www.iva.co.uk

I began my IVA in November 2006 and made the final payment in Feb 2012. I am grateful for the IVA because it taught me to be sensible with money, so it has completely changed my way of thinking. I've not missed one payment on anything since it began and in that time I met someone, got engaged and we are desperate to move out of my one bedroom flat that I own and get a house or bigger flat together and start a family.

Of course I cant hope to increase the mortgage until the IVAs are off my credit report and when I am in posession of my completion certificate.

I'm with Grant Thornton and I was told that closure takes 6 months. So we were all set to get ready to put my flat on the market summer last year. Then GT advised me that they'd pulled me out of closure because of a problem with (i'm awful at explaining this) so much in the pound?? Because of this they had to go back to the creditors to renegotiate, even though they knew at the start that I was never going to achieve that.

If someone would be able to explain the penny in the pound thing, i'd be grateful.

Anyway it took them months to go back to the creditors but in the end they agreed and i was told it wouldnt take long to close after that. I think I was at Sept 2012 at that point.

Then shortly after I received a letter from GT saying that they wanted to change my T's and C's to incorporate PPI refunds and that if i didnt agree, I'd never get closure. But that going through that process wouldnt delay closure. They said Expert Insolvency (EIC) would deal with all that and that I should email or text them with a response. I contacted them both ways. The first time asking for advice in November 2012. I received no response in two months so by then I sent a text message agreeing to the process. Again, nothing received.

In June 2013 I contacted GT to ask for an update. They told me that I'd gone back into the closure process in Jan 2013 and that once again it'll take six months. I was told that the creditors agreed to the penny in the pound issue so now there was just the PPI issue and a VAT issue to deal with. There would be a mass meeting in June with creditors and my case would be a part of that.

I spoke to EIC explaining that I'd heard nothing from them. Apparently I should have received a pink envelope with white spots on it with a questionnaire about each of my creditors. Definitely never got that. And yet some how they have all the information they need from me? It took them two weeks trying to figure out how they had all this information from me that I never gave them.

I still dont know how that happened but EIC told me that I should never have gone into the PPI process because I'd finished paying for my IVA. They also told me that I could now claim PPI myself and get the full benefit of the refunds. Great! There I was, planning on how all those thousands could go towards our deposit for a house!

During that time I was told by GT that I should call them back in two weeks time and if I wasnt closed by then, they would expedite my case. So two weeks passed and I called them back. I was told firstly that it was correct that i went into the PPI process, secondly, I would only get 8% of the refund (I have to say, I wasnt expecting any of it but even still.. ) and lastly, the expediting promise was rubbish.

They also told me that they had to send my case back to creditors in August. Apparently the meeting they were planning in June never happened. I was extremely fed up by this point. So much of what i'd been told was rubbish and I was still no where. What if this meeting doesnt happen either?

What can i do? sit around and wait for another 18 months??? They're so good keeping me waiting for "just another few weeks" and I fall for it every time. I've done exactly what they asked. I never stumbled once and yet I cant do anything about this???

Read your IVA if its a GT buy out it should say your iva ends at 72 months (6 years) which will of already passed.
Then ring GT tell them they have exceeded the 6yr time on the IVA and need to sort it within 30 days then send this in a letter via recorded delivery keeping a copy for yourself.
This should kick them into gear because tbh they are useless with CC.
You could also e-mail Gt using the headiner IVA Forum it might get picked up by karol.

I don't understand the penny in the pound thing either but it is right you needed to have allowed ppi to be searched for. Eic are a terrible company, they searched my details without prior permission also and tried to push me to say ppi was miss sold to me when it was not. I was with gt and had to apply for ppi after my last payment also. I would advise you contact gt and eic, ask eic for the missing paperwork and send it back recorded delivery. Also email karol at gt, her email address is on the site but maybe someone else can give you it. Ask what is going on and when you can expect closure, unfortunately the 6 year rule seems to mean very little and they will hold you to the terms of the iva even if closure takes another year. I got my closure cert last month, 10 months after my last payment. You need to be very proactive with gt and keep chasing them also if I were you I would fully cooperate with any ppi issues as it does speed up closure. I found with gt that if you don't contact them they seem to forget about you so you need to make a bit of a nuisance of yourself. Ask for all information to be given in email or letter, and if they say anything is to be posted to you call them after a week maximum to chase up.

