company effected my proposal without my consent

[sean.c]

Last year i contacted a well known Insolvency Practioners to help resolve my debt problems. After meeting with one of their representatives the application for an IVA seemed the best route if it was under the proposal that the rep had put together on my behalf.
Acreditors meeting was arranged and carried out. The rep then contacted me by phone to inform me that they would agree to an IVA, but there where a number of modifications that i would obviously have to agree to also. In fact the proposal was totally different from the original.
I informed the rep that the new proposal was in no way going to benefit me whatsoever and that i would not agree to the new terms. I might add at this point i was not behind with payments etc, my situation had changed somewhat leaving me with a heavily reduced income that would not cover my outgoings.
I decided at this point that i would re mortgage my houseand pay my debts off rather then go down the IVA avenue. The equity on my house is rather good and needless to say i would rather keep it myself then release it to the creditors.
I thought this was the end of the matter, I received my re mortgage, paid my debts etc etc.
Appx 6 months later after no corespondence from the company acting on my behalf, i attempted to use a card that i had had for a number of years to find it being declined. It took a further week before i eventually found out it was to do with the IVA. It seems that somehow they have effected the proposal without y consent. Ever since i made the enquires (early Dec 2006) i am now receiving some communication, asking me to send proof of ID so as tro carry out identity checks in compliance with the law. I have since had my loan account payments returned or refused. The next thing i know i received a letter for outstanding payments.
I tried to keep this breif but as you can see it is quite complicated. How do i stand on thuis matter. I haven't signed or approved anything yet they still went ahead.??
I presume i will ahve to seek proffesional legal advice to sort this mess out. As far as i am concered the company in question is ttally in the wrong but i need to know what my obligations are.

i look forward to your response as i got the impression that is not an unusual occurance.

Regards

Sean

[MelanieGiles]

Hi Sean - and welcome to the forum.

I assume that you have now sorted your debt problems out directly via the remortgage. Have you paid them off in full - and if so why was an IVA suggested to you in the first place when you were not insolvent?

You seem to be suggesting that this IP firm (would be keen to know who they are) have put you into an IVA without your consent. This cannot have happened, as you would have had to have signed up IVA proposals to present to your creditors, and you say that your application did not go that far.

What has probably happened is that the IP firm had already written to your creditors on your behalf when they received your instructions, and that this notification of an intended IVA has caused the creditors to close down your accounts. Most IPs would do this as a matter of course, notwithstanding the fact that you later changed your mind, but they should have written to confirm that they were no longer instructed.

You are quite correct in that this is not a usual occurence, and I now think that you need to go back to this firm and find out exactly what is going on. There does seem to be a communication breakdown, as they appear to think they are still acting for you.

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

[neverending]

Quote"A creditors meeting was arranged and carried out. The rep then contacted me by phone to inform me that they would agree to an IVA, but there where a number of modifications that i would obviously have to agree to "
It seems that the actual meeting was carried out and the IVA voted on and agreed with modifications.It is the modifications that Sean would not agree with and therefor did not agree to the actual IVA.
I cannot recall signing anything after the actual creditors meeting myself,although three years is a long time to remember specifics,and wonder if the actual IVA is actually in progress ??
This is an interesting one

[MelanieGiles]

Yes - I've re-read this post and that curiously does seem to be the case. If so, then this is a far more serious matter. You must call the IP immediately - and insist that they speak to you personally - to demand an explanation. Also insist that he/she writes to all creditors to advise of their mistake, and also the Court and the Registrar of Individual Voluntary Arrangements at the DTI.

If you get no luck, then you must draw this to the attention of his regulatory body. In my practice, we never confirm creditor meeting modifications until we receive written approval from our clients. To accept modifications to a proposal on behalf of a client is a very dangerous practice.

What basis was the IVA put forward on - contributions or a lump sum? If the IP is only now asking for photographic identification for you, then this is in breach of insolvency regulations. Are you going to share their identity with us???

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

[sean.c]

Firstly thank you Melanie and Neverending for the speedy replies.

Melanie I am glad you sent another reply I was jjust in the process of re-reading my question to see if I had not explained myself properly.

