Are Harrington Brooks actually paying?

Nemesis201077

Hi all,

My partner set up an agreement in December 2013 after getting into financial hardship following a break-up. It appears she was mis-sold this as she believed it was a one off £95 fee for an IVA, rather than a new finance agreement, but that's a separate issue.
She gets monthly statements from Harrington brooks showing they take £95 per month from her, take £38 for themselves and send the rest to the pay various accounts. The small amount being paid to the accounts would mean they won't get paid off ( I haven't done the maths, but 20 years ish).
These payments appear to be to debt collection agencies, rather than the companies that originally held the accounts.
On the current credit file from Experian it shows a number of these accounts as delinquent for the past year, but from the original account holders (capital one, Natwest, Vodafone)
Now, if Harrington Brooks are paying them then why does the Experian report show them as delinquent month on month? Wouldn't the debts show as settled with those companies as they were sold to debt agencies and those account show as being paid?
I've suggested she cancels the agreement after agreeing her own terms direct with the collection companies, dividing up the £95 a month between them.
Any advice welcome on the best way forward and how to get the credit record back on track.

National_Debtline

IVA's are legally binding agreements that normally run for 5-6 years after which time the remaining balances on the debts are written off - it is a form of insolvency. In order for the IVA to fail your partner would have to stop making payments - but be careful - if an IVA fails there is a risk that the creditors or the IVA company can declare her bankrupt. If she has any assets such as a car or is named on a mortgage property then bankruptcy is unlikely to be suitable.

If she believes the IVA was mis-sold she should complain to Harrington Brooks and escalate the matter accordingly. The credit file should show the IVA and when someone is in an IVA the creditors cannot take any further action or add any more interest.


Laura
@natdebtline

Nemesis201077

Thanks Laura,
So she should continue to pay the agreement with Harrington brooks then until the end of the agreement.
As the credit file shows the creditors as not being paid since he agreement with Harrignton brooks is there something wrong there? I thought they wouldn't be showing as unpaid as the debt's been bought by Harrington brooks or there's agreement in place.If it carries on for another 4 years showing as unpaid debt then she'll have real problems once the agreement ends

[Deleted User]

I'm hearing a lot of bad things about Harrington Brooks lately.

National_Debtline

Hello again,


Harrington Brooks have not brought the debt from your partner, the debt still exists in your partners name and the debts should be receiving monthly payments through the IVA. I am not sure which credit file you are checking but it may be worth getting in touch with the relevant credit agency to check the information is being recorded correctly because it seems wrong for the debts to be being shown as unpaid. Are you certain this is an IVA and not a DMP or a lump sum plan (where Harrington Brooks saves the monthly payments to attempt full and final offers later)?


It may also be worth getting in touch with one of the free advice services so that you can discuss this with someone on a one to one basis. Hope that helps.


Laura
@natdebtline

Nemesis201077

Hi all,
Thanks for your replies.
The annual review has come up with Harrington Brookes for my partner and she discussed the arrangements with them.
It seems that they were not the original financial organisation providing the solution, but this was arranged with Gopher (which I think is very popular on here).
Shes been told that she still has 52 months left to clear her agreement, after already paying for 4 years now. This really has alarm bells ringing as this can't be the IVA she thought she had. She's explained when originally sold this agreement her friend had a similar thing with a one off payment of £90 and all her debts were wiped off (a DRO?) She believed she was offered an IVA as the debt was to be wiped after 5>6 years and would be paying £90 a month.
Harrington Brooks have said this was not their understanding of the agreement that Gopher had arranged originally. So, Harrington Brooks are now investigating.
I think we'll be looking into the product originally being mis-sold by Gopher.
On the upside, we've finally got round to her reclaiming PPI and bank charges and she's had a substantial refund. She now has the funds to settle her remaining debt (which is only £3k) but will wait to see the outcome of Harrington Brooks Investigation and can always report to the ombudsman or regulator. Whilst she can now afford to repay in one hit, she may well find that, if mis-sold, she has to pay far less, or nothing at all.

sourcrates

Why would she think she had an IVA ?

From your very first post I worked out it was a debt management plan they appear to of set up for her, for £90 a month !!!!!!!

Tell her to cancel it immediately, she is just been taken advantage off.

She should know if she had an IVA there is a Hugh difference, plus she would have all the court paperwork, and her name would appear on the insolvency register.

Harrington Brooke's have palmed her off to one of there tame debt management companies, who have obviously bamboozled her with science, and sold her a very expensive DMP.

Something one of the debt charities can do for no cost whatsoever.

Stop paying them, and bang in a complaint for mis-selling, as there is obviously something massively wrong if she thought she was in an IVA, when in fact it's a DMP.

Nemesis201077

We will do.
When she took this agreement we were just getting together and she was really embarrassed to have been struggling, especially over what most would consider a small amount.
Clearly she's been mis-sold so I will pursue it, once we've spoken to HB to see what their excuse is.

PaulW922

I agree that this sounds like a debt management plan and not an IVA. The latter is supervised by an insolvency practitioner. A DMP can be run free-of-charge via a charity such as Pay Plan or Step Change. There is no point in paying a monthly fee to to HB..

Your partner may want to get advice about a proper IVA - it might be an option to consider. Failing that she can switch her DMP to a free one via a charity

Stitching_Witch_2

Whats the point

Nemesis201077

Has anyone tried to reclaim from HB for being mis-sold?
I can get my partner to switch to Step Change although we may just settle the accounts.
As she appears to have been mis-sold I wonder if she could reclaim some of the charges? and how successful claims have been in this instance.