IVA approved! thanks to everyone who posted

[Sensible77]

Hi. This is my first post to IVA.co.uk. I contacted Payplan about my debt problem after hearing about them through MoneySavingExpert.com They have recommended an IVA. I have started the process and have provided them with all the requested documentation and today a house valuer, arranged by Payplan, came to the house to carry out the valuation. I am having what they call an R3 telephone call on 10 May. My concern is that the quality of the correspondence and e-mails, (it's hard to talk at work), from Payplan seem quite poor to me. I am not confident with their responses and twice I have been asked to sign and return forms that are not necessary unless I go ahead with the IVA, (R3 form), and an RX1 which I understand is only necessary to sign and return if the IVA is approved. Am I worrying unnecessarily?

[Skippy]

I've heard good and bad things about Payplan. When I was first looking into an IVA I rang them, but they were busy and said they would call me back later that day. 3 days later they rang me at home during the day and spoke to my partner, despite the fact I asked them to ring in the evening. Luckily my partner knew what was going on, but it made me a bit wary of them. Hopefully some of the others who have experience of Payplan will be along soon.

Onwards and upwards!!!

View my blog at http://skippy13.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[Sensible77]

Thanks, Skippy13. I'm probably worrying over nothing but at the moment I can't think of much else until I know if my IVA gets approved or not. Payplan said it will take about 12 weeks. I am currently up to date with all my payments, but from next month I will be making token payments to my creditors. I'm dreading the phone calls from them. Calling me at home will not be too bad, but I hope they don't call me at work.

[dcl]

Hi Sensible
I've been with Payplan since 2004 and they have been fine (apart from one little hiccup which was all ironed out very quickly). They were professional in setting up the IVA and put the best offer forward to my creditors which was accepted on the first attempt. I do find them easy to contact and they reply very quickly to queries.

[tracy.h]

Hi sensible 77,i havnt heard any horror storys on this forum regarding payplan,did you take advise from any other firms before you went to payplan,i personaly contacted them and found them very helpfull,but after posting on this forum,i would always now go to at least 2-3 different companys befor i made my decision,as an iva is a big commitment and with the right ip you will hopefully get the result you need,goodluck keep posting let us no how its all going,as i no its a stressfull time waiting,for your creditors meeting,and i only recieved the Rx1 form after my iva was excepted,maybe other firms work differently.

[Sensible77]

Thanks for the responses. I'm sure I've got nothing to worry about with them and they will do their best. I think that this site and forum is an excellent resource. I'll keep posting with updates.

[ordinary_world]

Hi,
We were with PayPlan (and just like you, we found them via Martin Lewis...well his moneysaving diet book anyway). I really dont like to make any disparaging comments about companies, like PayPlan, who seem to be genuine and honest when dealing with debt problems. I would, however, like to briefly share my experiences of PayPlan to help you make an informed choice.

We realised we were insolvent in Feb time and had been struggling to feed ourselves (family of 5) for months. It came to a point where we had to act and after checking Martin Lewis's book we contacted CCCS and then PayPlan. It soon became apparent that a DMP would take too long and would affect our credit rating for 18 years or so. An IVA appeared the only viable solution and CCCS, at that time, didnt do one. Sooo.....we contacted PayPlan!

To cut a long story short - they're quite a big outfit with many customers and their debt advisors offer good advice but are busy and difficult to contact i.e. they'll contact you rather than you them. This is fine, if they would simply ring/email when they said they would and also give you a contact number if you have any queries. I found that after a month we were still hanging about waiting for calls and stuck in the data gathering phase.[V] We were desperate as March would have been the first month we wouldnt have paid our creditors and issued them with letters. I just couldnt rely on PayPlan for fast personalised care.....and hey if they're not reliable at this stage, who knows what would happen when we were in touch with their IP and our creditors!

Anyway, I stumbled across this website after a bit of surfing and found it an invaluable resource.[88] After spending a couple of hours on this forum, I was in touch with the experts and also other people in my situation and was offered superb non-judgmental advice and many of my questions were answered.

