I do not know what to do!

[rpw]

Spoke with IP yesterday.
Tried to arrange a meeting with the Supervisor but his assistant would not arrange this as she said he may charge me for any extra meetings. The best I could do was raise telephone queries with his assistant. It is very difficult dealing with this company. They are very reluctant to offer any help.
Early settlement - I said that I could raise 40K by selling the house. They want me to put the request in writing for the IP to consider it. The IP will decide if it is a viable option but would want 650 pounds + VAT up front for any Variation Meeting. Are these fees reasonable?
The assistant said the IP's decision does not consider if it is best for me or the creditors but whether the IP will make sufficient money out of the settlement to cover their fees.
I am going to ask for the IP to look at the variation. I can borrow the fees from a friend but if the variation fails, I will have to repay my friend by defaulting 1 months payment on the IVA or miss 1 months mortgage payment. I am allowed to miss 1 payment on the IVA.
There is no easy way out of this. Everything seems stacked against me and in favour of the IP.
Some more advice if you can help -
If the IVA ran full term and I repaid in full the 60K to my creditors - Does the IP's fees come out of the 60K or is it added on -making the total to repay 68K?
If I were to bankrupt -
I have 3 children (2 classed as dependant) are we able to stay in our house for 12 months?
Will they take all the household possessions?
Is there any way of avoiding the bankruptcy being in the local press?
Is it likely my monthly contribution would be less than the IVA monthly payment?
Sorry to burden you again but its very difficult to get answers to these questions.

[Adam Davies]

Hi
Quote "The assistant said the IP's decision does not consider if it is best for me or the creditors but whether the IP will make sufficient money out of the settlement to cover their fees "
I bet the IP will be pleased that his assistant has said that !!

To answer your questions
The IP fees will come out of the total that you have paid back,including equity release.However the maximum that you can pay back is the original debt and IP fees,so it is possible that you will end up paying the IP fees.
Yes you can remain in our property for at least twelve months as long as you keep up with the mortgage payments
No they will not take household possesions unless you declare valuable items.Nobodywill visit your house
There is no way to avoid the notice in the local paper and yes your payment will be less under a BRO or BRU in bankruptcy
Regards

Andy Davie
IVA.co.uk Spokesperson and Website Manager

About me:
http://www.iva.co.uk/andy_davie_profile.asp

IVA Helpline: 0800 197 4838
http://www.iva.co.uk/iva_helpline.asp

[marsha1]

Which company are you with?

[MelanieGiles]

I can feel my blood boiling again! IPs are paid to supervise cases, on behalf of debtors and creditors. If this involves a face to face meeting to resolve an important issue such as this so be it!

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

To have me propose an IVA for you, please visit:
http://www.melaniegiles.com/ivaEnquiry.asp

See customer feedback at:
http://www.iva.com/iva_companies/IVA_Advice_Bureau.asp

[rpw]

To marsha 1 - Gibson Booth

I have taken advice from an independant financial adviser. It was the second time he had visited us at home. We originally asked for advice in November 2007. He travelled quite some way to visit us. The combined meetings lasted a total of 4 hours. Intially. I was sceptical that he would try and sell me a product but todays second meeting was very open and honest. Call me a romantic but I really believe he had my best interests at heart. He charged 100 pounds for both meetings, which, I believe was worth it because it has helped me clear my head.


He feels the 40K settlement is not realistic at this time as the true value I could offer would not be 40K (After deducting selling/legal fees). It would mean that I would have to definately get the top market value for the house (difficult to guarantee in the current climate). It does not accommodate selling/legal fees and would leave us with no capital to put a bond on a rental. Also, it gives no leeway if the creditors tried to negotiate for a slightly better deal. Also, he said that acquiring a rental property once you have been in an IVA is not easy. Landlords would ask for advance rent of at least 6 months. It would not be wise at this stage to request a variation, pay 675+VAT and not be in a strong enough position. The creditors would likely not accept because at the moment they look good for getting all the money back over the full term.

We looked at Bankruptcy. He calculated projected costings and found the monthly amount that I would have to pay would not be much less than the current IVA payment. I would have to pay this for 3 years (almost as long as the remainder of the IVA) and lose the house. Having to try and find somewhere else to live after 1 year.

In the end - The adviser suggested that I put the IVA file away - forget about it and let the IVA continue (tick-over), at least in the short term. Circumstances in the futre may change and I have to look at it again. He feels that whilst be are not living a great lifestyle, we do have a roof over out heads and are making the IVA work.

The adviser did suggest that we ask our mortgage provider to switch to an interest only mortgage - but surely the IVA would take 50% of any benefit - but at leat they are only getting 50% - I need to think about that one.

The adviser helped me complete the annual review documents and is going to seek advice on the amount of equity the creditors should reasonably request.

He seems a good bloke - I believe many would have tried to sell me something? - Probably me just being cynical!

I am going to give this some more thought.

