Will my creditors vote in my favour.

[Janey]

I am just about to send my second iva application into payplan. My first offer of 25p was rejected. I am now going to propose 40p in the pound to the creditors listed below. I owe a total of £46K. At my first IVA meeting the creditors marked * accepted and *** rejected my offer, the others did not bother to vote. Do I stand a better chance of being accepted this time around?

Abbey (main creditor)
GE Capital x 5
*Capital One
*Citi Cards
*Egg PLC x 2
***HSBC
LLoyds TSB
*Marks and Spencer
*Yorkshire Bank x 2

[MelanieGiles]

Janey

It is widely known in the IVA marketplace, that HSBC will not accept proposals which do not return at least 40p in the £. I do wonder why yours was put forward at 25p, but perhaps HSBC did not represent at least 25% of your total debts. If this was the case, why did Payplan not try and get in votes from the non-voting creditors, or use the 14 day adjournment period to get you to increase your offer to the acceptable level. As a matter of interest, how have you managed to increase your offer so substantially?

This whole business of representing proposals is tedious, and the creditors do not like it - they prefer to proposal to be right first time. Having said that, you now have a far better chance of getting it through - but I do think that this could have been done at the first attempt!

I wish you the best of luck second time around.

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

[Janey]

Thanks for your quick reply. Of the creditors that did vote first time around (creditors meeting was adjourned twice) HSBC (£7.2K) represented 39% of the voting credors. We were hoping on the Lewis Group (GE Capital) accepting but they didn't vote (they made up approx 23% of my original debt combined), I was told the first meeting that Price Waterhouse had been instructed to act on their behalf but nothing was forthcoming. My original offer of 25p would have made payments of £330 per month, the new offer of 40p takes it up to £395. My take home pay is £936 per month. I have gone back to live with my parents so my outgoings are not huge, they do not know about my debts and am really really frightened about them finding out. I am currently paying £489 on a debt management plan (with payplan) which is really really tight so the payment (if accepted) of £395 would give me nearly an extra £100 per month. What does worry me though is nothing was said about chasing my main creditor Abbey (Cahoot) to which I owe over £10K - do they normally vote.

The whole process is really scarey, I suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which has led to many years of depression to the point now that I am unable to go lead a normal life. Just about manage work, have to go because I am so frightened about not paying the creditors. As a result I am no longer able to go out apart form work, have cut off all ties with friends, even phone calls. I feel so isolated. I am just beginning to come to terms with the events that have happened in my life and now that I have got my head out of the sand I have found myself with all these debts. I really didn't realise how much I owed, thought it was about £30K not over £50K (have paid back ove £8K as part of my dmp.

Should I continue to try and get an IVA with Payplan or should I look at starting the process again with a different company.

Sorry for the long posting - got a bit carried away!

[thebear29uk]

Hi Janey

The best advice given on here is to contact a couple of companies before agreeing to do an IVA with them. I recommend Thomas Charles. They deal with lots of IP's and put you in touch with one that best suits your circumstances. They do charge a fee but it is 2 x your monthly repayment and in effect you pay 62 payments rather than 60. The best part for you is that once they agree to take on your case if the IVA is rejected they pay you back the 2 payments plus £500. This gives you a good feeling that they think your IVA will be approved.

Dave

[Janey]

Thanks for the advice will look into another IVA company. Good to think that I am not alone in all of this.

[MelanieGiles]

Hi Janey

I am so sorry that this process is causing you so much stress - it is really not meant to and the proposing of an IVA is supposed to take the stress away from you - not add to it which it seems has happened in this case. Have you ever met anyone from Payplan by the way?

Whether you decide to change companies really is a decision only you can take, and it would be unfair of me to really comment. What I can say, however, is that PricewaterhouseCoopers vote every time that they are instructed. If, at the first meeting, there were no votes from G E Capital, then extensive effort ought to have been put to chase those proxies. I am probably biased, being an ex-PricewaterhouseCoopers Senior Manager who used to work in that voting team in their Gloucester office, but I can tell you they would have definately voted if they had the instruction. Also Cahoot do generally vote - they just sometimes need a prod.

