I have 7 months left of a 6 year IVA. Following my Annual Review in February it was calculated (by Payplan) that I would need/be allowed a monthly income of £1419.00 in order to meet payment of all expenditure & maintain the IVA.
My pay fluctuates from month to month so I always submit 12 months payslips at Review time & it is averaged over the year - this has worked well up to now & never been a problem.
I now have another new caseworker & recently submitted my Feb-June payslips as requested, today I have received a letter asking for an additional payemnt due to overtime which is fine BUT they have only taken account of the months when I earned over £1419 & ignored the 2 months when I only earned £1045 & £1140.
Why is is so difficult for them to understand that I need to keep the extra to pay my bills during low salary months?
My partner will be calling them on Monday as I am not available to ring during their opening hours - any suggestions of how he can get them to understand how it has worked for the last 5.5 years?
If they insist on me paying this extra amount now, do I have grounds to ask for all payments made to date to be considered full & final?
It is unlikely I will earn £1419pcm in the future & am actually in the process of submitting a revised I&E as my expenditure is due to increase from September when my son starts college?
I have no idea how to proceed - I didn't hear anything from Payplan during the first 5 years (apart from Annual Review letters) & had nothing but problems with them since January [:(!][:(!]
Last edited by dancer on Wed Jul 16, 2014 6:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Payplan are funded by the banks and are one of their preferred companies to use for IVAs. Make a complaint straightaway as this cannot be right. It is not our practice to use a certain amount of overtime to justify the I&E as only a basic is guaranteed and I would think this should be good practice.
Thanks Michael , I think complaining is the only option left at this stage. When I was off work for 15 months & only receiving half pay, due to cancer, Payplan never offered to conduct a review (& I wasn't aware that I could ask for one) but as soon as they think there is extra to pay they are firing off letters every couple of weeks.
I sent off my Annual Review with details of expenditure & received a copy back with amended figures (I assumed based on 'guidelines') & 'estimated' basic pay plus an amount of overtime to be classed as regular income? I have never signed or been asked to accept this level of income/expenditure as being accurate.....not sure if this matters?
I had to borrow money from family last year to make an additional payment of 50% overtime as they wouldn't accept that outgoings had increased, it seems like every time I think we are nearing the end they come up with another way to create stress.
Although I cant really complain about Payplan as such if I was to have my time again I wouldn't have chosen them to represent us in our IVA. There is no personal touch there at all. We sent our quarterly payslips back in may and have only just received a reply.
I agree payplan we're never quick to respond and always seemed to be in the side of the banks rather than yo support both sides. As we got into out last year we felt they cranked the pressure up to get additional money saying we earned more than agreed yet neither of us worked an hour overtime in the four years. There was consideration fir cost of living and petrol increase and a child going from primary school to secondary school. Additional lunch money uniforms and bys fares. They also disagreed with the 85% rule on equity release different to anything I have ever read. There behaviour made it easier decision to discuss with parents re full and final and put an end to the misery. Hope you get sorted. Good luck x
I just need to get this sorted so that I can see an end to it all - it doesn't help that the phones appear to be manned by very young staff who don't seem to appreciate the stressful situation that they are dealing with.
I would never recommend Payplan to anyone ..... Just wish I had been in a position to take charge & sort the IVA myself but unfortunately it was left to my partner & he did what he thought was best.
To be fair to your partner, Dancer, all these firms are sweetness and light when you first contact them --- there are, though, not that many whose interest in you is maintained once hooked.
The "charity" firms are heavily pushed by the banks (after all the banks pay their wages) and many of the larger private firms get referrals from lenders and organisations like CAB. Unfortunately biggest is not always best.
That said they suit many people -- one man's meat is another man's poison -- but you cannot beat research. And, on a personal note, I do not like the idea of the fox being set to guard the chicken coop.
My opinions are merely that .. opinions based on experience. Always seek professional advice.
IVA Completed 23rd July 2013 .... C.C. 10th January 2014
Thanks Foggy - it was CAB who suggested Payplan but we didn't even realise there were 'private firms' who dealt with these issues at the time.
Hopefully it will be discussed with my Supervisor tomorrow (not sure how easy it will be to get past the 'caseworker') but I will be making a formal complaint.
I hope you get it all sorted out soon. I too am with Payplan and has been fine for the past 3 yrs, however like you since January they have been nothing but a pain. I paid my bonus every year with the 10/50/50 rule, and all of a sudden this year I was told that it was wrong and it was being changed to a 50/50 split! Ironically I complained that they have started texting me messages about my IVA, which I didn' think was secure. They responded, by txt message to say they won't do it again. Geeze, you couldn't make it up. lol x
I wonder if we will ever get to the stage when the firms who are bank funded will also have to advise that there are other firms out there who are commercially motivated - and as such have to fight for all of the work that they get, and compete in an ever greedy market - just like we are obliged to advise our clients that there are "note for profit" or "free" companies out there. Not that this matters with IVA work, as all charges are levied regardless of how the firm is structured?
I think that the CAB have revised their policy about recommendations, and now largely refer to Grant Thornton - although I could be wrong about this.
Whilst Payplan may be factually correct in demanding money in well-earned months, and disregarding other not so well paid months - I don't know of many firms who would not take all months into account when calculating uplift payments. And they have already set a precedent in Dancer's case by applying those policies in earlier years.
I have also had similar experience with Payplan especially more recently. I had real problems sending anything by post (I can email them now but at one time I couldn't) Everything would get lost even although it was clearly marked with my ID number. I also have difficulty speaking to them during office hours and they will keep ringing my mobile while I am at work.I underpaid some tax one month due to an error by the tax office and although I proved this to them they still insisted I pay it over. Of course now I have to pay the tax back. My equity release has been a nightmare to be honest and although it has now been agreed by the creditors it has taken months to sort out and has been very stressful. I have lost count of the number of case officers I have had although the one at the moment seems much better than the previous one.
I could never recommend them either.
Thought I would give a quick update - Payplan refused to let my partner speak to my IP but after requesting details of how to make a formal complaint he was transferred to a caseworker who understood the issue & agreed that my income will be reviewed annually as it has been previously. Thank you for the support & advice although I feel I will be back for more help in the near future once I have submitted my revised I&E form with increased petrol expenses!
