www.iva.co.uk

I rang up MBNA in response to their letter offering alternatives to an IVA. I had a long and interesting conversation with one of the people in the specialist unit they have set up to look at IVA applications. One thing came out of the conversation which might be helpful to anyone considering an IVA who has MBNA as one of their creditors. I detected quite a negative view towards what the MBNA rep described as 'IVA factories'. The impression I got (and I do not know whether this is corporate policy, or just the personal view of the rep I spoke to) is that MBNA feel that a lot of people are being steered into an IVA by the 'factories' when this is not necessarily the best route for them.

From which I suspect that if you have MBNA as a creditor and want to go down the IVA route then using one of the 'IVA factories' will not help your case.

Hope this helps.

I think that this is a very interesting point,and I am sure that there are some people who have been "steered" into an IVA rather than a more suitable solution.However in all aspects of life there will be good and bad and the secret is to go with a company that is well aware of MBNAs policy and views on IVAS.
If you insisted on meeting your IP face to face then you would eliminate the chances of using a company that is deemed to be a "factory" producer of IVAs.
An IVA is afterall an "individual" voluntry arrangement and as such there will never be a "one size fits all IVA",thus making mass production of IVAs very difficult to do CORRECTLY.

The key to an IVA being acceptable to creditors is that it represents the best possible return they can envisage given the individual circumstances of each case. They must be convinced that their customer has received appropriate and best advice in accordance with industry and statutory guidelines.

On the part of the IP, this involves thorough research into a client's individual circumstances, to enable the ability to advise upon the range of options available. Some people may perform these tasks to a higher standard than others, and presumably creditors will take this into account when deciding whether to accept an IVA or not.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

Hi

I read Marshalsea's post earlier this evening then later my phone rang and it was a lady from MBNA checking to see if I had received my letter offering short settlement. I had quite a lengthy chat as well during which I pointed out that I intended to be offering better than 40p in the £ through my IVA and that I needed to consult with my IP as to whether I could look at short settling their debt but not the others. I explained that I regularly read and contributed to a forum regarding IVAs and that recently MBNA had gone from a creditor that usually voted yes to one that now seemed to consistently vote no and that the consensus was that the IVA factories were to blame. She certainly didn't disagree and put it that people didn't always know all the facts and were proposing an IVA when other options were better. I told her I wanted to pay as much as possible back to my creditors but with such debt and so many creditors short settling with everybody would be difficult and DMP would take forever.
I told her I understood short settling now gave them a guaranteed 40p return rather than the risk of a failed IVA midway through but using a lump sum just for them rather than spreading it across all creditors might be seen as preferential.
I also pointed out that my IP had years of experience and was highly regarded and had very good working relationships with the people voting.

In conclusion she agreed that I was well-informed about the IVA process and was definitely not going into it blindly. She gave me her name and direct contact number in case I needed further assistance or if my IP wanted to contact her to discuss anything.

Now I'm not saying that this will change any voting policy but if each case is judged on merit and the points of this conversation are noted maybe it will help.

Regards

Dave

It's pretty rich for MBNA to slate IVA's (of any hue) when their own proposals are, by comparison, nuts.

'5 years sticking my head into the Lion's mouth of debt !'

Dave
Its reassuring when we read of conversations like yours,this is how things "should be",detailed reviews of each case with no blanket acceptance criterea by creditors.
I hope you are successful