halifax ppi refund will i get it?

griff1939

Hi i'm a newbie on here.


I completed my IVA Jan 2012. I was contacted by Halifax regards me having PPI refunds, I was upfront as they were the main (3/4) debts covered by my IVA that I had previously had.
I received a letter saying that I was due a PPI refund and in the What will happen next it said;


'Our records indicate that your financial affairs were being managed by an insolvency practioner. We will liase with the insolvency practioner and apply the proposed payment as directed by them.'


I recently rang Halifax twice and all I could get from them was the cheque was posted on the 7th April. The IVA company know nothing and said my file was closed.
As a last attempt I contacted the 'insolvency enquiry line' who wouldn't comment on individual cases. All they would say was about bankruptcy but I wasn't bankrupt.
So I have no idea if I will get the/any of the money, where it is can anyone help please?

welshgasman

It is possible that you are still on the IVA/Trustee register, but with the date you have given that should not be the case.

English http://www.insolvencydirect.bis.gov.uk/eiir/

Scottish http://roi.aib.gov.uk/roi/

You do need to register for the scottish site.

If the IVA (English) has cashed the cheque, then you need to liaise with them to obtain the refund. If Scottish, they should pay you and recover from the Trustee themselves. You could insist that they recover the funds themselves even if English IVA, but you have to supply some sort of proof that you are no longer in an IVA as below.

You need to supply proof (IVA discharge certificate etc), and then they should stop the cheque if not cashed and reissue payment to yourself. Best way is to give them BACS details. less chance of that cheque going astray. If they take more than 28 days from the date of the FRL, ask for extra interest.

HTH

griff1939

Many thanks for your help. I have checked the link you gave as live in West Midlands and my name is not on there..
When I contacted the Insovency office the lady who replied would not comment on individual cases.
Freeman Jones were the IVA company and they have no record of anything to do with my case as they said it was closed January 12.
Do you think I should contact Halifax direct? Only problem is its one of those call centres abroad.
Thank you as just losing hope of what or where to go.


UPDATE
Just rang Halifax and spoke to lady who again told me the cheque was sent on 7th April to the Insolvency Practitioners based in Leeds? She said the cheque has not been cashed.
She was not concerned that I haven't heard anything but was going to 'escalate' my concerns and try and get me a number so I can contact them direct. Then came back and said she couldn't give a number.
I asked how long to leave it before ringing again and she said 7/10 days.

welshgasman

Get a copy of your discharge certificate to Halifax or a letter from the IVA confirming they have no interest in the funds. Get it to them ASAP and get the cheque stopped and payment by BACS to your account. Do NOT wait 7/10 days unless you are after the extra interest.

They are not going to do anything untill they have proof. The good thing is the IVA have not cashed the cheque. They should have by this time.

griff1939

LATEST UPDATE
I have received a call from Halifax and they now say the cheque was cashed on the 16/04/14? This is their findings after my call was escalated!
I rang the Insolvency helpline and the lady there assured me that were any cheques to go to the Insolvency Service, they would not be cash it.
After another 4 phone calls to Halifax and Freeman Jones I have established that the cheque was sent to Insolvency Service in Leeds, 1 City Walk LS11 9DA. When I asked what reference number they used she gave me that Halifax PPI reference not the reference for the original IVA.
Yet the company who dealt with the IVA surely should have been the ones to receive it. I have told Halifax that I want someone to call me back as this is getting ridiculous now and if not I will take the matter further as it appears I am being given the run around.
Any ideas or tips?

welshgasman

Just a genuine !!!! up, but until YOU prove you are entitled to the money, they will not take any action. They might advise you to liaise with the IVA to retrieve the funds. Request details of where the cheque was cashed and to what a/c. That will take 10 days or so. In the meantime get that proof into Halifax. If they still do not want to recover the funds to pay you, at least you will have proof (get it in writing) of who received the funds.

These IVA's cash hundreds of cheques at a time and it is easy for one to slip through. Even IVA's state that they have not received the funds only for it to be proven that the cheque was cashed in amongst other cheques to their a/c.

Good luck.

Edit: There is another site they check for IVA/Bankruptcy

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/

griff1939

FINAL UPDATE;
Today the cheque has landed many thanks to 'Welshgasman' your advice was really helpful.

It turned out that Halifax had sent a cheque to the Leeds official receivers office as there was someone with the same name who had been made bankrupt, which I wasn't.

The estate accounts team in Birmingham incorrectly assigned the cheque to the Leeds office, when they should in fact have clearly identified the cheque related to a PPI refund.
The lady at the insolvency service informed me.
Halifax were consistently hard to get a hold of and certainly no chance of speaking to a manager.
So thank you.

welshgasman

Well unless you both have the same date of birth, that technically should not have happened, but it did.:mad:

Then you have the other side of the coin where someone supplies a letter from an IVA to state they completed their IVA in <month> <year> and requesting their refund much as you have done, only then for the bank to find out they went bankrupt a few months later.

The people doing this work are only human, have very tight if not unrealistic targets set and consequently make mistakes. Fortunately in your case, it was rectified reasonably quickly.

I would ask for a D&I payment (Distress and Inconvenience) for all the hassle they have put you through. £50 sounds about right.:D Write a letter rather than call as you can put your case better in your own words.