Yet another GT closure thread

[g4vhn]

I have received the following email. My interpretation of it is, they have been stalling all this time whilst they decided how they are going to go about things. Basically nothing has been done regarding closure while they decide and the have just been fobbing me off the whole time. This is the first mention of PPI to me.

By the way i know 100% i have no PPI claim as none of my credit has ever had it on, mis-sold of otherwise.


Good Afternoon Gavin,

Thank you for your email, I hope you are well.

I am writing to advise in order to gain an update on the progress of your closure you would be required to email our closures department direct at iva.closures@uk.gt.com.

I would however note a quite important matter which is having a serious impact on the closure process at present.
PPI is considered a "Contingent Asset" of an IVA as per legal advice we have recently sought on this matter. We wrote to all our clients to advise this asset must be investigated and introduced to the IVA for the benefit of all creditors where funds are available. Opting out of this process was previously an option as some clients may have been aware that PPI did not exist on any of their debts however as this is a constantly evolving process, this is no longer the case. We will only accept confirmation from your creditors that PPI was not present on any of your debts in order to ensure you fulfil your obligation in this regard.

As it currently stands we are still awaiting some further guidance to be issued from our regulators in respect of PPI however we must currently treat the asset as it would be treated in Bankruptcy and to that end all debtors are obliged to investigate a potential claim. Assets cannot be withheld from your creditors. Failure to investigate mis-sold PPI will be deemed a breach of your IVA and will result in an indefinite delay in the closure of your case as we can not clarify you have fulfilled all obligations with this unresolved matter.

In order to minimise disruption to our clients and the closure of their IVA, we are proposing to hold a Mass Variation meeting with all creditors across our entire case load requesting permission to close the case and treat PPI as a separate entity which will continue on post closure. If accepted by both the debtor and creditors this will allow the Certificate of Completion to be issued whilst the Supervisor still investigates all claims in respect of PPI. Funds would then be distributed to creditors post closure of the arrangement.

We expect to start issuing paperwork on this process in the next couple of weeks and it is imperative that you give this paperwork your urgent attention and return as soon as possible to ensure this process can be completed as quickly as possible as we are aware this PPI campaign has caused significant delay already for many of our clients. Should you not accept this meeting to take place on your arrangement then closure will be inevitably delayed while the PPI process completes in full.

Should you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact Customer Services on 0844 855 2166.

Kind Regards

Claire

[MelanieGiles]

Thank you for posting this Gavin. It is useful to see how other firms are tackling this issue.

[IVA Victim12345]

"Opting out of this process was previously an option as some clients may have been aware that PPI did not exist on any of their debts however as this is a constantly evolving process, this is no longer the case. We will only accept confirmation from your creditors that PPI was not present on any of your debts in order to ensure you fulfil your obligation in this regard."
Does anyone know when this changed. It would seem it has changed within the last few months, i.e after GT should have closed a number of the cases referred to in this Forum. Are they not liable for this delay by way of compensation to anyone who has been delayed up to this point because of their poor preformance? Does anyone have a link to how this is actually worded by the regulators? I am still concerned that making a claim against PPi when non exist, and also saying they are suspected of misselling when as debtors we know this to be untrue will open up huge consequences!....I do not believe PPi has caused significant delay I think GT has caused significant delay.

[MerlinL14]

All we can do is comment and support posters IVA victim, it may be that you need to take this to official channels to get a resolution and redress for this case. I would be fuming as well but it has to come to a point when this has exhausted the opinions of the forum experts and those IP who take their time to post but are not in a position to make judgement or take action as you are not their client/customer. I can only hope that this situation becomes a bad memory when it is my turn to go through the closure process.

[IVA Victim12345]

Merlin, I understand your view that you are unable to give official response based on our individual cases. But I think it does help to see other GT customers situations as well.

It is also important to see how other IPs handle exactly the same problems the industry now has at the same time. for example PPi, the same regulators for all IPs yet very different responses and timescales. IVAs are still being given CCs as we speak, yet not GTs?

