IVA: Useless Administration of IVA

ACPH1987

Hi all,

Long post ahead! Read some really valid and valuable posts on here over the last several years and was hoping just for a bit of information/guidance with my ongoing IVA. 

I took the IVA out in 2019 as I had loans/credit-cards totalling £40k. I don’t own my home and privately rent and went through the motions of speaking to a firm (who I know are in it for the money) who “recommended” an IVA was the best solution. Creditors meeting upped the duration from 60 months to 72 months which I thought “ok, in 6 years at least I’ll be able to make a fresh start”. 

The IVA started great, payment stayed the same for a few years before the company handling it was shut down (Vanguard). Everything ran smoothly with them: sending in everything that was agreed prior to starting the IVA (overtime payments, annual review etc). However, since they closed and I was moved to another company and it’s been shocking. I’ve sent in wage slips showing overtime for them to “work out” but they don’t respond. Last years annual review they finally responded and upped my payments from £213 to £250 and also responded about the overtime and gave me 3 options: 

1. Lump sum the overtime payments (£174)
2. Pay additional money over 6 months (£29)
3. Extend the IVA

I took option 2 to pay the additional money over 6 months (£279). However, after the review and receiving the Annual Review letter I noticed my IVA duration had changed from 72 months to 78 months. I constantly emailed them about overtime etc and they’re not interested so it’s the only reason I can see it been extended although I paid the agreed overtime back through their options and I’ve never missed a payment and always kept them up to date with additional income. 

So my annual review for 2022 has been sent in (back in December 2022 as that’s when they requested it) and up to this point I haven’t had a response. Furthermore, my IP has changed (only found out through Google), so I’m just wondering what the best route to go down is with regards to who do I approach and what should I do going forward? 

Summary: 

IVA taken out in February 2019 - January 2025 (72x monthly payments agreed at the start of the IVA, 78x payments shown on Annual Review letter in February 2022).  Currently 50 payments made to date. 

IVA extended for 6 months (was never told, only noticed when I looked at previous years and last years and noticed the additional 6 months) - should I have been informed as to why? Anyone know why it would happen without me missing a payment or contacting them with regards to going over the threshold?

Company doing the administration work on behalf of the IVA IP not responding/doing what they’re supposed to do when I’m doing everything set out in the agreement especially in regards to overtime payments and nothing about the cost of living increase from last year. 

Whether or not taking out the IVA was the right thing to do, I don’t know. Are they going to add additional time on for more payments without telling me or giving me an explanation each year? 

Original proposal: £196 for 60 months paying £11,760.00 writing off £27,576.00

Changed proposal: £172 for 72 months paying £12,384.00 writing off £26,952.00

Payments to date: £10,695.00

At the current rate (I think if/when they do get in touch, my payments will stay the same or even go up) if my IVA finishes at the originally agreed time, I’ll have paid £16,830.00 back (still a massive amount written off) or £18,503.36 if my IVA has had an additional 6 months added on as shown on last years Annual Review letter. 

I know I signed up for additional income and agreed to payments going up and for the 72 months duration which I’m absolutely fine about, but I didn’t  think I signed up for a company to “fake” their way through the handling of my IVA and to basically do what they want, when they want and this being  potentially one of the worst decisions I’ve made in my life should they continue to operate the way they do. 

Again, if that’s what it is, that’s what it is. 

Going forward, I’ve got either 22 months or 28 months left depending on the next annual review (or even 34 months should they do their party trick like last year or more). 

Having made 50 payments so far, I don’t want the IVA to fail as there’s still a lot of outstanding debt owed, but I feel I’m left in limbo and could end up being tied in the IVA a lot longer than what I was “told” I’d be in it for and put my future plans further back.

A lot of you seem really knowledgable and have helped hundreds if not thousands out over the years, so I think I’m looking just for some guidance and reassurance with the remainder of the IVA and how to approach the ongoing ignorance of the administration of my IVA. 

Thanks for taking the time to read and I’ll look forward to your help/guidance. 

sourcrates

Well you have come so far, it would be a shame to have it fail now, although the service you receive from these IVA companies falls way below par on most occasions, was it the right choice ? possibly not, but you are where you are.

Just one tiny point, you don`t have to contact the IP about every single piece of overtime you do, from memory, I never contacted mine once in relation to overtime, they work out payment increases from your annual review, and regardless of the guidance, I found that worked quite well.

You can keep 10%/15% of OT earnings, but in reality, that figure is flexible, so unless you do lots of OT, which increases your income significantly, I really wouldn't bother telling them.

If you do OT in the run up to your annual review, chances are it would be picked up, but anywhere else in the year, its not going to be noticed, these companies cannot cope with the constant input of information being thrown at them, so if your OT earnings are borderline, I`d just wouldn`t tell them.

