i have this in writing it was never set in stone that i was able to settle the debt using the property and they were fully aware of this.
It says in my proposal the the property is in legal dispute with my ex partner.
I have been in ongoing litigation since 2004

The new proposal put forward was for 21p in the £ as my circumstances have changed, what with being seriously ill but this was rejected so not sure what to do next

Thanks
Amanda

[MelanieGiles]

Thanks for that Amanda

I can confirm that Dorothy Brown is licensed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, to whom you should raise your concerns if you feel you have been badly advised. The Institute have an excellent mediation service, which generally manages to resolve most disputes amicably.

Is she your actual insolvency practitioner? As I find it hard to believe that you have only dealt with her secretary so far. It is also rather curious that this whole IVA was put forward for you on the basis of an unconfirmed asset, all over the internet with no face to face meeting. Even more so as you were involved defended litigation at the time.

Although you have had a rotten experience with this IVA, and I imagine the majority of the money you have paid over has been lost to IP fees, it may be better now to just cut your losses and recognise that bankruptcy may be a better option.

I do not believe that this IVA was a viable option from day 1, and the IP should have done more homework and been in discussions directly with your solicitors.

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

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

[amanda221]

Hi Melanie

Thanks for all your help, I will certainely think every through, I have never spoke with Dorothy, as the original gentleman i spoke to who was my IP suddenly left the company and i was then told by the secretary that my case had been taken over by Dorothy. I never thought it strange as i have never been through this process before and thought it normal that i was dealing with the secretary.

Anyway thanks once again, i will contact the IP tomorrow and raise these issues.

Thanks
Amanda

[MelanieGiles]

Amanda

Can you give me the name of the IP who originally acted for you please? You will find this in your proposal documents.

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

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

[amanda221]

HI Melanie

The person dealing with the IVA is Dorothy Brown, although this is not the person i spoke to in the very beginnning, i did speak with a gentleman. They assure me that Dorothy has dealt with it and if iam to complain to anyone it would be her name that i use. Saying this she is going to contact me tommorrow with regards to my compliant.

Let me know if you need anything else

Thanks

Amanda

[MelanieGiles]

Amanda

I actually know Dorothy Brown, we used to work together a long time ago. I am sure that she will investigate your case fully, but do let us know how you get on.

Good luck

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

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk