Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 4:18 pm
The IVA Council has settled a High Court dispute with ClearDebt by apologising and agreeing to pay £250,000, over defamatory letters it wrote.
The IVA Council had initially sent out letters urging highly-indebted people to stop paying into individual voluntary arrangements.
Debtors who responded to the letters were referred directly to UK Bankruptcy, a company that charges over £1,000 to provide bankruptcy advice and assistance to those in IVAs.
In a letter of apology written to ClearDebt as part of the settlement, the principal defendants accepted that allegations made by the IVA Council and UKB to the effect that ClearDebt was an “IVA factory” and had repeatedly mis-sold IVAs to its clients were entirely unfounded.
Further, it admitted that it was untrue to state that the IVA Council was a "non-profit making organisation" or a "consumer awareness/action group".
It also admitted that it was untrue for UKB to state that it was "not in any way associated" with the IVA Council, although they maintained that there was a 'contractual agreement' between UKB and the IVA Council.
David Mond, chief executive officer of ClearDebt, says: “ClearDebt was set up because I believed IVAs were the best and fairest deal between debtors and creditors.
"We took this action, on our own and on our industry's behalf, because we believed the IVA Council were preying on many people who were striving to deal with their debt and who had been found the most appropriate solution to their needs."
David, on behalf of all those who cannot now be conned by this outfit - A HUGE THANK YOU !
The IVA Council had initially sent out letters urging highly-indebted people to stop paying into individual voluntary arrangements.
Debtors who responded to the letters were referred directly to UK Bankruptcy, a company that charges over £1,000 to provide bankruptcy advice and assistance to those in IVAs.
In a letter of apology written to ClearDebt as part of the settlement, the principal defendants accepted that allegations made by the IVA Council and UKB to the effect that ClearDebt was an “IVA factory” and had repeatedly mis-sold IVAs to its clients were entirely unfounded.
Further, it admitted that it was untrue to state that the IVA Council was a "non-profit making organisation" or a "consumer awareness/action group".
It also admitted that it was untrue for UKB to state that it was "not in any way associated" with the IVA Council, although they maintained that there was a 'contractual agreement' between UKB and the IVA Council.
David Mond, chief executive officer of ClearDebt, says: “ClearDebt was set up because I believed IVAs were the best and fairest deal between debtors and creditors.
"We took this action, on our own and on our industry's behalf, because we believed the IVA Council were preying on many people who were striving to deal with their debt and who had been found the most appropriate solution to their needs."
David, on behalf of all those who cannot now be conned by this outfit - A HUGE THANK YOU !