Another thought on the contract law. There is often clever wording that allows an escape from such contracts. It could be argued that the IP "intended" to fulfill his promised actions, but was thwarted by outside influences. He has satisfied the contract as he DID "intend", as promised. He has not reneged on his "intent"!
A pedantic arguement, but one that has been used successfully in the past.
My opinions are merely that .. opinions based on experience. Always seek professional advice.
IVA Completed 23rd July 2013 .... C.C. 10th January 2014
Foggy, thank you so much for your post. The thing is the IP wrote to my partner less than two weeks ago stating that once the funds had been received and distributed to the creditors he would anticipate finalizing the IVA within 21 days. The argument about intent must be wrong as he must have been aware (or reasonably ought to have known) of the R3 advice quoted on his last letter before accepting my offer. As it stands (as I understand it) my partners IVA will remain open until such times as the refund of VAT is received from HMRC and distributed to his creditors. As there is no guidance from HMRC about how to do this(and that isn't likely any time soon) then the IVA could be a liability for far longer than the 60 months it was supposed to be. Logically until this issue is resolved there is no point in anyone making a F&F offer on existing IVA's as (if my partners IP is right) they cannot honor it? If that is the case apart from the ethical question about not advising me or my partner about this situation couldn't it also be interpreted that in taking the F&F money the IP has acted in the best interests of the creditors and not my partner? The whole situation is a mess and has really ruined my plans to marry my partner as neither of us want to start married life together with him still being in an IVA.
I don't think that your IP did anything wrong in presenting your offer - after all you would have been pretty upset if he had refused to on the basis of the Paymex decision probably - but I do think that the case can be closed. We are not being told not to close cases - indeed the advice I have received is to close as many as we can. This will take months to resolve, and individuals should not be made to lose out in the meantime.
Maddy, as to whether he might reasonably have been expected to know the situation depends upon the size of the comapny he is working for. Larger comapnies work in almost automonous departments. In the case of Tenon, the IP's were continuaing "business as normal" until they were told by the Accounting Department not cease closures. However, after taking advice, they started again.
Your IP has covered himself, with the use of the phrase "He would anticipate ....". He DID anticipate it, but was thwarted by a situation beyond his control.
I am not defending him or her, merely playing devil's advocate. However, I fail to see how he has acted in the best interests of the creditors and not your husband. As said before, he has stopped the need for your husband to continue making payments and, unless the full and final amount was in excess of the amount due to be paid under the terms of the IVA, the creditors haven't gained anything of significance.
Hopefully they will take advice and follow other company's lead.
My opinions are merely that .. opinions based on experience. Always seek professional advice.
IVA Completed 23rd July 2013 .... C.C. 10th January 2014
I thought I'd let you all know the results of my partner's telephone call to the IP office this morning. The IP refuses to close his IVA until the refund of VAT on IP's fees is reclaimed from HMRC. The reason was that their compliance dept has told them NOT to. No time estimates for this to happen as the IP will have to go through every open and closed IVA for the past 4 years and then make a collective submission to HMRC. He suggests that could take many months. When asked about when they knew about the Paymex v HMRC case he couldn't confirm the date. When asked why other IP's where closing cases he claimed it was up to them to decide on how they deal with their own clients. Acting on a suggestion from Foggy my partner asked for a letter to say that any future pay rises or windfalls would now no longer be taken into consideration. The reply was that it should be possible but he needed to check. As I said my main grievance is that if they knew about the possibility of not being able to close the IVA why were we not told? As you can see the answer was ambiguous. When my partner asked them what this meant for anyone else who currently wants to offer a F&F payment they were unable to say. So very, very frustrating!
I cannot fathom the difference between their treatment of already closed cases and those about to close. In fact it's easier for those about to close, as all they have to do is leave the VAT element awaiting disbursement in due course.
Would still love to know which firm they are (as will anyone on the cusp of closure).
My opinions are merely that .. opinions based on experience. Always seek professional advice.
IVA Completed 23rd July 2013 .... C.C. 10th January 2014
Since my last post I've had some wonderful news which I'd like to share with you all. Last Thursday my partners IP contacted him to say that he'd investigated my partner’s claims that other IP's were closing IVA's prior to receiving any refunds of VAT from HMRC. He therefore investigated a number of web sites of other Insolvency company's and had seen that they were closing IVA's prior to receiving refunds from HMRC. In light of this he consulted his compliance department who reviewed the policy AND agreed that it would now be acceptable to close completed IVA's prior to any refunds from HMRC. Today my partner received a completion certificate from his IP. After 4 1/2 years my partner is now debt free and can start a new life with me free from debt.
I and my partner are absolutely thrilled at the completion of his IVA and of the willingness of his IP to check on how other insolvency companies were handling this issue. My partner and I would like to express our gratitude to his IP company (Ostrich)and to this forum for the advice and help given. Ostrich have been absolutely brilliant with the way that they have dealt with my partner's IVA and the only thing which had soured our experience was the Paymex v HMRC issue. Thankfully, this forum enabled me to discover that other IP's were closing IVA's and it was this information that was relayed to Ostrich by my partner. To their credit Ostrich acted on this information which has not only helped my partner but also hopefully helped other people with completing their IVA's. With many, many, thanks for your forum, Maddy!
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