I am curious as to why you were put into a DMP rather than an IVA in the first place. Was there any reason for this as you look a prime candidate for an IVA from day 1 to me. Also, how did they calculate such high payments for you - it is appearing to me that you are putting your life on hold for the next five years just to repay your debts. Very commendable - but you have to realistic about affordability as well. Do make sure that you can afford that 40p dividend, especially as you woul not need to increase it if votes from all the other creditors could be found.

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

[Janey]

Melane, thanks for your reply. No I have never met anyone from Payplan only over the telephone. Have been with them since Dec 2005 and went straight into a dmp and haven't had any problem with them. It wasn't until I came across this site just before Christmas and thought about going for an IVA.

I was told at the first creditors meeting (22.01)that Price Waterhouse only got the instruction to vote on behalf of Lewis Group (GE Capital) the day before therfore it was adjourned for eight days, at the second meeting (30.02)they still hadn't voted so was adjourned for a further six days(05.02).

It's as though the IVA for me is too good to be true - just out of reach. Thought the legislation was supposed to help people like me. Already getting creditors contacting me threatening me will legal action and solicitors. I haven't missed any payments on my dmp, am really confused and don't know where to turn.

[MelanieGiles]

I think that you would have been better off doing an IVA in the first place, and as Payplan also do IVA's I am a little curious why you were not advised of this as an option.

PwC would have voted if they had received things in time and had proper notifications of the adjourned meetings!

My gut feeling is that an IVA is the right way forward for you, it is just a shame that it didn't get accepted the first time and that you have been told you now need to pay more money. You might wish to take a second opinion before proceeding.

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

[Janey]

Once again for the advise Melanie. If I decide not to go with payplan will I have to pay a financial penalty for them drawing up the current agreement. When they put together the my current proposal (40p) they never consulted me about my outgoings, they just chopped my income down - am I setting myself to fail. I have been awake all night worrying about it. Am at work now but cannot concentrate. Can anyone suggest a good firm that will help me?

[Skippy]

Hi Janey, I can't believe that Payplan didn't consult you regarding your current proposal. Are you sure you can meet the repayments? I'm worried that this will give you more stress, when it is supposed to have the opposite effect. Please make sure you don't go ahead with this just for the sake of it. I signed my proposal because I was happy that I was doing something, and now I am struggling.

I agree with Dave about Thomas Charles. I spoke to them and they were excellent. Although I am struggling, I wasn't pushed into signing anything - I should have read everything through more thoroughly but I was pleased something was being done about my problems.

Don't put your life on hold for 5 years, only do this if you are comfortable with it.

Good luck x



Onwards and upwards!!!

[Janey]

Think I am doing Payplan a dis-service they did ask if I could do 40p in the pound and I said yes, panic set in so really it is my fault now having big second thoughts! I didn't go through the revised income/expenditure wtih them.

[MelanieGiles]

Janey

Take a second opinion as has been suggested. You have already struggled with one proposal, and I am concerned that you will be unable to make these payments. I do not think you would need in increase your payments if more effort had been put into the voting process.

You must think carefully through whether you can afford the extra payments. I feel that you will struggle unecessarily - to meet the needs of one greedy creditor, who could have been outvoted on the day.

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

[lonely]

Hi Janey, I am really sorry to hear how you are feeling. I have been in a similar situation, hiding this from my husband, not knowing where to turn. However, having been on the forum for about a week, I am feeling much better about things. There's lots of support out there. I myself have turned to Payplan after speaking to several different companies about all my options. If I had gone down the IVA route, I would have probably gone with a company called Finebridge (I spoke to Brian). They were the least pushy and seemed very knowledgable. I would suggest talking to them.

[Janey]

Thanks everyone for your support and guidance. I am currently going to research a few companies before taking the step to contact them.