Going forward that may be the best policy here.

ACPH1987

Thanks for the response sourcrates. 

I went back through the terms that I received and have done everything by the book: inform them of any additional income. They expect payment payment within 14 days of me receiving it, but due to their incompetence, nothing ever gets sent back. 

I’ve worked out last years overtime and in total it’s £200 - not an awful lot but probably £100 will be picked up when/if they do the annual review for the last 3 wage slips. 

I’ll keep on holding out until they get in touch, obviously I’ve got an email trail to back up my history of informing them and also will have the money if they request it. Just don’t want them to add additional time to the IVA through their negligence. 

sourcrates

I can imagine its very frustrating for you, all these companies care about is banking their fee`s.

£200 a year is nothing really, and with the cost of living crisis, your expenditure must have increased by at least that amount, just keep in mind that the higher your income is, the more of the debt you will repay, and less of it will be written off at the end of the arrangement.

Good luck with the rest of it.

ACPH1987

It’s me again. Still non-the-wiser with my annual review. Sent documents for the last year (as per agreement) back in December 2022. Also sent them in May 2023 (requested as apparently they were chasing me according to my annual report) and August 2023. They have replied back (middle of August 2023) wanting more documents that are more recent, but my year was January - December but they’re not interested as per. 

Also, received a phone call about saying they’re closing down their bank account (Ebenegate) and wanting me to pay by card. They tried this is the past and failed but continued to accept my Standing Order. According to them, the account will be closed and my next payment (if still sent by Standing Order) would go out of my account and wouldn’t reach them. 

I signed up with Vanguard and my agreement was with the dates set and a bit of security with it being a Standing Order. I’m not refusing to pay, I’m refusing to pay by card as I didn’t sign up for that. 

Any advice please? 

sourcrates

What are your thoughts on allowing the arrangement to fail, then dealing with individual creditors when they eventually creep out of the woodwork ?

IVA`s tend to take around 6/8 months of non payment in order to fail, you can save quite a good settlement fund in that time.

Although they say bankruptcy may follow IVA failure, it won`t, not unless you have significant assets to realise, all that happens is collection activity will start again at some point, probably a year from now. 

ACPH1987

Hi again sourcrates,

Thanks for the reply. I feel (as I presume others would), like I’d be worse off again after making 55/72 payments. I’m close to agreeing what was set out at the beginning payment wise and they’re gonna receive more than anticipated from the start. I feel if I was to let it fail after this long that I’d be a lot worse off.

Debt: £40k
Payments: £12k
Fees: £6k 

Remaining: £34k (potential added interest etc)

Savings from non-payment of IVA for 12 months £2.6k

I feel that this would just “benefit” the IVA firm after claiming £6k out of the £12k and I’ll be basically back to square one. I really should of looked further into the IVA before taking it out! 

Can an IVA firm “refuse” your payment via Standing Order as per agreement at the start? I’ve read across these forums from years ago to present how poorly IVA firms are regulated aswell. I’ve only (hopefully) got 17 more payments if they sort it all out. 

Thanks again sourcrates. 

sourcrates

If you don`t want the IVA to fail, I would try to accommodate them, its no use sending payment to an obsolete account, that won`t help anyone.

What is the issue over paying by card ?

I can`t see a problem with it, what is it that worries you ?

ACPH1987

I don’t know whether I’m overthinking it, but with the way Ebenegate are being, I don’t know what “guarantee” or “cover” I’d have by switching to card payment. Obviously with Standing Orders or a Direct Debit you’re in control, I’ve read online that payments can be adjusted by whomever has your card details (take more money than anticipated potentially). 

Now I know I might sound silly, but with everything that has happened since Ebenegate have taken control of the IVA since Vanguard, I feel as though switching will make me more vulnerable and they’ll do whatever they like, when they like. 

As I said, it was a phone call and I’d receive written confirmation of the changes coming into effect by my next payment date. Surely it’s a change of “contract” in some way, shape or form as they’re changing the original payment method? I still haven’t missed a payment even when being made redundant and losing my job. 

Would there be a reason, a company the size of Ebenegate, not to open a new account for IVA’s so you can make payments into their nominated account? Even doing it myself each month by BACS would be better. 

I keep browsing the forums and the internet in general about Ebenegate and it seems as though the majority of people are having bad experiences with them. I might have to bite my tongue and see where it goes, but I’m just a bit thrown off by them wanting to change the payment method after all these years. 

ebenegatecustomer

Don’t give card details to them as you say you been with vanguard which is the same as me you can put standing order or just by bank transfer at the end when you signed up it was from direct debt no card details I would also use this against them saying your paying by bank transfer as when you signed up you were not obliged to do so.