Can you tell me what a Certificate of Completion should look like ? After requesting one I received a very basic letter headed certificate of completion. It states " In accordance with the terms of your voluntary arrangement this is to certify that the terms of your arrangement have been fully implemented. The main effect of this is that you are now released from all of the unsecured debts that were subject of the arrangement." and it is signed by the supervisor
like you i was most dissapointed at the appearance of my completion certificate ; my 10m swimming certificate from 40 years ago was visually more exciting !
i described mine as the most non descript piece of paper i had ever seen
will done on completing , sorry like me you were underwhelmed with the certificate
Last payment made April 2012
Certificate received 1st Nov 2012
A few of my clients have also expressed a desire to have a more jazzy certificate - but is this something that people really want to gaze at more than once!
It's a serious question, and if you all want to give me a few ideas as to what you would like to see, I will play around with a few ideas.
I don't understand why someone would want an 'all singing, all dancing' piece of paper...... Is this something which people would want to display in their living rooms? Surely once you've received it, it would be filed away in a very dark place?
I know if I was in that situation, that's what I'd certainly do! A plain piece of paper showing completed, satisfied and signed by the IP should be enough for anyone?
It's not so much the fact that people need to display a certificate, more that it should appear to be more "legal" and represent 5 or 6 years hard work.
I feel this id down to our "legal heritage" whereby, since the 11th Century, "all things legal" have been represented by flowing. often sealed, documents, crossing every "t" and dotting every "i".
It's more psychological then legal.
My opinions are merely that .. opinions based on experience. Always seek professional advice.
IVA Completed 23rd July 2013 .... C.C. 10th January 2014
For me it should look like something I can't easily knock up myself in word/photoshop.
ideas
special paper
some kind of seal (pressed like old MOT, hologram sticker)
Fancy font (like olde english)
A hand applied signature (maybe they have this already)
From Davids description of typical text, it would be nice to make it clear that the IVA has completed successfully, and perhaps that all remaining balances are now written off
Maybe a link (or QR code if being fancy, zxing is a good one to google for) could be added to allow anyone looking at the certificate to verify the IVA status on the insolvency register
I was disappointed when we got ours ... after the issues we had gone through and the journey we had taken, to receive nothing more than a printed paragraph on a piece of paper was disappointing.
Only now seven years on do I talk freely about our debt free journey and actually I still would like to see something more than a paragraph ! Every now and then you need it to remember the bad times and to then remember the journey that you took and the life you are leading today - I ask myself which life I prefer and I quickly say the one I am leading now that means I can do what I want, when I want and everything I do is because I have the money for it in the bank !
So many lessons learnt in that time - rewarding and grateful for the second chance.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
There is a solution for everyone .... Just need to stay positive !
So who is going to volunteer to redesign a Certificate which is more acceptable to people at the end of their IVA? Happy to share the standard one we use in my firm, and if I like the outcome I will happily adopt the suggested submission(s).
