PAYPLAN,GRANT THORTON and CCCS IVA's.

tigerfeet2006

10past6 wrote: »

Although I've only recently entered into a DMP with Payplan, IVA & BR are something I hadn't looked into.

Having received communication from one of my creditors threatening legal action re a charging order, (although as yet I don't have a CCJ) I informed Payplan of the correspondence, Payplan replied in view of the threatened action, maybe an IVA would be the best option for me, they have not mentioned BR being an option, (following my earlier thread, I now know an IVA is best for me)

I'll give Payplan the benefit of the doubt, in that, as they have my income & expenditure maybe they feel based on that an IVA is appropriate, although I have not discussed any personal assets, re equity, saving etc., etc.( I don't really have any)

10past6, I know you are giving Paypkan the benefit of the doubt but will you please do me a really big favour and ring National Debtline or CCCS a ring and get a second opinion. You are taking a big step in taking out an IVA so make sure you are as armed as possible with as much information as possible. It can't hurt to get a second or even third opinion and it is a free call so won't cost you anything.

10past6

tigerfeet2006 wrote: »

will you please do me a really big favour and ring National Debtline or CCCS a ring and get a second opinion.

Hi tf

Yes, I will make a call to another debt line and obtain a second opinion.

On my thread "Considering an IVA" DD feels an IVA is appropiate for me, but even with DD opinion, I was still going to seek further advice.

Thanks for your advice.

Vici

debt_doctor wrote: »

Vici, did Payplan ever discuss the option of bankruptcy with you ?

DD

Nope! It was a long time ago but as i recell there was not even the slightest mention of BR

Walter_J

I went a long way down the road of doing an IVA with Payplan a couple of years ago; until it became glaringly obvious to me that their sole concern was the fees that they were going to earn.

They brazenly told me that the £350 pm I was offering was insufficient as their cut wouldn't cover their admin costs. Never mind that that was all I could possibly afford.

Fortunately the house is my other half's name so I went bankrupt and saved myself 21 grand - £350 x 60

Payplan are a bunch of vultures - my advice would be to avoid them at all costs.

In fact, as far as I can tell, bankruptcy is a better option to an IVA in the vast majority of cases.

debt_doctor

Thanks Walter that is the sort of first hand experience I am after. A very good and informative account.

DD

sparrabeth

Praxis99 wrote: »

Debt Doctor:

I think the issue is that the CCCS where only looking at my surplus income and having done so immediately suggested I would be suitable to be put forward for an IVA after 3 months of DMP payments. At the time I approached them they were not setting up IVA's themselves but would instead recommend a 'vetted' IVA company such as Grant Thornton once you had proved your ability to pay into a DMP (which took literally every spare penny I had).

Its possible that had an IVA become a more distinct possibility they (the CCCS) would have questioned things such as my home owning and employment status to ascertain if I would have benefited from an IVA over going BR. But these issues where not raised initially and I researched the pros and cons of both for myself.

I shudder to think of were I would have been now had I followed through with this process (both the initial DMP let alone any IVA which followed), with the millstone of debt repayment that would have been round my neck for yrs to come. As is I am now a discharged bankrupt with no IPA and no debt (and plan to keep things that way too, not that I have much choice in that matter given my credit rating is shot to pieces!).

I know someone who is on an IVA with CCCSVA and yes, they would have asked a lot of questions about your circumstances - from what I can gather, the info needed for a DMP is only basic as it isn't a legal thing. My friend sent off 2 A4 envelopes full of paperwork to them after she had spoken to them a few times.

She says she was very impressed - they actually encouraged her to increase her food and clothing budget as they said that the original figures she had put into the website didn't look realistic for her and her kids. They spoke to her about all her options and encouraged her to pay back her debts if she could as she did borrow the money in the first place. As she doesn't have a property, they made it clear that if the creditors didn't accept the IVA, then she should go bankrupt as it was going to take about 13 years to clear her debts on a DMP and she was making her best offer on an IVA - if they didn't like it then it was tough cos they'd get nothing in bankruptcy.

I know this is only one case, but CCCS were great with me when I spoke to them and eventually made me see that a bankruptcy was the best thing - I initially said I didn't want to do it, even though it would take 20 years on a DMP.

debt_doctor

"They spoke to her about all her options and encouraged her to pay back her debts if she could as she did borrow the money in the first place. As she doesn't have a property, they made it clear that if the creditors didn't accept the IVA, then she should go bankrupt as it was going to take about 13 years to clear her debts on a DMP and she was making her best offer on an IVA - if they didn't like it then it was tough cos they'd get nothing in bankruptcy."

Is that in the clients best interests ? Surely from the clients point of view if the cl has no asetts then an IVA is wholly inappropriate.
If the client has spare income to pay towards an IPA then fine, but for 3 years not five, and more generous allowances.

Im sorry but I find that wholly unacceptable advice from a debt charity as it is clearly not in the clients best interests. I feel this IVA has been miss sold.

DD

sparrabeth

debt_doctor wrote: »

"They spoke to her about all her options and encouraged her to pay back her debts if she could as she did borrow the money in the first place. As she doesn't have a property, they made it clear that if the creditors didn't accept the IVA, then she should go bankrupt as it was going to take about 13 years to clear her debts on a DMP and she was making her best offer on an IVA - if they didn't like it then it was tough cos they'd get nothing in bankruptcy."

Is that in the clients best interests ? Surely from the clients point of view if the cl has no asetts then an IVA is wholly inappropriate.
If the client has spare income to pay towards an IPA then fine, but for 3 years not five, and more generous allowances.

Im sorry but I find that wholly unacceptable advice from a debt charity as it is clearly not in the clients best interests. I feel this IVA has been miss sold.

DD

My friend feels differently. She has surplus income and would like to pay her debts back in full, but in reality she can't do that because of the length of time it would take. She holds her hands up to borrowing the money and feels bad that she can't repay it. I think that its important that they give people all the options.

I've actually just got off the phone to her and was talking about this thread. She says that the thing she liked most was that she wasn't "sold" the IVA - they listened to how she felt and said that if she wanted to repay, the IVA was the best thing, but that nobody would think bad of her if she decided to go bankrupt. The guy she spoke to even said that in her position, he would seriously consider going bankrupt. It was her decision to go for the IVA and I respect her a lot for that.

debt_doctor

If your friend is happy with the decision then thats fine. Was it made clear to her that she could pay some of the debt back in bankruptcy ? When I see comments like " you should pay back your debts if you could, as you did borrow the money in the first place" thats sale patter for an IVA is right for us ( oops sorry, you ! ).

Your friend was insolvent, and had the opertunity to use either form of insolvency legislation to assist her with her debt issues.

Your last paragraph does give back the adviser some credibility as some balance has been provided.

DD

Waspeze

My experience with the CCCS was very good, the person I spoke to immediately dismissed an IVA and said it was only suitable in rare circumstances (large equity and not wanting to loose home, potential job loss etc) and in my case dispite having reasonable surplus income but no assets it wouldn't be beneficial to me.... bankruptcy all the way!