can i claim my bank charges and ppi back from the companies that are in my iva?

losethedebtlou

I am in an iva and the companies that i couldnt afford to pay charged me in the past and I paid ppi aswell which pushed the monthly payments up. Therefore, I went into the iva. The companies I want to claim my charges back from are the companies that I took into the IVA e.g couldnt pay back what I owed them. If I write them a letter asking for my charges back can they pull out of the iva or threaten me?? Can i claim financial hardship?



Debt: IVA - 2 years left til freedom

CeeBeeDeeBee

Hi louwilko04, in not too sure about this, I think if you were successful in getting any PPI or charges refunded they would simply apply it to your debt and carry on as they are now.

In not sure exactly how it works but it might be possible for you to finish your IVA, have all the debts written off at the end of it and then reclaim PPI and charges.

Someone who knows better will come soon and give some more advice

Chris

happychappy74

I claimed back both PPI and Charges during the period of my IVA from those companies within the IVA agreement. Entering into an IVA, for whatever reason doesnt mean that banks and financial organisations can turn a lind eye to the unlawful and immoral charges that have accrued.

(Time to step off my soapbox now)

Check the specifics of your IVA terms. In my case any amount over £500 would be considered a windfall and would be subject for dispersal to the IVA. In my case I didnt reach the £500 threshold and so was able to keep each payment from each company.

I was told by some that they would not send me the cheque, but had to send it to Payplan (who then forwarded it to me anyway). I was also told that as I was in an IVA that no payments could be made as the debt would be adjusted. Fair enough on face value, but a couple of companies then 'forgot to apply the charges in their own stated manner. I a sure (lol) it was an oversight, but I chased it up anyway as irt should be dealt with accordingly.
I was even told by one company that as I was in an IVA then no claims could be put in for any charges. This simply was not true and shows how there is still an air of self importance held by these companies.

It made a big financial difference to my family and myself during the IVA period and I would suggest to anyone to firstly check the details of your IVA and, if its in your interest, claim against the banks.

All credit card charges and PPI were successfully claimed. I have 2 bank charges on hold in the courts.

I am not sure about the financial hardship aspect however.

Hope this may help you in some way.
Take care.

timberflake

I would be interested in getting the official line on this. During the 6 months it took my IVA sort my IVA out, I had £10,000 in charges levied on me! Would be nice to claim even a share of that!

I know I have to pay anything over £500 into my IVA, would this just increase the amount they get back or would I be able to use it as a bargaining chip to end it now, keep more for myself? My IVA is due to end in Aug next year.

I heard last night on watchdog that you can claim charges back as far back as 9 years? So in theory I could wait until my IVA is finished and then hit them for it?

Can you claim charges back from credit card companies too or is it just banks??

happychappy74

Unfortunately the £500 windfall clause is part of contractual obligation towards the money, and so it would not be able to be used as a bargaining chip. It is (unfortunately) theirs to deem as appropriate. I dealt with some companies who made it clear that they were going to contact Payplan to inform them (tell on me), as I was within an IVA whilst claiming.

The fact that I had already taken advice from to Payplan to ensure my understanding of things was neither here nor there to them. So not being open to your IP is not an option as the companies clearly do not want to hand money back and can, and will, be quite awkward for the sake of it sometimes.

It is more straightforwards to claim credit card charges back as they are not subject to the current stay that the bank charges are subject to.

As a suggested way forwards that may help your position you could consider putting claims for the smaller amounts, that would be yours to collect, and use that to form a possibe Full and Final offer to end ur IVA early (of less than the total outstanding), which would then leave u plenty of time to then deal with the larger claim amounts without the worry of any windfall considerations. Clarify the terms of your IVA to see if you are able to keep the first £500 of each claim as this would be viable for claims that may be not too far over that £500 threshold.

Just an idea.

losethedebtlou

Thanks for your replies, I am aware that anything over 500 on my IVA has to be declared so I think I will wait until after the IVA finishes and then reclaim the charges, Ive only got two years left on it anyway!

Thanks