Hi, considering an IVA - just wondering - since the recent merge of HBOS & Lloyds do the debts from these two creditors class as one vote now? have got 2 Halifax credit cards, one lloyds cc, overdraft with both and loans with both...
Also - what are they like when it comes to voting? Do they generally vote for an IVA?
They would still be treated as two creditors and actually use different agents to vote for them. Neither creditor nor their agents are adverse to IVAs provided they are the best offer and right solution.
Michael, do you know please the reason Amex seem to be obstructive to people doing their best to reapy their debts. From what I have read on here they seem to refuse more IVAs than they accept. My husband does samaritan work and he gets many calls from people in trouble with Amex. They seem to obtain CCJs very quickly and proceed to a charging Order equally quickly. One client has a debt of £6000 which he is paying off at £90 per month; Amex obtained a CCJ and a Charging Order - the CCJ was set at £90 but Amex are threatening him with a forced sale unless £400 per month is paid. The samaritan solicitor is on holiday at present so hopefully when she returns she will take this issue on board; however would be interested to know your view. Thanks. J
Amex have in the past been quite effective in their debt recovery. They do accept IVAs with stringent modifications which the debtors normally reject if they can. This may be why Amex look like they almost always reject which is not actually the case.
I do not know what the policy of Amex is regarding IVAs but their solicitors do have an obligation to try and recover the monies owed and no doubt they feel that they are effective in doing that. There is no consistency among the banks concerning debt recovery as some go straight for charging orders and others rarely do. For Amex to seek the sale of house for a debt so small seems appalling and I would think no judge would grant possession if the terms of the CCJ are being met.
Their view for property owning customers is that they prefer to take a charging order over the property by way of security. In which case they tend to generally reject the IVA application, as this would prevent them from continuing with legal action.
Taking this aside, I actually find them a pretty supportive creditor, who like others have their own set of criteria. As Michael points out, their lending is usually pretty low, compared to other companies, and they can generally be outvoted in any case.