We are now with Melanie Giles and have been offered nothing less than excellent personalised care and are now moving swiftly towards an IVA solution.....we know exactly where we stand, what we need to do and what to expect. So I would definately recommend Melanie or indeed any of the other experts on this forum[^]

Sorry if I've sounded so negative about PayPlan, I'm sure there are many satisfied customers, unfortunately I'm not one of them

I wish you well and whoever you end up with I'm sure you will obtain the support you need.

Best

OW

- 'I wont cry for yesterday 'cause there's an ordinary world somehow I have to find...'

[Adam Davies]

Hi
Generally Payplan have had good comments on our site,so my advice would be to "drive" forward the IVA proposal yourself and contact payplan on a weekly basis and ask for an update.Sometimes with a large IVA provider you lose out on the personal service.
Regards

Andy Davie
IVA.co.uk Spokesperson and site manager
(aka Neverending)

Please check out my blog: http://andydavie.blogs.iva.co.uk

View my profile here:
http://www.iva.co.uk/andy_davie_profile.asp

[Sensible77]

Thanks again for the responses. Payplan's response times and the ability to contact them is fine. Maybe it's too early to tell how it will go. I only contacted them on 3 April and they have had all the documentation from me that they have asked for. They said that they will contact all my creditors to tell them what I was doing and this morning I've had a letter from MBNA acknowledging this. So now I don’t think I should be too concerned. With regard to the letter from MBNA, they have asked me to contact them to discuss alternative payment arrangements as they do not agree that an IVA is the best thing for me to do. I will be making a token payment to them and sending a copy of their letter to Payplan as advised by Payplan.

[thebear29uk]

Hi Sensible

Previous postings have shown that MBNA don't like to find out about your difficulties by receiving notification of a creditors meeting. They want to offer their own solutions. Most probably they would offer you a "short settlement" of possibly 40p in the £. However what they dont always appreciate is that whilst they are very proactive in finding a non-IVA solution, if you have several creditors its not always easy to get them all to agree this course of action. It also depends on the % of your total debt as if they have more than 25% in total they can scupper a yes vote for the IVA.
I would advise that you do talk to them but make it clear to them that you are not going into this blind and that you are aware of the alternatives. I also told them I participate in a forum so know the negative views regarding IVAs but you feel it is your best option given your circumstances.
Be prepared for further letters/phonecalls but stick to your guns and tell them you will discuss any offers with your IP and be guided by their advice.

Good luck

Dave

[Sensible77]

Thanks, Dave. All my creditors have been written to by Payplan so they will all know prior to a creditor's meeting notification. Am I correct in thinking that all creditors must form part of an IVA? i.e. it is not possible to have a seperate arrangement with some? Not that I would want to do that. 40p in the £ is achievable by me so I hope that my IVA will be accepted.

[Adam Davies]

Hi
You can have a seperate arrangement with a creditor but its unusual and it must be written into your IVA proposal[although it does not fom part of your IVA] so that other creditors are aware and agree to it.
Regards

Andy Davie
IVA.co.uk Spokesperson and site manager
(aka Neverending)

Please check out my blog: http://andydavie.blogs.iva.co.uk

View my profile here:
http://www.iva.co.uk/andy_davie_profile.asp

[Sensible77]

I've decided to stay with Payplan for my IVA. I've heard from them today to say that they now have all the information necessary to put forward my proposal.

[Sensible77]

Just thinking out loud. My unsecured debt is 80K and we have 40K equity in the house. Payplan are proposing I pay £473 per month in an IVA and then 75% of my half of the equity in the house in the fourth year. If the equity stays the same, (I know it probably will increase), my creditors will receive ££43380, (£473 x 60 = £28380 + 15K equity). Does anyone think it likely that they will accept 40K in full and final settlement of my debts now? My wife is prepared to include her share of the equity if this is a possibility.

[Sensible77]

Hi. I've looked elswhere for this scenario but can't find any mention of it. Is it not feasible?