Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 12:27 am
I've been in an IVA since 26/11/2007, had a variation in May 2010 to add on an additional year at a reduced rate.
On 16th January 2013 i received a copy of my annual report to creditors Under Supervisors comments it states: "In addition to funds held pre-variation of £5,028, the debtor agreed to contribute funds in the sum of £5,760 by way of monthly contributions of £180 for 32 months, this plan commencing in May 2010. The debtor has fully complied with this aspect of the arrangement and I can advise that the case will now be passed to my closures team. Following the final income and expenditure review, I can confirm no further funds are required"
I followed this up with a phone call to confirm that i need not pay anything further, whomever i spoke with confirmed i need not make any more payments. So my last payment was made on 28/12/12.
A couple of months back i was shocked to receive an annual income and expenditure review, i thought it a bit strange having to complete one of these if i had finished making payments, i filled it out anyway and attached a note with words to the effect of "What the hell? why do i need to fill in one of these? I thought i was finished?" and heard absolutely nothing, not a peep until 9/1/14 when i receive a copy of another "annual report to creditors" this time stating the following:
"In addition to funds held pre-variation of £5,028, the debtor agreed to contribute funds in the sum of £8,100 by way of monthly contributions of £180 for 45 months, this plan commencing in June 2010. To date i have received £6,120 from this source and can advise that payments are currently in arrears of £1,980. My support team will contact the debtor to discuss how they intend to address the arrears. I have also received funds in the sum of £263.05 by way of the proceeds from a VAT refund. The supervisor is currently in the process of requesting the required information to conduct an income and expenditure review. It is the supervisor's opinion that the arrangement has a reasonable prospect of implementation."
I phoned Grant Thornton on 22/1/14 and received a call back in the afternoon of 23/1/14. The woman i spoke to basically told me my case had been passed to the closures team by mistake, and would send me out an income and expenditure form and take matters from there, telling me that i am in fact in arrears.
The problem is, where do i go from here? After the letter on 16/1/13 and phoning them to confirm i was debt free and need not make any more payments i immediately stopped paying. My life has moved on since then, my outgoings have adjusted accordingly, i have a car to run now and owe my mum about £2,700 so i don't have £180 a month spare any more.
Should i pay another penny? Or is this their fault and are they liable? They have had 12 months to contact me since i stopped paying and received no correspondence at all, if i was running up arrears why wasn't it red flagged and contact made? I would have happily continued paying my £180 a month had this been brought to my attention sooner. I was led to believe it was no longer required.
On 16th January 2013 i received a copy of my annual report to creditors Under Supervisors comments it states: "In addition to funds held pre-variation of £5,028, the debtor agreed to contribute funds in the sum of £5,760 by way of monthly contributions of £180 for 32 months, this plan commencing in May 2010. The debtor has fully complied with this aspect of the arrangement and I can advise that the case will now be passed to my closures team. Following the final income and expenditure review, I can confirm no further funds are required"
I followed this up with a phone call to confirm that i need not pay anything further, whomever i spoke with confirmed i need not make any more payments. So my last payment was made on 28/12/12.
A couple of months back i was shocked to receive an annual income and expenditure review, i thought it a bit strange having to complete one of these if i had finished making payments, i filled it out anyway and attached a note with words to the effect of "What the hell? why do i need to fill in one of these? I thought i was finished?" and heard absolutely nothing, not a peep until 9/1/14 when i receive a copy of another "annual report to creditors" this time stating the following:
"In addition to funds held pre-variation of £5,028, the debtor agreed to contribute funds in the sum of £8,100 by way of monthly contributions of £180 for 45 months, this plan commencing in June 2010. To date i have received £6,120 from this source and can advise that payments are currently in arrears of £1,980. My support team will contact the debtor to discuss how they intend to address the arrears. I have also received funds in the sum of £263.05 by way of the proceeds from a VAT refund. The supervisor is currently in the process of requesting the required information to conduct an income and expenditure review. It is the supervisor's opinion that the arrangement has a reasonable prospect of implementation."
I phoned Grant Thornton on 22/1/14 and received a call back in the afternoon of 23/1/14. The woman i spoke to basically told me my case had been passed to the closures team by mistake, and would send me out an income and expenditure form and take matters from there, telling me that i am in fact in arrears.
The problem is, where do i go from here? After the letter on 16/1/13 and phoning them to confirm i was debt free and need not make any more payments i immediately stopped paying. My life has moved on since then, my outgoings have adjusted accordingly, i have a car to run now and owe my mum about £2,700 so i don't have £180 a month spare any more.
Should i pay another penny? Or is this their fault and are they liable? They have had 12 months to contact me since i stopped paying and received no correspondence at all, if i was running up arrears why wasn't it red flagged and contact made? I would have happily continued paying my £180 a month had this been brought to my attention sooner. I was led to believe it was no longer required.