Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 9:37 am
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]
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]
I'm at least 6 months in credit!