Hi we had an IVA through Debt Free Direct which we did a Full and Final and received our completion certificate in March 2016. I have received a letter today informing me that I am owed some money (not PPI or trust of the IVA) but the company have said that they were a creditor in our IVA and only received 35p in the £1 so they are keeping the money they say the owe me to off set the debt. long story short I have been told by the Insolvency Service Gateway that our IVA and all legal documents really don't stand for anything. I now feel we were mislead into our IVA and I have been told to raise a complaint about Richard Savage but I don't know if he is still active not do I have an address from him which I need to raise the complaint.
If anyone can help or advise I would be grateful.
Is Richard Savage your former IP, or the creditor ? I feel the complaint lies against the creditor. They were bound into the IVA and agreed to write the debt off -- they cannot now claim monies to offset the old debt. There have also been a few instances of banks such as HSBC and RBS doing the same. The problem here lies with the fact that this needs a court ruling and no-one fresh out of an IVA can afford such an endeavour, so it goes unchallenged. The Insolvency Service seems powerless (on several fronts) and has not been given the teeth it needs (or maybe it doesn't possess the will anyway). I have previously suggested referring such things to the Financial Ombudsman -- although they have no jurisdiction over the IVA, as such, they do have over creditor actions. It is worth a try -- I have never had any feedback either way.
Offsetting is awkward ... if they were demanding payment from you I would say "take me to court" --- which they won't do because you will wave the IVA at them and the judge would give them a flea in their ear and, if the did anyway, we would get a definitive ruling. But, when they already have the cash in hand ...........
Finally -- the biggie ... you say this is not PPI or due to the IVA ... why not? What is it ? If of a similar nature it is still treated in the same way as PPI, so you might not get it anyway and all the angst will be for nothing.
My opinions are merely that .. opinions based on experience. Always seek professional advice.
IVA Completed 23rd July 2013 .... C.C. 10th January 2014
Thank you for your post. It makes sense to complain against the creditor first and ask them why they are claiming the monies into a closed IVA.
Richard Savage was our former IVA supervisor with Debt Free Direct. In truth our whole IVA was a mess, all the terms and conditions we agreed to went out of the window. Debt Free Direct changed tacked every which way to make the IVA fit which in turn affected my health, job and marriage. I am now too ill to work more than a couple of hours a day and my marriage broke down.
I think maybe there are 2 separate issues here, the first to carry out a full investigation into the handling of our IVA and the second is the issue of the creditor keeping the money. I would have no objection to the money been kept under the terms of the IVA if it was for PPI and distributed between the creditors but I cannot agree to this creditor keeping all the money for themselves. The money is for overpaid interest in the 1990's. Our IVA was the old type of IVA before the variation to close IVA's but still claim PPI. We did not agree to this variation but still seem to be bound by it which I don't understand. The paperwork I have only says about PPI being claimed but it all seems to incorporate anything and everything.
I feel that no matter what we did or how much we paid including remortgaging to do a Full and Final I will never be free of the IVA
If that company received 35p in the £ then sods law says so did all of your creditors. Your ex creditor knows what they are doing is not within the letter of the IVA contract and are asking you to make a complaint against your IP because they didn't get 100p in the £ as a dividend, maybe they think they should have? The money they are 'keeping' to offset the full amount that you initially owed them would probably get distributed to all the other creditors, if you managed to get your hands on it. I would just put the letters in the bin and let the creditor take action, if any against your ex IP.
Last Payment made 04/12/14. Completion Certificate 25/7/15. IVA company GT. No Issues
