www.iva.co.uk

Hi all, i wondered if anyone could give advice on my situation.
Ive been paying my IVA for almost 5 yrs and was thinking that i was nearly done with it when i received another yearly budget review letter from my IP.
This confused me as i thought i was done after a few more payments so i dug out all my paperwork again.
I noticed that my original proposal stated 60 months but the chairmans reports said 'Shall not exceed 72 months'.

Now for the interesting bit. I did not recieve this chairmans reports until 4 months after my IVA had started!
I recieved a letter from my IP stating that 'On reviewing your file i have noticed that you have not been sent your copy of the chairmans report from the meeting of creditors. Please find this encclosed'.

This copy does not have my signature on it. So is this amendment from 60 to 72 months legal if i didnt sign it and didnt even recieve it until 4 months after my IVA started?

Thanks,

Terry

Hi Tez,

Wonder if i will have the same problem, as mine too says ' shall not exceed 72 months ' hopefully an expert comes & puts our minds to rest ...
Maya

It does not necessarily mean your IVA was extended. "shall not exceed 72 months" is a standard term used and does not mean your IVA is six years.

There are reasons why it may be extended but if these have not been invoked then your IVA will stay at 60 Months. Do you own a property and have equity to release?

The I and E review at end of term is also usual procedure. Why don't you call your IP and discuss your concerns.

Regards

Hi both - it should have been discussed with you when applying for the IVA that it could be extended by a further 12 months - this is usually if you own your property to allow compensation for any equity that could not be released. Your IVA may still only last 60 months but the clause in there is to allow for the extension.

Was there nowhere in your proposal that even mentions any possibility of an extension or was it not discussed with you at the time of creditors meeting if it came in as a modification?

If not and the extension option is completely new infomration to you must go back to query this with your IP.

Let us know how you get on.

Regards,

Thanks all. im going to call my IP in a bit so will get back to you with what they say. hopefully ivoryfalcon is right! I have no mortgage as i rent. i did have one months break so id expect 1 month to be added at the end but hopefully not another year!

thanks all

Hi
My IVA paperwork said the same thing (shall not be longer than 72 month). I had to try and release equity in my property. Because I could'nt do this,my IVA company(not the same one that drafted the original proposal)insisted that I increse my IVA to 84 months. I fought this for several months, but they insisted that if I did'nt agree, they would let the IVA fail, I had to eventually give in. They called a creditors meeting and now instead of finishing this month, I have to go on till August 2013. If I knew when I took out the IVA that they could change the terms, I would have thought twice about it.

Ok thanks all , I don't own a property so i think 60 it is , then again ..who knows whats next !!!

I seem to unearth questions ever so often !!

M

Hi PaulMartin, when your proposal was drafted mortgages were readily available to people in ivas so you would have expected to release equity easily. Times have changed significantly and the proposal needs to be varied to compensate yur creditors for not getting any of the equity in your home. This is the same for everyone and is only fair. That said, most people only extend for 12 months and the IP does not have the final say. You could have demanded a variation meeting requesting creditors accept 12 months in lieu of equity. Still, there may be case-specific reasons I'm not aware of that make 24 months more suitable in your case.

PaulMartin. Was your original IVA for the usual 60 month term? If so then it should only have been extended to 72 months. I stand to be corrected by one of the experts, but if the original proposal and chairman's report stated a MAXIMUM of 72 months then they are bound by that, on the assumption that all else was going smoothly.

Surely, if WE are bound to the terms, them so should THEY !!

Personally, I would take this up with your IP's regulators (unless, of course, I am wrong!).

I spoke to my IP and luckily my IVA will end after 60 months (2 payments left). They said the 72 months was just the limit to which the term could be extended too if the need arose. So maya, if like me you have no equity then you should be ok.

Hi Foggy, they should be bound by the agreement but as we can vary the proposal in our favour via a variation, so can creditors vary it in their favour. The variation supercedes the original agreeent as it is deemed that both parties have reached agreement to change the IVA...no matter how our hands are forced to elicit our agreement (as with PaulMartin).

I tried to get them to propose that I pay the 12 extra months, but they said that they would not do that as they could not guarantee that it would be accepted. It was then that they said if I didnt agree to the extra 24 months that they would let the IVA fail.
My monthly payments have increased by approx 30% of the course of the IVA.
I was so terrified that after all this time I would be made bankrupt, that I had to agree. I told them I wasnt happy about it, but it didnt matter.

It's time to name and shame the company Paul!! Other posters need to be wary.

Hi BoL -- yes, I know that Paul is now bound by the variation, on the face of it. But you cannot vary a contract under duress. At the very least I would take it to the regulators for my own satisfaction, if nothing else.

I dont know how to make a complaint.
Also when they told me about the extension, i told my case worker that my car is on its last legs and it wont get through its MOT. The only way for me to get to work is to get a lease car. I asked if I could do this and sent them all of the details. She got back to me and said that I could go ahead ,but that they wouldnt reduce my payments. As a consequence, I am having to find £300 per month to pay for the car. I am eating plenty of beans on toast.