Ebenegate / Vanguard & RCPs

[Foggy]

As many know Ebenegate, based in Mauritius, took over the administration of Vanguards IVA cases and are now bullying customers into changing the method of payment to recurring card payments, citing the reason being that it is the only method available to them.

RCPs do not have any useful protection which you get with other methods: With Direct Debits you have the DD Guarantee. With Standing Orders it is you, the account holder, who controls and 'pushes' the payment from your account. With an RCP it is they who 'pull' the money from your account, with no control from you over when, how many times or even how much. In the past RCPs have been notoriously difficult to get out of and some people have had to resort to 'losing' the card and having the bank cancel it and re-issue a replacement (that might have been fixed now, but I am not sure).

The IVA will be silent on the matter of the method of payment. However, an acceptable payment method would have been one of the things you weighed up and formed part of the reasons for you to engage your IP. As such it was a material consideration when you decided to go ahead and it forms part of your agreement. Ebenegate cannot force a change on you.

I have my concerns about a professional company being unable to accept universally acceptable methods of payment --- next it will be transfers by Western Union only !

I would urge everyone affected to complain direct to their IP -- who, as I understand it, is still Mr Peter A. Jackson,of Vanguard and complaints can be then escalated to his regulatory body, the IPA, via the government gateway. As Ebenegate has places a time limit of 14 days for compliance, I would further suggest that Mr Jackson be asked to respond within, say, 5 working days, before the matter is escalated, so that you might honour the time limits imposed by his administrators.

[kallis3]

I agree - what happens if you don't have a card? Are they going to threaten to fail your IVA unless you get one?

[lifenoteasy]

RCP's can only be agreed with your consent OR where it forms part of a contract.

As an IVA is a contract the IP has the responsibility to ensure that all communications go out in their name where they are seeking a contract variation. It is unlikely that a text within this context would be acceptable as a contract variation.

The issue of whether Ebenegate can only accept RCP's is an issue between them and the IP, unless the IP confirms that only the use of RCP's is valid within the terms of the IVA documented agreement..

The IP is also likely to have some professional standard requirements to ensure that anyone in an IVA is not disadvantaged and have to provide assurance about the use of Ebenegate.

I also note that Starling Bank has changed its T&C's linked to being in an IVA and also that they will not take responsibility if you allow third party access.

[lifenoteasy]

Just to add that Vanguard office address can be found here https://www.iva-advice.co/vanguard-inso ... %20Kingdom.

[Colin351973]

I agree with all this I recentley completed my review by ebenegate and was told I must change to recurring card payment its the only option to go forwards with the iva .So far no probs but surley they should send out an ammended contract stating this ?

[shantaramfan]

As many know Ebenegate, based in Mauritius, took over the administration of Vanguards IVA cases and are now bullying customers into changing the method of payment to recurring card payments, citing the reason being that it is the only method available to them.

RCPs do not have any useful protection which you get with other methods: With Direct Debits you have the DD Guarantee. With Standing Orders it is you, the account holder, who controls and 'pushes' the payment from your account. With an RCP it is they who 'pull' the money from your account, with no control from you over when, how many times or even how much. In the past RCPs have been notoriously difficult to get out of and some people have had to resort to 'losing' the card and having the bank cancel it and re-issue a replacement (that might have been fixed now, but I am not sure).

The IVA will be silent on the matter of the method of payment. However, an acceptable payment method would have been one of the things you weighed up and formed part of the reasons for you to engage your IP. As such it was a material consideration when you decided to go ahead and it forms part of your agreement. Ebenegate cannot force a change on you.

I have my concerns about a professional company being unable to accept universally acceptable methods of payment --- next it will be transfers by Western Union only !

I would urge everyone affected to complain direct to their IP -- who, as I understand it, is still Mr Peter A. Jackson,of Vanguard and complaints can be then escalated to his regulatory body, the IPA, via the government gateway. As Ebenegate has places a time limit of 14 days for compliance, I would further suggest that Mr Jackson be asked to respond within, say, 5 working days, before the matter is escalated, so that you might honour the time limits imposed by his administrators.

Do you know how to get in touch with Peter Jackson? I can't find any contact information for him on the Ebenegate site and haven't got any old emails directly from him.

[shantaramfan]

Also I found this Disciplinary Consent Order against him from last year: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... march-2020

Does this mean he's still actually the IP for our IVA's? I cant tell if he actually works for Ebenegate or not.

[Foggy]

Also I found this Disciplinary Consent Order against him from last year: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... march-2020

Does this mean he's still actually the IP for our IVA's? I cant tell if he actually works for Ebenegate or not.

He is still listed as the IP for Vanguard:


Mr PETER ANTHONY JACKSON
Company
Vanguard Insolvency Practitioners
Address
National House, 80-82 Wellington Road North, STOCKPORT, Cheshire, SK4 1HW
Telephone
0151 252 6260
Fax
IP Number
9085
Licensing Body
IPA
Email
peter.jackson@vanguardinsolvency.co.uk

[kallis3]

peter.jackson@vanguardinsolvency.co.uk

He is still shown as such on the GOV website

[shantaramfan]

Thanks for this, I'm waititng until the end of the day to see if I hear back from Ebenegate. I've asked them to send the new bank account details over so I can switch my standing order. If they don't do this, I'll email Peter Jackson about this

[shantaramfan]

I agree with all this I recentley completed my review by ebenegate and was told I must change to recurring card payment its the only option to go forwards with the iva .So far no probs but surley they should send out an ammended contract stating this ?

So you've been paying with the RCP method? How has it been so far? Do they send you a confirmation of the payment method change via email or letter?

[Foggy]

Have a read here: https://conversation.which.co.uk/money/ ... -payments/

[MrMole]

... Or, more up to date guidance

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banki ... -payments/

[shantaramfan]

If it comes down to it and we have to pay via RCP, I’d suggest getting a prepaid debit card like Revolut and then just drop in your monthly IVA payments into that. That way your normal bank account cant be potentially robbed of more money than you should be paying monthly. With a prepaid card, you can’t spend more than is on the card.

[Ad999]

Hi everyone,

Created this account as like many have had the RCP text from Ebenegate, had more correspondence with them in the last week than Vanguard in 18 months, just how I liked it!

Been in email correspondence with what seems like a generic automated robot response computer over at Ebenegate, I sent an email requesting to pay by standing order as initially agreed and signed upon at the start of my IVA and then another asking for their account details, the third email is the one I’m waiting for a reply from, hopefully I’ll get more than a generic response this time.

Good Morning,

The contract I signed at the start of my IVA which stated how I would pay throughout the duration is legally binding, there has been no other agreement and I have signed nothing else, the money taken from recurring card payments has an account that it is deposited into, all accounts have an account number and sort code, so why can these details not be provided so that I can set up a standing order like I agreed upon at the start of my IVA, the ‘we only accept payment by recurring card payment’ does not wash I’m afraid. I will continue making payments via standing order to the account I am now until you provide a new account number and sort code.

Kind Regards,

Adam