Aperture Issues!

[lancerpaul]

Hi all
We have been in our IVA since 2016 which we started with Debt free Direct. Unknowingly Aperture took over and i found out around 8 month later via a google post that DFD had gone under.

We received nothing at all from Aperture, no welcome pack, T&C nothing at at all. I have recently found out that they have added extra charges for things that are blatant money making rackets! ie £350 for portal £250 for "well being service" that i knew nothing about or need. I find these charges outrageous. I have complained to Aperture about these charges as they are unjustified and also its good money that i could have used to pay off my debt. After all that's the idea of an IVA.
They never really respond to my complaint.

last year i lost my job as the company i worked for went into liquidation and we hit rock bottom with money and when i told Aperture they asked for a I&E to be submitted. Even though that we had cut back as much as we could, i was the main earner which meant we was at this point -£350 each month and proved so with statements. An adviser called an told me we yes had cut back but there was not enough evidence that we could not pay our IVA yet the evidence was there in black and white.
Again a few 5 weeks ago i lost my job through redundancy and when i sent Aperture my P45 they said there is nothing they can do to adjust my payments.

Im finally back on my feet with a job and been lucky since the virus started.

PPI they got there 3rd party company to search for PPI and around £8000 was recovered from what i have been told but when i ask for specific amounts and where its gone they tell me i have no rights to know. I have again complained and they said that they have told me yet all i got was "around £8000". When i ask where the PPI funds have gone again they cant tell me at all.

Ending our IVA ,because of the stress that Aperture have caused us a family member has gifted us the Money so we can pay off and end the IVA Aperture have said that the money cant be treated as a settlement and will just go to creditors as additional owed Money. When i ask about making any final offer its like they don't want me to and start asking for every bit of information before letting us pay what we owe to end the IVA. Im desperate to end this IVA and feel trapped at the moment, and they care causing me stress.

Whats my best option to end the IVA and is there anyway i can override Aperture?
Does anyone know what there normal protocal is for people submitting any Final offers as they seam to want there cake and to eat it.

[Foggy]

On the fees issue -- 'disbursements' are common to all IVAs across the whole industry. They are not in addition to your normal payments and are, effectively, paid by the creditors at their agreement from money they would have got.

PPI distributions -- you will get a report at the end of the IVA -- a 'final accounting', if you like, which would tell you where the money went -- but, in a nutshell it would be something like: 30 or 40% to the claims company, 15 - 20% to Aperture and the balance distributed, pro rata, to creditors as peer the agreed terms.

Full and Final: The error you have made here is twofold -- First in saying you have been gifted this amount. A gift is a windfall and a windfall is payable into the IVA. The usual practice is for the donor to offer up a lump sum in full and final payment of the outstanding payments. They pay this direct to the IP, in due course, once the offer is accepted by creditors. Should the offer be refused the donor retains the money. Secondly --- do not use the term 'settlement' - A settlement is an offer to pay all outstanding monies, including fees, original debt balances and possible statutory interest.

It is your right to make offers and for the creditors to decide the outcome, not Aperture --- although having the IP on side does go a long way to success. They are ased on the remaining scheduled payments, plus 12 if you are a home owner.

You cannot override Aperture (and they are one of the more difficult firms to deal with generally). You can, if you wish, make a formal complaint to them which you can then escalate to their regulatory body, via the Government Gateway here: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-insol ... actitioner . Regulatory bodies will not directly intervene, but can, and do, impose, sometimes quite substantial fines on the individual IPs.

[lancerpaul]

Thanks for the information, as for the final offer I’ve not shown my cards at all about any of this to Them partly because I didn’t know 100% if I was going to get the money gifted to us or not at the time.

Can you advise the best route to do the final offer via gifted money

[Foggy]

You need to put the offer, in writing, to your IP. You might use this template as a base and alter it as you see fit: https://www.iva.co.uk/letter6-f-and-f-offer-during-iva

The IP will then need to see evidence of the funds ( usually a bank statement from the donor, which can be redacted) and proof of the identity of the donor (driving licence, passport) for money laundering regulation.

When they are happy with this they will arrange a variation meeting with the creditors, which is, basically, a re-run of your initial meeting, where they will decide whether or not to accept the offer.

If the offer is accepted, your donor pays the lump sum to the IP and then the usual completion process will begin (final reviews, checking of previous reviews and accounting to creditors, finalising claims). In Apertures case this is likely to take 6 months, or so. At the end of which you get your completion letter and are out of the IVA!