Thanks, i will definitely contact them in writing, both by email and by post.

Samantha, what does "allow PPI to be searched for" mean exactly? Could they have got the information they wanted from me by other means? I hadnt realised this. I assumed that someone at EIC was just confused, especially when they said I shouldnt have gone through the process at all.

When they say that PPI claims doesnt slow down the closure process, is this actually correct?

PPI complicates things the only speed up is a variation but dosent always speed things up (and GT get a nice £650 min for sorting thier own mess out).
EIC breached the data protection act with me and GT have ducked and dived over it ever since until they got fed up with me and issued my completion certificate.

Could they have breached the data protection act with me too then? Since they didnt bother to send me the questionaire..?

They very likely dud breech data protection, they did with me to as gt provided my details without my permission and eic searched my credit files and dug out everybody who had ever left a mark on my credit files. This ok included next who I never had credit with, they just do a credit check just to open a basic pay as you shop account. I decided to let it go tho as gt advised not allowing eic to do my ppi search would delay things. I'm 7 months pregnant so just wanted my certificate. By allowing ppi to be searched for I mean if I were you I would just cooperate with eic and let them get on with it. If you sign the changes in terms with gt and push them, hopefully you will get in to the next mass variation meeting and your certificate will arrive soon. I personally was not happy gt got more fees by me signing the variation letter, but nobody is going to push through the courts and get there decision on gt's actions and the way I see it, it is a big gamble refusing to cooperate as you might end up with no certificate in another year. It's completely how you want to press ahead but I just signed everything and made a nuisance of myself calling and my cert was sent to me.

I am not sure that there has been any breach of data protection here. I cannot be sure without minute examination of everything that has been agreed or signed, but, I would imagine, that, somewhere along the line, we have given the Insolvency firm permission to share details in the execution of it's duties under the Insolvency Act. We are also unsure as to the exact relationship between this particular CMC and Insolvency Firm --- they do appear to be somewhat intertwined !!

I was not at all happy with the terms of the proposed variation and refused to sign. This resulted in a statement that my completion would not continue, which I challenged ..... we shall see what transpires.

I emailed GT to the address found on this site. The response is that my mass variations meeting should be on 12th Aug and the creditors then have 21 days. After that my case can be closed but could take until the end of October. Seriously?? I can take the 21 days after the meeting but why would it take another 2 months after that? I am so sick of this.

I am not sure why your case could not be closed once the 21 day appeal period is over, but there is probably not much point in arguing this as it may get you nowhere. Try and make them commit to the two months, and ask for regular progress updates in the meantime.

Mine took an additional 3 weeks after the 21 days, they said delays after the 21 days are due to the closure team being small and the high number of cases being closed delays things. They seem to have a very time consuming inner admin process which after the closure team involves documents being sent for printing then postage. I get the impression teams do not easily speak to each other, last week I received a letter stating I will be issued with a breech notice if I do not return my annual review documents. I called to ask why and they said it was because my name had nit been removed off certain admin lists.

Very professional, Samantha! Thanks Melanie. I'll respond to their email.

"due to the closure team being small and the high number of cases being closed delays things"

One of the key markers we are all viewed on when we have our regular regulatory inspections is that we have sufficient resource to deal with the job in hand. Surely if they are short-staffed, they ought to recruit a larger team. I am sure that the IPs would not be happy to hear that their staff are making such comments to clients.

font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by MelanieGiles

"due to the closure team being small and the high number of cases being closed delays things"

One of the key markers we are all viewed on when we have our regular regulatory inspections is that we have sufficient resource to deal with the job in hand. Surely if they are short-staffed, they ought to recruit a larger team. I am sure that the IPs would not be happy to hear that their staff are making such comments to clients.

To be fair, the staff shouldn't be put in the position where they feel the need to defend themselves or the firm.

On many occasions when dealing with gt it was clear that the staff were totally frustrated to. You can imagine that with a number of unhappy customers they take the brunt of people's frustration at gt.