My IVA has been terminated after 4.5 years. Advice please

[mole]

It is tales like this that give IVA and the companies that manage them a bad name.

You can do 4.5 years and then be thrown to back to square 1. Bankruptcy would have meant she would have been debt free now. But who cares Freeman Jones have had their fat fee.

[Broke of London]

Don't worry Mole! It isn't often that IPs move to fail an iva so quickly. There may be something in the case that we aren't aware of.

[mole]

I hope so BOL, that is the nightmare scenario for those that have put in years of hard work.

[MelanieGiles]

No IVA should fail due to circumstances outside of the client's control and at such a late stage. Melanie - you should insist on speaking with your IP directly and get advice from the horse's mouth. The IP firm you are with do have a representative who occasionally posts on the forum, so hopefully he will pick up this post and try to assist.

[trionon]

Hello, all
I am facing similar situation. My IVA was due to complete in April this year but because I had 6 months suspended payments due to unemployment, it got extended by 18 months, also to allow for the lack of equity. In the original proposal, my flat was included in the final year but because I couldn't re-mortgage and there is no equity to speak of, Pay Plan arranged a variation proposal to exclude the property and for me to make 12 months addtional payments instead. Unfortunately, the monthly figure has increased, and income decreased since and I am now not in the position to sustain the payments. My surplus income was clearly stated on I&E I did in February, and that's all I could afford but PP insisted that I should stick to what what agreed in the variation proposal as this is what the creditors expect. Otherwise the IVA will fail. As a result I am now in arrears with PP, and 2 months behind with my mortgage payments trying to keep up with IVA! Is this correct what they are saying that if I don't repay arrears the IVA will be terminated? Will the creditors then apply for bankruptcy after nearly 6 years of payments? I was going to offer £1000 as a lump sum in final settlement, and this is through family loan and the only money I can raise but not sure if it will make a difference I am struggling to continue with IVA full stop as my employment contract is only until end of July after which I don't even know if I will be employed, and I need to find nearly £800 towards the annual flat maintenance and emergency repairs as required by residents association, so I would have to miss at least 2 months IVA payments which will increase my arrears further.

[Michael Peoples]

This sounds very unfair and perhaps you should contact Gemma from Payplan who posts here. Why extend the IVA by 18 months to make up for 6 months break? Why extend the IVA to address non existent equity?

I hope your offer is accepted and any problems speak directly to the IP and take no excuses. Failing an IVA at this stage gives the whole industry a bad name which is unfair on professional firms.

[Gemma Burton]

Hi Trionon, please feel free to contact me if you would like me to look through your case for you.

Gemma

[Tina Shortland]

I'm disappointed to read both Melanie.A and Trionon's current experience of their IVAs - it is hard to specifically comment without knowing the full facts but both scenarios sound very unsatifactory and would no doubt be handled differently by some other firms.

It is situations like these that make some IPs stand out from others as to how they would handle things - a lot can happen during the course of an IVA and it is important to know from the beginning that a company will represent you well and support you right to the end.

Failing an IVA is not good for anyone, particularly the clients and especially at such a late stage and I am surprised either company would want this on their register of cases.

I really hope you both get a satisfactory outcome from your IP after your commitment to this point and the issues being out of your control.

Please keep us posted.

[tonyranks]

tina s your so correct, i cannot fault fremman and jones but i must say i did not miss a single payment in the 5 years and have the threat of losing my job, so i would not of even of experience the other side of the company, i am really sorry to hear about people lack of sympathy regarding thier personal circumstances..its a pity because it seems as long as the payments are regaular and not problem you cannot tell how good a company really is.....my heart goes out to people finding it difficult, at times it wasnt easy, but luckily for me i am in a very well paid job, over 45,000 a year

[Tina Shortland]

Maybe its another part of the important criteria that someone should look for when selecting companies to approach. Forums like this are great for people to share their experiences so others can learn from it. Personally I would want reassurance on the what-ifs where possible to have some peace of mind. I like it when new clients ask doom and gloom questions so we can cover the worries. Its also good when they ask questions they know maybe they shouldn't or are somewhat unethical so that we can cover it to identify the no-nos and they don't do something they shouldn't! The more information shared up front and questions asked the better we find - thats probably why I spend most of my life speaking on the phone!

That aside hopefully these two situations are not beyond being resolved so can turn into postitive stories.

[trionon]

Thanks! Yes, I did feel at the time it was somewhat infair as PP knew I was on temporary contract that I would become unemployed. Yet, I was still expected to maintain the payments at the level when my income and my job were those at the start of the IVA. It was not until I physically stopped paying, I was contacted by my case officer advising that they would backdate missed payments to remove arrears because, apparently I was entitled to miss 12 such payments. When I questioned the validity of these additional 12 months payments in lieu of equity because the clause was inoperable, I was told it’s to show good will. I do wonder if an additional year’s fees had something to do with it. Anyway, I have now written to PP, quite a strong letter which is unusual for me The thing is, they know I cannot go bankrupt becuase of the nature of my job, so I wonder if creditors are milking this fact ever so slightly.... We'll see what PP responds.

[Steven Hewitt]

Hi Melanie.a,

I am very sorry to hear that your IVA has got so far and then been terminated. Failing an IVA is always a last resort and all parties usually work hard to ensure that failures are kept to an absolute minimum.

If you have had a change in circumstance then it needs to be reflected in your monthly payment, as payments made into an IVA are based on affordability. That said, an IVA is a two way process and for an IVA to remain active we need the full co-operation of all parties involved. You mentioned that you have kept us informed of your change in circumstance, so I’m a bit unsure as to why we find ourselves in this situation if we have been aware of this all along.

We’d like to discuss this with you in more detail. If you give us a call at Freeman Jones and ask to speak to Steve Grogan, he is expecting your call and he can look into this further for you.

It is always very sad to hear about people who get so far into their IVA only for it to fail at such a late stage. As you know, without knowing the full details of your case I can make no comment on the specific reasons.

Thank you

[Niobe]

I hope you have given Steve a call and that you have been able to get this sorted out.

[Tina Shortland]

That sounds positive for you Melanie.A, hope you got to speak with Steve.

Trionon - I hope you get a positive response to your letter.

We look forward to hearing an update from you both and hope it is good news.

[MelanieGiles]

Here we see another good example of how this forum manages to put troubled clients directly in front of their IP firms to resolve issues that are concerning them. Well done to both firms for picking up on these complaints and dealing with them in a speedy fashion. Let's hope both of these IVAs can now be saved - as no-one gains from a failed case.