www.iva.co.uk

Hello,

I have just this morning received a letter from a collection company (Cap Quest) saying that they have bought my old credit card debt. My IVA commenced in the year 2000 and was completed in 2006. A few weeks after (I think a few weeks anyway - it is all so long ago now and I have archived all the files etc; somewhere so safe it will take me some time to remember where I put them) I received a cheque from the IVA company I used as some creditors did not claim their money (I think that was the phrasing used).

From my recollection the full and final offer I made in 2006 was only accepted after all creditors agreed to the offer.

Now three years after I have paid the full and final settlement I now receive this asking for the full amount to be paid. Having come through the nightmare of the IVA in the first place and having now kept my credit file clean since, this arrives. Does this mean that all of my nightmares are to start again? (bad credit file, six years for this to disappear etc;).

I have since moved house and we are just about to apply for a remortgage. Is this going to scupper any opportunity to remortgage?

In the letter the collection company say "Information received from the credit card company is that you have not made contact with them for some considerable time and therefore it is our aim to ensure that a suitable payment plan is agreed and maintained". Of course I have not been in touch as they were in the original schedule of creditors and they agreed to the original IVA etc; and all communication since the commencement of the IVA (in 200) has been between the IVA company and the creditors.

I have until 6th August to reply. They have provided a telephone number for me to contact them. Would I be best advised to phone or write to them (I would think writing would be best).

I would appreciate any comments from anyone out there.

Best regards

Vinnie

Hi,

Sorry to hear about all of your problems. Not good when you think it all behind you.

Firstly, how old is the debt? If it is more than 6 years old (which it sounds as though it is) and there has been no contact with the creditor during that time, then they cannot make a claim as it is statute barred.

Secondly, it would have been included in the IVA and regardless of whether or not they made a claim, it would have been written off.

If you can find the paperwork relating to this debt being included, I'd send them a copy of it.

One of the professionals will hopefully be along to advise furher.

You've got nothing to worry about though.

We had a letter from them a few months before deciding a realising we were in real trouble and needed help, they demanded £1k from us which I stupidly paid as it was a debt I knew nothing about that my husband had got years and years ago. If only I had known about iva's then. I paid them with the last bit of money we had left from my Xmas bonus which was to help us get through my maternity leave. It was a while after that I decided enough was enough!

Hi Jan,

Thanks for the quick reply. The original debt is 10 years or so old. It was included in the original IVA creditor's list but, as I say, I don't think they collected their share of the dividend three years ago (after the IVA had been completed).

Thanks again.

Vinnie

kallis3 wrote:

Hi,

Sorry to hear about all of your problems. Not good when you think it all behind you.

Firstly, how old is the debt? If it is more than 6 years old (which it sounds as though it is) and there has been no contact with the creditor during that time, then they cannot make a claim as it is statute barred.

Secondly, it would have been included in the IVA and regardless of whether or not they made a claim, it would have been written off.

If you can find the paperwork relating to this debt being included, I'd send them a copy of it.

One of the professionals will hopefully be along to advise furher.

You've got nothing to worry about though.

Hi there
It is unfortunate that this happens occasionally, however you have nothing to worried about since you successfully completed your IVA , all unsecured debts are now legally written off. What may have happened is an admin error or just wrong information supplied to the debt collection agency. What you will need to do is provided them with copy of the certificate of completion issued to you at the end of your IVA. If you do have a copy, then your supervisor will provide you with a copy. This will prove to the collection agency that you IVA has successfully completed and any debts they are chasing pertaining to the IVA are now unenforceable as legally the debts have been cleared.

Thanks

I don't think that makes any difference. They would have had the opportunity to claim during the IVA and I am sure the IP would have contacted them about this.

This is not your fault, and I am certain that they cannot now chase you for it.

Melanie, Michael or Andy will probably be along later to confirm.

Hi Vinnie- don't panic!

The best thing to do would be to fax them a copy of your proposal and notice of completion - your old IP will be able to do this for you. If they were included in the IVA and the information you gave at the start was accurate, then they should be taking this up with the Supervisor, not you.

Ask your old IP to speak to the debt collection company for you.

Some posters on here have found that their old IP company either can't or won't help them do this, especially after three years.

Really? I do. I thought it was standard!

Thanks for the info Jan.

Can you tell us which company you work for Liam? It may be useful for any posters who are with that company to know that someone is on here if they have any problems.

Hello,

Thanks to you all for the advice so far. I'll be searching out the files later today. From memory I cannot remenber receiving a certificate from the IP administrator but I did receive a letter. I guess I must now be OK credit-wise as I received a credit card a few months ago.

Thanks again,

Vinnie

The letter will be the thing you need to send off to CapQuest (a copy anyway!).

Hi guys,

I work at Varden Nuttall. I'll add a signature later if you think people would find it useful.

I've found that faxing across a certificate of completion usually sorts things out, as it's usually just a crossed wire somewhere. That letter you have might be the "certificate" - it's often just a letter as it doesn't need to be on fancy paper or anything.

Thanks Liam, it is useful to have posters from IP firms on here as posters using you have a point of contact.

If you do add a signature, please don't put any email addresses in there or contact details as this is not allowed.

Experts can do limited contact details in their signatures.

It won't be a problem to put down who you work for.

Welcome aboard Liam and great to have other input and opinions. I agree with what you said to Vinnie as we often have to produce stuff from archive when administration errors like this occur. Capquest probably bought a huge amount of old debts for relatively small money and some IVA or bankruptcy debts are likely included. As to Vinnie's credit file he should apply for a copy to put his mind at ease and if there is anything adverse on it he can get it removed.