My story - and why PPI is important

[YorkshireLad]

Long time lurker, but this being my fourth anniversary date it seems about time I started posting as well!

My problems were all of my own making, and despite my best efforts at shuffling money around I finally had to give in in May 2009, with my IVA starting 17 August of that year, thanks to a great amount of help from my IP and her team. It had always been my intention to pay off all my debts (as I said, it was my fault) so bankruptcy wasn't an option to me, and a DMP wouldn't have been good enough.

As I’m sure others have noticed, the first year is the easiest; the letters from the creditors stop coming, you’re making regular payments and all is well. The second year starts to drag, and the third is all about hitting that psychological hump at Month 30 of your 60-month IVA.

But, I also have a secured loan with Firstplus. The insurance policy on that paid out in August 2011 as I'd never claimed, but they did a silly thing; the letter they sent with the cheque reminded me that my payments were no longer protected. "Hang on," wrote I back, "if I took out PPI and I'm still making payments then there must be payment protection in place – otherwise, all you've done is sell me a five-year endowment policy." And they agreed, refunding me enough from that and a previous loan to take the return on my IVA from about 47% to nearer 65%.

I still wasn't looking at PPI, but in August 2012 while filling some papers I noticed an annual statement from Egg that said I was paying PPI, so I tried claiming that back as well. Lo and behold, they paid out on that (and a former loan which I’d forgotten about) which took me to over 90%...

So, September & October 2012 were spent sending speculative letters (and the 12-page FOS claim form, to move things a bit faster) to every company I thought I might have had a credit card or loan with, which produced enough funds to completely repay my debts.

There you think might be the end: but this is IVA and PPI we’re talking about here. My IP is still waiting for revised totals from the creditors, so I’m still making IVA payments and I'm still on the Register – even though my IP has enough to cover the remaining debts and I have £15.2k sitting in my savings account!

But it does go to show the value of PPI, and why some companies are keen to get their hands on it.

Now trying to sell my house – which I've been wanting to do for the last three years – and move on with my life [8D]

[Michael Peoples]

Congratulations and hopefully when the final claims come in there will be something left over for you. This plus the sale proceeds will let you move on.

[clairemichelle]

Hi yorkshirelad
Thanks for sharing your story and fingers crossed your case gets completed asap.
Seems like in your case ppi did have big affect on the amounts you owed and thankfully it seems like it will allow you to be debt free sooner than 5yrs plus equity. Fab.
Cm

[YorkshireLad]

Thanks, both. It's ironic; the Firstplus PPI settlement - both the original one 18 months ago for the current loan and previous one, plus the correction they made in June which was another huge help - has got me to a position where I could afford to sell and be absolutely, completely debt free for the first time since I was 18 years old.

But if I hadn't had the Firstplus PPI I wouldn't have needed the IVA; I'd have been able to stagger on, and the other PPI settlements would have helped clear debts. So I've reached the same position, but with the addition of a wrecked credit score and being on the Insolvency Register. Ho hum.

On the funds front: my original debt was around £47k. After fees, I've paid £19.5k in monthly payments and received £30k in PPI. So I'm expecting there to be more than enough left over afterwards I'm at least 6 months in credit!

Where I've been fortunate is in having an IP & team that let me get on with claiming it and handing it over. 15% fee notwithstanding, you can't buy the peace of mind a good IP can bring to the IVA process.

Gary