I looked at the Vincent Bond site and found their complaints policy in 10 seconds, but no policy on the GT site? http://www.vincentbond.com/vincent_bond ... policy.asp

I do hope your closure goes well, but of course that will depend on who your IP is.....

[Foggy]

IVA Victim, you are quite correct in highlighting the lack of a complaints procedure on GT's website. They also omit reference to their IP's governing body in email and hard copy letter footers. I believe both are required by their regulators.

And, yes, I think it is important for those seeking IVA's to see "warts and all" how we each deal with and get service from our respective companies. We all know the money in these big organisations goes into signing us up in the first place and it is important to be able to get a flavour of the ongoing service.

However, we must also remember that these delays, infuriating as they are, are down to one department of GT and do not reflect on their general handling of IVA's as a whole, which, in my short experience with them, they seem to do very well. They are also down to a peculiar set of circumstances, which are affecting other firms in much the same way -- and "work arounds" are being investigated and implimented. It is not just GT in the mire here, and I don't feel GT should be carrying the buck for this.

However, for such a large and prestigious organisation their handling of this particular crisis does bear scrutiny and I hope the "powers that be" within GT see and learn from this debacle.

Finally ... I think Merlin was politely alluding to the fact that, on the forum, we are going round in ever decreasing circles and getting no-where with this. The problem has been highlighted numerous times, and we can only repeat the same answers, I am afraid.

I am confident that this, too, shall pass

[UpToMyNeckInIt]

So GT have 20,000-25,000 IVAs to manage. I thought that there were only about 40,000-44,000 IVAs active? Do GT really have 50% of the IVA market? (Or have I mis-read Insolvency Service figures?).

I suppose it’s no surprise: they have taken on IVAs from at least 2 other big firms that I have heard of.

Also I understand that ‘Stepchange’ refer many of their IVA customers to GT as well. (Thought they were supposed to be ‘impartial’ – oh well). Wonder if any of the other debt charities operate a similar partnership.

Maybe then, a lot of the angst experienced by GT customers, is a result of GT becoming a victim of their own success. That’s no excuse though. Any expanding firm must surely have to invest proportionately to meet its obligations.

I wish you all well in getting a satisfactory conclusion to your issues with this company.

[ClareSilver]

GT have the CAB market share. For all debtors who go to the CAB who need an IVA, CAB use primarily GT. They used to use PayPlan, however not as much. GT obtain free leads from the CAB this way.

[ivoriva]

Well, on the plus side looks like GT are *finally* going to carry out mass variations to allow completion certificaters to be issued and deal with PPI post closure where neccessary. This has to be a step forward and would at least allow us to continue with our lives without all the restrictions an open IVA poses. So i'd be very happy if this happens. Maybe there is some light at the end of the tunnel!

[Foggy]

We can only surmise this from the copy emails other clients have kindly posted. We have yet to have a formal announcement by GT and, of course, are still very much in the dark regarding timelines.

[MelanieGiles]

There are over 200,000 under supervsion at present - GT clearly being a leading player in the marketplace, with strong links to the not-for-profit sector.

[Foggy]

And a higher market share will lead, naturally, to higher unhappy client numbers. However, they are probably not so bad on a percentage basis.

[MelanieGiles]

No-one who is referred to GT by the CAB or Step-Change Charity is obliged to use their services. Clients are free to select whoever they want to represent them in an IVA at the end of the day - althouhg it is possible that some of the bad comments around at the moment may influence anyone doing their own research.

[IVA Victim12345]

Hi Ivoriva, you mention GT will be finally doing mass variations. Where did you hear that from please as the last correspondence I received from them said the opposite? They said PPi would have to be investigated by an unnamed 3rd party with no timeframe!

[Foggy]

IVA Victim, a couple of GT clients have posted emails on here intimating this might happen --- we await an announcement from GT.

PPI will still have to be investigated. The Mass Variation only allows formal closure to take place with PPI outstanding.