Just thought i would write a little something for everyone as i have now completed my IVA and will be no longer this ranting banshee, which my closure experience seemed to be creating.
My IVA journey started in 2007 after having parted from my Husband of nearly 25 years in 2005 and with it brought debts. I struggled on for nearly a year after this and then met a man from the internet down south, so of course vast amounts of money spent on travelling backwards and forwards etc, until that partnership ended in Jan of 2007 and made me take stock of the amount of debt i actually owed, i was in a dark place and felt very vulnerable.
I didnt sadly look at other IVA providers but went with DFD who was the first IVA provider i came across, made my phone call in the June of that year, speaking to a very helpful young man and shortly afterwards received all my paperwork.
I have to say my IVA up until my 54th month was free of any problems and i just managed as we all do. Due to the housing market having taken a battering my home which i'd purchased in March 2006 with a 95% mortgage had reduced in value to the point of me nearing negative equity but of course within my agreement i had to raise any that was available, i suppose in 2007 no-one saw the fiscal problems that we have now encountered and still are in relation to mortgage availability as well as the rise and fall of the housing market. However i duly approached the estate agents to be told for a written valuation it would cost me £100! Needless to say DFD were contacted who told me that they used online valuations. So straight to Zoopla who had my home down at a valuation of over £90,000, maybe in 2005 but certainly not in 2011, so I made sure all the details were correct, which some of them weren't and low and behold the price was reduced, this was a more realistic pricing as there was a house identical to mine up for sale, 5 doors down the road at this point in time for £69,000. So i sent in the details of Zoopla, copies of the house for sale down the road as well as evidence of a decline in house prices in and around my local district to hear absolutley nothing for 4 months!
Zoom onto November 2011 i received a pack from a company called EIF regarding mis-sold PPI, no communication was received from DFD whom had engaged them. So phone calls galore, being told i had to sign otherwise my IVA could be jeapodised, who wants an IVA to fail nearing the end so i duly completed those forms after having been reassured by both companies that this wouldn't delay my IVA closure, hmmm!
December, i finally got a reply to all the information i'd sent in regarding my house, an uplift payment of just over £700 to make to achieve the 63p in the pound, which i was given 6 months to pay it in and then IVA finished, i felt fantastic, i'd met my partner back in 2008 and our lives together was looking very positive as we could now make plans to move forward once this was behind me.
Jan 2012, i broke my arm which necessitated me to be off work for months so gave me plenty of time to think about EIF and chase this company up as i'd heard nothing from them since the November the previous year! Right up until July of 2012, i got excuse after excuse of why they hadn't chased up this company or that company to the point that i then started to chase the relevant companies up.
July 2012 i was awarded over £18,000 in PPI by two creditors, one of whom decided to off-set their own debt and send the balance onto my IP, this was known by both EIF and DFD and no challange was started.
August 2012, final payment made including the uplift payment of just over £700, reached the finishing line or so i thought, no chance!
September 2012 i found some papers relating to a loan i'd had and decided to put a claim in for PPI as i remember this loan being sold to me over the phone and the PPI not being explained properly. Low and behold i got a further £8900, this was sent directly to my IP who then decided to email EIF to ask them to invoice for commission. Thankfully i was alerted to this by EIF themselves but after having clarified the claim was done by me, i was asked to prove this by sending in all the paperwork, my integrity was being questioned at this point by both EIF and DFD. I duly sent in all the paperwork that i'd got and still EIF weren't convinced it wasn't a result of them having done the work, despite them never having had any authorsation forms signed in relation to this loan. I then got chatting to a police officer friend of mine who didn't think this was right and advised me to ask for clarification from EIF of their paperwork, this i duly did asking them to send me their evidence that they'd done this, low and behold within 2 hours of my email, the matter was dropped!
November 2012, still no sign of closure, EIF were awaiting the refund from CITI bank! I then wrote to CITI as i was getting a little fed up that EIF seemed to be sitting back despite me having told them numerous times this was delaying my closure and they had promised me over a year ago that this wouldn't be the case. Low and behold after referring CITI to the FLA they finally sent the cheque to DFD, closure was nearly mine and thankfully my dealings with EIf were at an end, or so i thought!
December 2012 numerous emails being sent to my IP, only one answered the others being dealt with by the ever helpful Judith, they were now saying Paymex were the delaying factor as well as the off-set debt, why wasn't this sorted earlier were my questions, answers not forthcoming.
January 2013, notification of a variation meeting to be held in relation to receiving 100p in the pound due to PPI monies received, Paymex, off-set debt and increase in fees.
February 2013, Variation meeting held and agreed, great something happening now, closure round the corner.
March 2013, EIf contacted me regarding off-set debt, my question was why hasn't this been dealt with, why didn't you challange this back in July when it was first done, they weren't able to answer this, idiotic company, needless to say this was the final straw and i wrote to my MP who very kindly agreed to look into this for me.
April 2013, MP acted on my behalf and within 3 weeks i have had several communications from my IP, EIF have been told to close my file and on 18/4/13 received an email containing a copy of my completion certificate! So now 19/4/13 i am finally debt free.
My advice to anyone who has got this far in my story is don't give up, challange things if you feel it necessary and do keep going the end is worth it.
Good luck and best wishes to all those are still on their IVA journey and to those that are thinking of embarking on one, please do your homework and choose very carefully who you are going to have doing this for you, there are many many clues on the forum to those that are good IVA providers and those that i would definately give a wide berth to.
I'm now going to have a mint tea and celebrate my new found future with my partner whom i will be moving in with, the future is definately very bright.
Xxxxxx
Om shanti, namesté, good luck to all who are embarking on the IVA journey, it isn't always an easy one but the outcome is the best.
IVA COMPLETED August 2012, received Completion certificate 18.4.13.
xx
