what is an IVA and what does it cost?

[Oliver]

Hi Sean

You are quite right. Appologies. I was referring to Andy's subsequent post...

"My supervisor has proposed this extra term without consulting me,and when i spoke to them today they said that there was no time to consult me as the 2nd year report was due.
I stated that I would rather pay £550 year 4 and £650 year 5.
Seems so unfair to pay an extra £8250 for £1350 arrears !!
I feel that they are more interested in an extra £1200 fee for the extra year...."

It sounds like his Supervisor is not acting particularly reasonably. Unfortuantely when this happens, people in IVAs feel pretty helpless as they do not know where to turn.....

I wondered your thoughts on that

You can access Video Clips giving additional information about IVAs at:
http://www.thomascharles.com/interview_ ... an_iva.asp

If you would like more information about IVAs, other debt solutions, or just want to arrange an informal chat, please visit us at www.thomascharles.com.

Best Regards
James Falla
www.thomascharles.com

[sean]

No problem James.
My response to this would be you are correct in that many IPs do not appear to hold customer service and customer responsiveness in high esteem after an IVA proposal has been accepted.

This is one of the main reasons why Myvesta acts as the clients representative during the full 5 year period of the IVA so that we can look out for our clients and act in their best interests and not the best interests of the creditor. This is as you will be aware is a legal requirement of the IP post creditors meeting.

At the end of the day talk is cheap and many firms of Insolvency Practitioners preach customer service at the front end and then apparently treat debtors with what can only be described as a necessary evil at the back end.

Our model offers our clients an extra voice and one that is not afraid to hold our IVA partners to account if they do not deliver an acceptable level of customer service.

Kind regards

Sean
http://www.myvesta.org.uk

[Oliver]

Sorry Sean

I was referring to a subsequent post by Andy where he was suggesting that he was having trouble with his IP:

"I am two years into my IVA and have paid in a total of £8250,costs so far have been £2500 Nominees fees and £2100 supervisors fees plus £526 disbursements etc.
I am £1350 in arrears and my supervisor has propossed to increase my term by 15 months at £550 a month.
The original creditors totalled £57,817 and now stand at £64,023
Seems totally unfair to me to increase my total payments by £6600,am I being abused ??



You can access Video Clips giving additional information about IVAs at:
http://www.thomascharles.com/interview_ ... an_iva.asp

If you would like more information about IVAs, other debt solutions, or just want to arrange an informal chat, please visit us at www.thomascharles.com.

Best Regards
James Falla
www.thomascharles.com

[neverending]

Andrew from clear debt asks
We think she's quite right about the average nominees and supervisors fees. But we'd love to hear from anyone who is prepared to tell us what was actually charged in their IVA - because we believe many organisations charge a lot more and that this can mean:
Do you not read all the info ?

[neverending]

That post was for Sean,and apologies if it seems sharp.....long day,doing jury service !!!

[ClearDebt]

I'd still like people to share their experience of IVA fees and charges here, it would help benchmark the process - and I do believe, whatever one's views of low fees, that some firms are on a gravy train here.

Regards

Andrew

ClearDebt
www.cleardebt.co.uk

[ClearDebt]

Point of information: Earlier in this thread, James of Thomas Charles suggested people with complaints against an IP should turn to the Insolvency Practitioners Association (IPA) . There are, I believe, eight insolvency practitioner regulators and you need to go to whichever regulator the individual practitioner gets their licence from. Fortunately you can use this datbase to find an IP's regulator:

http://www.insolvency-service.co.uk/newipsearch.htm

Incidentally, I believe the IPA are working towards introducing voluntary regulation (but with strict penalties for non-performance, etc) for IVA intermediaries - if/when this happens there will finally be a good quality indicator in the marketplace. I gather it could happen soon.

Andrew

ClearDebt
www.cleardebt.co.uk

[nicky_ch5]

Hi .. whoa down a bit.. lots of jargon here..

please could you explain '40% of total realisations' as posted by Matthew Holt??

many thanks in anticipation

[ClearDebt]

40% of realisations: You owe £20,000. You go into a five year IVA offering to pay a monthly surplus of £250 over 5 years. That's 60 payments of £250 totalling£15,000 (lucky creditors). The IVA fim cited by Mr Holt would take in fees (after expenses of the case - usually a few hundred pounds) 40% of the money realised by them for your creditors. That's £6,000.

My view is that that is too much - and that this sort of fee structure is limiting the market fro IVAs and means many with lower debts and lower surpluses cannot propose returns that creditors find acceptable. A good proportion of these go into debt management plans which do little concrete to resolve their difficulties.

ClearDebt
www.cleardebt.co.uk

[nicky_ch5]

Many thanks, ClearDebt - I'm getting there, but still don't quite understand!
If the cited firm take £6,000 where does it come from? If it comes out of the £15,000, the creditors don't get 40% ..

Also, what would happen to the fees should the IVA fail?

[ClearDebt]

The £4K comes out of what you pay - your surplus is calculated to ensure it is affordable: You are paying, in this example, 75% of what you owe and the IVA firm takes its fees out of that surplus.

Whether the IVA provider charges a lot or a little your surplus should be the same (or similar): The advantages of low fees are in that it enables an IVA to be offered to more debtors (with lower debts) and that low fees mean more for creditors - the level of fees is likely to make little differnece to what you pay.

ClearDebt
www.cleardebt.co.uk

[ClearDebt]

Oh, I forgot, if the IVA fails, the IVA firm keeps its fees. Generally, we've earnt them.

Regards

Andrew

ClearDebt
www.cleardebt.co.uk

[neverending]

Hi
Just to clarify it for you..
Yes the £6k comes out of the £15k that you have paid and the creditor gets the remaining £9k,this gives a dividend of 45p in the £1 to your creditors.They will write off the remaining 55% of your debts at the end of the IVA
Regards

[ClearDebt]

Not all IVA firms, of course will charge you £6K. ClearDebt's Nominee's fee would be £1,250 and £500pa Supervisor's fee: £3,750 in total for a five year IVA.

Regards

ClearDebt
www.cleardebt.co.uk

[nicky_ch5]

Right, think I've got it clear now:
All I have to do is to be
* very honest about my debts,
* be very thorough in checking out exactly what my living expenses are going to be and stick to them relentlessly
* make sure I've fully understood every aspect such as bank accounts, mortgage, liability of partners, etc with my friendly IP
* make sure I always keep up to date with my payments
* keep in touch about any changes in salary etc...

and get on with my life [:)] while my expert IVA company negotiates and sorts out all the horrible details! Worth every penny they earn!

Fantastic - I'll have to change my avatar [:)][:)]