As for the name of the Debt Company in question I am not sure if it Matters[;^)] or not about the legalities in disclosing their name so in fear of any liability suits or reprisals I will take the 5th on that.

The repp that visited me after a breif telephone conversation gave no other choices to rectify my situation os advice on other channels, he mearely came to get the nescessary details for the IVAand explain the procedure, although i had done my homework and he didn't tell me anything i didn''t already know. With hindsight i think he only said what i wanted to hear and painted it all in a very pretty picture. This is all making me think are these so called reps?????? working on a commission basis and also what training do they have?????

Yes I had agreed to the initial proposal and yes the creditors meeting had taaken place. However the outcome of the meeting relayed to me by phone and informing me of the Crediors prposal was a far cry from the propsal that I had agreed to initially.

The full details of either of the proposals are irrelevent. that is unless you are saying that once a Debtor agrees on a proposal to put forward to the creditors, they are signing a legal contract which then allows the Creditors to alter it in any way nescessary without the Debtors consent or authorisation. If this was the case why waste time putting a propsal together in the first place.[?]

The fact that this all took place around about May 2006 (the last telephone conversation when I declined to go further) It wasn''t until the second week in December 2006 (6+ months later) with no correspomdence in between, that i found out due to my card being declined that anything had taken place.

During this time i had indedd paid off all my large debts in full leaving myself a small amount on a card (t6his i had reduced considerably)and my abnkk loan that had been paid on time reularly and i was not behind with ppayments. I had infact stil got a fair amount in my current and also my savings account that i had not yet used from the re mortage.

As for the letters asking for id etc, they are rather amusing and if I dare say are more like begging letters. Needless to say i have been doing further homework onh the matter and have noo intention to meet with their request and i am under no obligation to do so.

[MelanieGiles]

Hi again sean

This is indeed a messy situation. Professionally, I have the following concerns.

1 It appears that you were interviewed by someone who did not advise you properly of all of your options.

2 The fact that you had a substantial asset - ie the equity in your property which has subsequently been realised and used to repay the majority of your creditors does not appear to have been disclosed.

3 Modifications to a proposal, which you specifically stated that you were not prepared to accept, were accepted on your behalf.

4 You obviously have not received a copy of the Chairman's report of the creditors meeting.

5 And even if this is a genuine mistake (which I feel it cannot possibly be) this IP has taken over six months to realise that you have not been paying your "contributions" or sought any form of proof of identity from you. The former issue should have been done before he agreed to act for you in the first place.

I have been around long enough to know that there are usually two sides to every story, but even so when we are acting as professionals to individuals who are looking to us to give best advice, we must always ensure that our clients fully understand the options, implications and confirm that understanding in writing.

This sadly does not appear to be the case here, and so far as I am concerned firms like this do not deserve to hold insolvency licences. I feel so strongly about malpractices such as the one you describe, and hope that you will take the matter further - possibly seeking compensation for this firm's negligence towards you.

As you are reluctant to disclose who they are, you will need to find out which regulatory body authorises the insolvency licence of the respective IP. This should be found on any letterhead you have received from the company.

I wish you every luck in finding a resolution to this matter, and do let us know how you get on.

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

[neverending]

Sean
Contact the Insolvency service on 02076371110 and they will be able to inform you who are the licensing body for your IP.There are several licensing bodies[mad I know]so once you find out the correct one I suggest a letter to your IP copied to them.
Please keep this forum posted.
Regards

[sean.c]

Thanks for the advice neverending, i appreciate yours and also Melanies help on this matter. I have decide to put it into the hands of my solicitor. So I there will be letter sent, as you recommended to their licensing body and copied to the debt company but it will be from the solicitor acting on my behalf.

I will keep the forum up to date with any progress. One question that went unanswered, Do these so called reps have any training, qualifications etc?????? And do they work on a commisssion basis ny any chance??? (Sorry 2questions)


Thanks again

Sean

[MelanieGiles]

Hi sean

In answer to your last question I suspect that some training is given, but not a huge amount, and that they are not qualified insolvency practitioners! I am sure that some of them are remunerated on a commission basis, but this probably differs from firm to firm.

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