Seems to me another case of lenders doing their best to make IVA's as unattractive an option as possible.
There's no doubt that the IVA itself should be off the record within 6 years.
The problems refer with the original debts. Normally these would be 'defaulted' with a 'default notice' issued before the IVA started. They would be listed as such on the credit record then also be off within six years.
However it seems the lenders are sneakily re-registering the default as close as possible to the IVA end point, causing it to remain on the record for a further 6 years after the IVA ends.
No doubt the creditors would argue that the debt remains in default up to the point it is written off by the successful completion of the IVA and they are entitled to record it as such. I would have thought they could also argue that the recording of the ongoing default does not necessarily require the issue of a default notice.
However as Andy has successfully challenged them on that basis it seems a very good place to start and I'm sure at very least they are on thin ice.
I do wonder though about the number of posts here from people asking this type of question, one implication being 'how soon will it be before I can start racking up the credit again ?!!!'. An IVA is a major insolvency procedure. Once you've been through it, do you really want to go and do it all over again ?
-Best
Please view my blog at
www.go4broke.blogs.iva.co.uk
'6 years sticking my head into the Lion's mouth of debt !'
