What to do with failed IVA

Wasps2000

Hi, hope someone can help me,

I took out an iva in 2006-2008 after being very silly in my youth. After 2 years paying huge sums of money and still being hassled by the iva company for more I just couldn't take it anymore and stopped paying it.( I was really annoyed that after paying over £8000 in those two years that less that £300 had gone to my creditors. The rest was profit for the iva company!!) Not the best idea I know but I was young and didn't really think it through properly. Anyway here I am today and aside from, in the early days, getting letters from some of the accounts and the odd debt collector letter I've never been bothered since. (Nothing in the last 4 years)
Some of the debts reappeared on my credit file and have since then dropped off again due to being over 6 years old (I've never paid any of them or had any contact. We have moved house since but I've always updated my address in my credit file and voters register etc so I haven't exactly been hiding or anything) but the iva, now showing as 90 months old, is still sat on my credit file. I called credit expert to see if they could remove it but they say that as its not been completed it will remain there indefinitely.
Now don't get me wrong I have no major issues getting credit anymore so I don't think its holding me back but I do want to get a mortgage in the next 3-4 years and don't want it to cause issues for that. Credit expert advised me to contact the iva company but I'm afraid that if I do that I could be stirring a hornets nest so to speak!
Is there a way to get it removed from my report?
Now all the debts are over 6 years old since failing the iva can any of the original creditors still come after me? ( I doubt the iva company cares as they made a fortune out of me!)
Any advice is welcome. Just trying to figure out what the best to do is going forward.
Thanks in advance.

Wasps2000

National_Debtline

Hi Wasps


I assume that your IVA is no longer showing as "live" on the Insolvency Register but you should check by entering your details here:


https://www.insolvencydirect.bis.gov.uk/eiir/


Either way, your insolvency practitioner (IP - the company that handled your IVA) would normally have terminated the IVA within a reasonable period of it becoming clear that your payments had stopped for good. It may be that if you just broke off contact with them abruptly (as you suggest may be the case) they may have simply forgotten about it. If the IVA is still showing on your credit report after 7.5 years, you can't afford to assume that it will disappear of its own accord within the next 3-4 years as you seek a mortgage - and it will be a big stumbling block if still visible to potential lenders.


I think you're going to have to rely on the IP if you want the entry on your credit file to be corrected/removed. If you are unhappy about any aspect of their dealings with you, I would suggest that you lodge a complaint:


https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-insolvency-practitioner


It's hard to say at this stage whether the debts will have become "statute barred" and thus unenforceable, as the six-year clock will not have been ticking while your IVA was active.


Dennis
@natdebtline

Wasps2000

Thanks for the reply

OK I've checked the register and it says that the status is 'current'. Assuming that they just 'forgot' to change it, what could,or would, they change it to? Can it just be changed to terminated and that's the end of it?
If I was to leave it a bit longer until I could be certain that all of the accounts are statuate barred what are the possible outcomes? Obviously if possible I want to avoid paying any more to anyone else.

National_Debtline

Hi again, sorry for taking a little while to come back to you.


I think I'd be looking for the IP to backdate the termination of your IVA if they can't give any good reason for keeping it live all this time - I'm assuming an oversight is the most likely culprit here.


I don't know whether your arrangement conformed to any IVA protocol in place at the time - if it did, there ought to have been a requirement that the IP take some sort of meaningful action within a reasonable time of your defaulting on the payments.


The problem is that we can't really say that you fulfilled your obligations under the IVA, and so creditors will still be entitled to pursue their debts. You may need to risk stirring the hornet's nest here, and that means contacting your IP for starters.


Dennis
@natdebtline