IVA's are Being Mis-sold and Misrepresented

martellen

Hello, I'm a new guy here... but not a new guy to IVA's - I started mine in May 2007. I went with Payplan, who offered £257 per month (50p in the pound to my creditors). The creditors now employ agencies to negotiate up the offering - they told me they wanted a minimum of £350 per month (about 70p in the pound).

So, Payplan calculated that the maximum I could pay was £257, yet they told me that I should accede to the creditors request for £350 as otherwise the IVA would be refused and I would probably end up bankrupt and lose my house. So I accepted and that £93 per month means that we scrimp on food bills. I have two children under 10.

I don't think that Payplan negotiated hard on my behalf at all.....

penniless96

i just have to say if theres any way you can avoid an IVA then do it. We started one in May 2006 and stopped paying creditors immediately, as we were told to. We were paying £400 a month to our debt company this carried on until Nov 2006 when all our creditors were ringng us saying they had not recieved a penny and our case still hadn't got to the IP. We were still sorting out the process and payments.

It wasn't until i spoke to the man on the phone at the IVA company, to complain that our creditors had not recievecd a penny, that he dropped it in to conversation by mistake that they would review our case every 3-4 months and our payments could change. i need to know my incomings and outgoings. Basically any payrises, overtime, bonuses etc would be taken of us. We would be absolutely broke for 5 years and then at the end we had to pay a lump sum which they expect you to get from a remortgage, what a joke.

i bit the bullet and told my mum and dad and they lent me 10K, their life savings, to get out of immediate debt and cancel the IVA whilst i still could. Subsequently my credit rating is practically 0 from paying nothing for the 6 months i was sorting it out, althoguh i paid £400 to them each month. I can now manage payments on my debts, althouigh only the minimum and when i get a payrise in September i will start paying my mum and dad £100 month. I would rather be in control of my debts and have spare cash from overtime or payrises to put to what i want than let those cowboys attempt to help me.
Watch out for IVAs!!

Storm

There are definitely issues with the selling of IVAs IMHO. Just yesterday a new poster came on here very upset as his IVA had failed & he'd been sent a bankrupcy court date - I don't think it's made clear to people that this is what happens if the IVA fails at all.

The adverts are deliverately mis-leading, but very cleverly worded - officially IVAs *can* write off huge amount of your debt, but in reality very few, if any, people have 90% written off.

My personal gripe though, which applies to IVA & loan adverts is deliberately explaining the term in months rather than years - 60 months for some reason doesn't sound as long as 5 years!

rog2

In all fairness I HAVE to say that an IVA, properly managed, can be a perfectly good debt solution to somebody who needs to protect their assets (house, business etc.) or profession.
It is a solution that is often reccomended by the Debt Counselling Services and has, doubtless, helped many thousands of people deal with their debt problems.
Debt, however, is ONLY a problem for debtors - it is seen, by many, as a potential business 'goldmine' - hence the meteoric rise in 'Compamies' that entice debtors with promises of 'writing off up to 90% of debt, over 5 years, using a little known piece of Government legislation'.
In truth, however, many of these 'companies' only see your debt as a potential fee, often up to £8,000, that they can 'earn' with a minimum personal input. We have seen many instances, on this forum, of IVA 'Companies' actually manipulating debtors Income/Expenditure statements in order to bulldoze an IVA agreement through.
Their advertising, both TV and Internet, seldom, if ever, points out that should the IVA fail, then Bankruptcy is an almost inevitable consequence. Nor are there many references to counselling or independent advice.
In bankruptcy, by contrast, judges will, almost invariably, ask the petitioning bankrupt if he/she has received professional advice before taking the decision for bankruptcy.
It is, therefore, my opinion that, whilst the IVA is, and should remain, an excellent potential solution for many debtors' individual problems, there should be much more regulation of any company, or individual, who is involved in the direct 'selling' of IVAs.

rog2

Stop Press:

For anyone affected by, or with strong thoughts about, the mis-selling of IVAs, I would like to draw your attention to a petition, calling on the government to investigate the 'selling' of IVAs as a commercial venture, which has been started by one of our own DFW colleagues, scoot1w, over on the bankruptcy forum.
Please click the following link to view/sign:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=527492

PS Don't confuse this with Martin's petition on Bank Charges.

scootw1

rog2 wrote: »

Stop Press:

For anyone affected by, or with strong thoughts about, the mis-selling of IVAs, I would like to draw your attention to a petition, calling on the government to investigate the 'selling' of IVAs as a commercial venture, which has been started by one of our own DFW colleagues, scoot1w, over on the bankruptcy forum.
Please click the following link to view/sign:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=527492

PS Don't confuse this with Martin's petition on Bank Charges.

thanks for that. I have strong feelings about IVAs and not only have I started this petition but also complained to the ASA about DFD's advertising practises which they upheld and now DFD have had to change their adverts. Power to the people!

rayday2

Hmm you got me wondering about that sodding carol Voderman now and consolidation loans.

Well done to you!

rog2

rayday2 wrote: »

Hmm you got me wondering about that sodding carol Voderman now and consolidation loans.

Well done to you!

VERY LITTLE difference, RD. Martin DID have a thread about that, but had to lock it because of legal/libel complications - I think it may have been on 'too personal' a level, but the implications were the same.

rayday2

Its hard when you have someone so known for erm "mathematics" as a face of a company who like growing sums shall we say. I can understand why it was closed from Martins prospective.

smudgemanc26

I've now heard another one being advertised on the radio which says 'part of government legislation or something mentioning the 'government' which i think would be very misleading to people out there as when they hear that word for some reason you think it will be all above board and legit and not that its another company trying to make money out of someones debt and in most cases miserable circumstances.

Im sick of hearing these adverts who make it sound all rosey that your debt will be cleared and gone it doesnt once mention the implications.

I myself havent got a dmp or iva or gone bankrupt but thanks to this site i am more aware of what each of them are now and what they entail.

I just feel sorry for people who dont know the likes of the charitable companies who can help and get sucked in to paying more of the money they dont have out in the hope of clearing all their debt away.