Approx one month ago I made the 60th and final payment of my IVA. I am now awaiting my closure/completion certificate which I have been advised could take upto six months.
In itself this is fine but I have recently been advised by my employer that there is likely to be an imminent restructure of the organisation including voluntary and involuntary redundancies.
Hoped someone may be able to advise if and upto which point I would need to advise severance package details to IP - very likely this package will include significant inducements to leave voluntarily and I really just need to know where I stand.
I have received legal advice which indicates that an IP should not call for a windfall once the debtor has fully complied with all of the obligations they were required to under the terms of the IVA. I am sure GT's own advice is similar.
Sensible advice provided above and I hope your IP will be adopting the same way of dealing with windfalls.
I would contact your IP by email and get a reply in writing confirming this so there can be no confusion if this arises before you receive your completion certificate.
I've now registered and thanks for all the advice to date.
Having spoken further to GT I seem unable to get past the Customer Services team whom provide the standard response to the redundancy/windfall topic.
Any ideas as to how to get to someone whom would be able to give the matter some more personalised consideration.
In addition more details are emerging from my employer and the more I hear the more I feel now is the time to make a career change and as such I'm beginning to wish that I could consider the possibility of voluntary redundancy.
Without further clarity from GT there is no option open to me other than to continue in my current role. Why would I risk financial uncertainty and unemployment? I find this impossibly difficult to deal with in so much that my professional career is now being dictated by an IVA I have completed.
This is my biggest bug bear with the whole IVA process. Like you I made my final payment recently (August in my case). Since then I've had real trouble getting anything to progress, I had to make contact with GT just to get confirmation I could cancel the standing order, I had to ask for my final review to take place. They should be asking me these things, not the other way round. It would appear they have issues doing things in a timely manner at the moment.
Back to the point in hand though, it does appear some companies will just quote the terms of the IVA at you even after contractual payments are finished - IE just treat things the same as you always have, until you get your completion report/certificate. It seems impossible to get a real answer from the all important person, the IP. This is now why I really wish I'd gone for some thing a little more personal, rather than a big company, as you do seem to get a completely different level of service from the smaller firms. I also think its somewhat unfair to be held by all T&Cs of the IVA after contractual payments have finished. It quotes in the IVA that additional time (normally 6 months with GT) is for Administrative purposes, so thats what it should be for - not to seemingly hold you to the terms of IVA for what now seems to be a rather limitless period. At the begining I signed up for a 60month IVA with 3 additional months payments for my share of equity when in reality the number of months I'm held to it for seems to be a lot longer. If you cant get anywhere with GT then you might need to seek legal advice on the matter.
I was extremely impressed with GT when I set up my IVA in 2007. I found them very approachable and professional. It is only now that things seem to have changed and there are no individuals for point of contact, rather now it's just Customer Services. From what I have read here it sounds they have grown very quickly recently.
I have completed my 60mths and fulfilled my obligations and now want to move on with my life and at the first jucture it seems that I can't as the IVA still rules over my choices. Surely there must be a solution to my predicament as nobody stands to gain in my current situation.
Try emailing Karol putting 'IVA Forum' in the subject line
Hopefully you will have a reply quite quickly and she wil be able to confirm what GT's policy is regarding extra monies after you have made all your payments.
If life is what you make it, I must have been in a strange mood when I made mine
I managed to speak to Karol this afternoon whom confirmed that although I have made my final payments, any type of redundancy package would still be considered as a windfall until the point which completion certificate has been issued. Hence it seems I'm completely at the mercy of the speed with which they complete this process and to me this feels somewhat unfair perhaps.
I'm not sure if further to earlier posts, I should escalate further or just accept. If escalating further then I'm not sure how?
font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by MelanieGiles
I have received legal advice which indicates that an IP should not call for a windfall once the debtor has fully complied with all of the obligations they were required to under the terms of the IVA. I am sure GT's own advice is similar.
Evidently not, Mel !
My opinions are merely that .. opinions based on experience. Always seek professional advice.
IVA Completed 23rd July 2013 .... C.C. 10th January 2014
Notwithstanding the immense respect I have for Karol, coupled with the fact that I do not have the full circumstances of your case within my remit, I would be inclined to ask her to escalate that up to your IP to ensure that they concur with this view. You may need to take legal advice as to your position, for absolute clarity.
Matt76 - Following our converstaion this afternoon, I hope I have clarified the position regarding redundancy.
Your final contributions were received at the beginning of October and your case is now with our closure team to complete the final administration.
The terms and conditions on which this IVA was accepted clearly stipulates how redundancy should be dealt with within the duration of the arrangement.
Kind Regards
Karol
Karol, I think when we signed up most of us thought the 'duration' of the IVA was the number of contractual payments we were being asked to pay. Upon completion of these payments, I believe most people would assume that they have 'completed' and that any remaining 'admin' time would be for the purpose of their IVA company checking all monies were received and distributed accordingly.
It would now appear 'debtor clients' can be held to the T&Cs for an indefinate period all depending on the 'speediness' of their IVA company. I'm talking about where the 'debtor' has met all their obligations. So if a debtor at quick IVA company gets certificate 3 months after final payment and subsequently gets a windfall a couple of months later, they dont have to pay it over, whereas another debtor at slower IVA company gets a windfall 6 months after final payment but doesnt have their certificate they have to pay it over. Is that fair?
font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by ivoriva
Karol, I think when we signed up most of us thought the 'duration' of the IVA was the number of contractual payments we were being asked to pay. Upon completion of these payments, I believe most people would assume that they have 'completed' and that any remaining 'admin' time would be for the purpose of their IVA company checking all monies were received and distributed accordingly.
I think you have summed that up perfectly! Most people are under the misapprehension that when you have made all your payments for 5 or 6 years depending on your specific case that you are deabt free and free to rebuild your financial life.
There are some IVA companies who have stated that where they are keeping an IVA open solely to recover claims for PPI that things like inheritance, redundancy will not be at risk.
7 years after starting an IVA I finally received a completion certificate from ClearDebt
