Poor health when pressured into IVA by my lender

[IVAconfused75]

Hi.
This post is a bit complicated, but I hope someone can help.
In late 2009, I was critically ill for 3 months with an ongoing condition. It reached the level of coma and having to see psychiatrists after I was discharged from the hospital. During this time I was in hospital and after I left hospital, my lender Northern Rock, was aware of my condition as they continued to write letters of missed mortgage payments, which I was able to open after I physically recovered enough at the end of 2009. In 2010, I was still feeling the effects of my illness; My lupus had reached cerebral lupus amongst other issues and late that year, I was harassed via letters and calls from Northern Rock regarding my mortgage arrears. It was a condition of my mortgage to take out an MPI. When I enquired about it, as to why it didn't pay my mortgage while I was in hospital, I was told the premium had an outstanding balance of £93 and therefore it was cancelled, but she would send out the previous premiums payments to me. That never happened. When I tried to claim a PPI on this mortgage insurance, Northern Rock said I didn't have any in the first place. Whole thing makes no sense!
I didn't find a permanent job until late 2011, by this time I found my mortgage had been moved to NRAM, who duly antagonized me to pay more money into my mortgage. I could not pay the full £652 at the time, as i wasn't earning a lot of money, so i was with a temporary debt arrangement that divided all my debts within what i could afford to pay them all, based on my income. Mentally I was still recovering from my health and this was when I feel I was pressured into an IVA by NRAM. I didn't understand IVAs and I wasn't aware of advice lines or given any other debt options from NRAM. I live on my own and in my most vulnerable state, was pressured to enter a long term payment plan.
I am now in my 5th year and my IP had their estate agent value my property, it didn't have enough equity in the property, the house is worth £118k and a balance of £78k left on the mortgage so my IP said that if I don't have means to pay £23,643 in April 2018 I will have to continue into a 7th year of payments as my lender now Landmark Mortgages, will not allow a remortgage. (My original debt was £22k and to date, I have paid £8,900 into the IVA)
I want to sell up to manage my health better elsewhere, so I don't want to to be locked into this for 7 yrs. I had a phone call at the start of my IVA regarding an extension of 6yrs. I don't remember hearing or reading anything that said 7 yrs plan. There was no equity at the start of the IVA either as I'm sure they were all fully aware of. I've had Systemic Lupus for 11 yrs now and I was first ill in 2006, which was when I had to remortgage my home.
I don't know what's the best thing to do. Do I have grounds to make a complaint concerning the circumstances I felt pressured into having an IVA in the first place?
I am satisfied to pay the IVA until April 2018 as I was led to believe, but then I want to be free of this as quickly and legally as possible.
If someone can help with advice, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

[Foggy]

On the face of it I would say the best option is to ride it out and come out debt free (mortgage apart). I am afraid you are caught in a "perfect storm" ... Northern Rock (NRAM) always push for the usually 5 year term to be extended to 6, which, under the term agreed, can be further extended ( and usually is) by the 12 months instead of equity, to 7 years. This is common and accepted practice.

I would imagine that, during the course of setting up the IVA, you will have signed a disclaimer stating that everything has been fully explained and that you understand what you are entering into -- so a complaint on those grounds is unlikely to get very far without expensive and very stressful litigation -- which I am sure you neither want nor need right now.

You could, possibly, raise a secured loan to buy out the extra 12 months. This might not be possible due to your other circumstances, but worth having a chat with a broker about. We have two on forum : Shaun Vickery and Ryan Radford. Shaun, I know, has dealt with similar situations before. Their details can be found under the "Quick Links" tab above (top left) then under "The Team" on the drop down menu.

[IVAconfused75]

Hi.
Thanks for information.
What about my other consideration of selling my home? Would it be possible to pay up to April 2018, then seek advice on selling my property and paying off the IVA and the creditors difference with the sale?
I'm not looking to get anything out of my property as I wanted a quick sale with someone like National Homebuyers and not an estate agent route.
My property is very sought after where I live because it is cheap but spacious. Its a 3 bed terrace. I've already had estate agents with their cards and leaflets offering their services for sale.
Another unknown year of this isn't good for my health for various reasons and I need to stay well and in work, or it will fail anyway.

[IVAconfused75]

I forgot to say, I'm not looking to sell and buy another property, as I would be moving in with my partner, so it would be literally sold as seen and a walkaway on my part, if that makes sense.

[Foggy]

You could sell up -- but it has to be handled carefully. If you just up and sell, the IVA / creditors will get most of the proceeds. What you could do, however, would be to make a Full and Final offer along the lines of " I am willing to sell my property only for the purposes of making a F&F offer of £xxx. Should the offer be rejected I will not sell and the IVA will continue as before"

£xxx should be based on the number of payments remaining, plus 12 for the equity release provisions.

[IVAconfused75]

Hi.
That sounds like an avenue I could go down.
All I need to do is find out how much someone is willing to pay for my home and take it from there.
Nothing wouldn't be in motion until I have complied with the 6yr plan date at least.
Thanks for you help.