Likely that I will leave it and review it in another year. I will ask my IP to get clarification on the equity situation.

[Beechy]

Since when have assistants made decisions on the merits of a problem, and what is the charge for a meeting all about.

Get a grip of the supervisor, tell them you have issues that need to be sorted.

And as for charging for this, I am speechless,

Dave Beech

[MelanieGiles]

And it should be your supervisor giving this advice and not an independent financial advisor. Can you tell us which firm you are with?

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

To have me propose an IVA for you, please visit:
http://www.melaniegiles.com/ivaEnquiry.asp

See customer feedback at:
http://www.iva.com/iva_companies/IVA_Advice_Bureau.asp

[mikebdomain]

Sounds like a pretty good IFA to me Dave, and the rate charged seems pretty good...

FREE ADVICE IS THE BEST ADVICE

LEYBRIDGE LIMITED
Whole of Market Mortgage Broker & Mortgage packager
Specialising in adverse credit.

Directly Authorised Firm FSA No:313790

CeMAP 1,2 & 3 qualified
F.P.C 1,2 & 3 qualified
Financial Planning Certificate
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Associate of the Charted Insurance Institute

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[MelanieGiles]

Mike

Are IFAs actually qualified to give insolvency advice - and if so is this part of the process of getting professionally qualified as an IFA. Do you get examined on this and are IFAs properly regulated for such purposes? I am always very concious not to give any form of advice regarding mortgages, investments or pensions, as I am not so qualified and thought the same applied to you guys.

What slightly concerns me here is someone has spent 4 hours with a client discussing the progress of their IVA, the implications of bankrutpcy and actually assisted them in compiling an annual review for their supervisor. Whilst this is admirable that someone would give up their time to do this, I do wonder what would happen if the advice were to be incorrect. And in the event of a complaint to the FSA, what would they make of someone charging fees for the provision of advice they were not qualified to provide?

I may be completely barking up the wrong tree here, but maybe you or one of the other IFS posters could help with this for my own future reference.

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

To have me propose an IVA for you, please visit:
http://www.melaniegiles.com/ivaEnquiry.asp

See customer feedback at:
http://www.iva.com/iva_companies/IVA_Advice_Bureau.asp

[Kes]

Hiya, Apart from all the mental anguish I can see you are going through. I have to say that I simply cannot believe the cost of your proposed variation meeting. The total cost of my Variation Meeting was £575 inc VAT I do believe.

[rpw]

Gibson Booth

[Welsh Boy]

I think that the advice to be given ref the IVA should come from the IP, whilst the IFA may be a thoroughly nice guy with your best interests at heart he should let a professional who is qualified to provide the detailed advice do so and not possibly over step the mark and end up offering advice in a very complicated and complex area, i.e. insolvency.

In reply to your question Melanie about the qualifications of IFA`s where insolvency advice is given I would say in my experience most IFA`s will have knowledge of the subject to a point but nowhere near the level required to be offering insolvency advice.

Perhaps this person came from an insolvency background and was once an IP who knows, but then again to give advice on something that you may not be completely au fait with or licensed to do could be a problem for someone in the future, which is why similar to yourself in not providing mortgage advice I personally never offer anything more than generic advice where insolvency is concerned as I feel it is not my position to do so.

So to the original poster I would say seek the advice from your IP for your IVA queries and use the IFA for any potential financial planning advice that you may need. Tony

F.P.C. 1,2,3 Qualified
Financial Planning Certificate
CeMap Qualified
Whole of Market Mortgage Broker
Managing Director : Debt Advisory Bureau
Principal : All Mortgage Products

www.debtadvisorybureau.co.uk
www.allmortgageproducts.co.uk

Directly Authorised with FSA :304244

[mikebdomain]

A registered and authorised IFA is responsible for all financial advice given and is usually considerably more qualified than most mortgage advisors/brokers. They tend to look at financial situations as a whole and do not just give investment advice.

I was not party to the meeting and do not know what was discussed, and I do agree in whole that all advice about the IVA should definitely be sought from the IP, but, it sounds like this IFA discussed the situation and reached the conclusion that the person should continue with their IVA, probably assuming that the original IP gave their client the proper advice. I felt that £100 for a four hour meeting inc. costs with an IFA is reasonable.


FREE ADVICE IS THE BEST ADVICE

LEYBRIDGE LIMITED
Whole of Market Mortgage Broker & Mortgage packager
Specialising in adverse credit.

Directly Authorised Firm FSA No:313790

CeMAP 1,2 & 3 qualified
F.P.C 1,2 & 3 qualified
Financial Planning Certificate
Certificate in Regulated Customer Care
Certificate in Regulated General Insurance
Associate of the Charted Insurance Institute

see feedback and testimonials at:
http://www.leybridge.com/testimonial.php
Check out my blog at:
http://mikebdomain.blogs.iva.co.uk/
Please read our Initial Disclosure Document(IDD):
http://www.leybridge.com/Leybridge-IDD.pdf