PAYPLAN,GRANT THORTON and CCCS IVA's.

Praxis99

Perhaps it time for someone in the know to do some ‘mystery shopping’ to sample the advice been given by the CCCS - and others - in this regard.

I think we have all heard the ads referring to IVA’s as a ‘little known piece of government legislation’, presenting them as the panacea for all our debt ills, a veritable get out of jail card.

It’s clear from this post and others that IVA’s are no get out of jail card and while suitable for some (with assets or job to protect) they are a serious business with serious repercussions for those who fail in the process of undertaking them.

I seriously considered an IVA as an option because It was presented to me by a respected source I trusted (the CCCS) as been right for me. It was only as a got a grip on my myself and my self inflicted financial mess that I realised it would be a very poor choice for me and BR (which is still something I feel a personal sense of shame about) was the only way to go.

sparrabeth

debt_doctor wrote: »

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

Yes it was, but she had done some research herself and realised that any money going into an IPA in the majority of cases would go to OR fees and wouldn't go anywhere near the creditors.

She's spoken to another IVA company before one of her creditors told her to go to CCCS and they suggested a deal to her that even though more money would be paid into the IVA monthly, meant that less money was going to the creditors. She said that CCCS were upfront about the fees and didn't pressure her into the IVA at all.

She had about 4 appointments in total with them - I remember her saying that they called her and talked her through the booklets they sent and then when they sent her proposal out, they called her and talked her through that page by page. She says that at every call, she felt like they cared about her and were making sure that she wanted to go down that route.

She says that on one call, they read through a booklet with her (R3 or something like that?) and she was quite disturbed when they spoke to her at length about the bankruptcy section, but the guy reassured her that he was just making her aware of all the options. The other company she went to didn't seem to want to speak to her at all.

dellybelly_2

My OH and I both went through an IVA on the recommendation of the CCCS and were referred to Grant Thornton instead of a local company as I know 2 people who work for that company and I didn't want them to know my personal business.

My experience of the entire thing was a completely positive one. Both the CCCS and Grant Thornton were completely professional and took us through the entire thing step by step. BR wasn't an option for us as I'm a civil servant and it could have affected my employment. Our statement of affairs was a generous one and took into account our childcare costs, needing a car for work.... everything!

We were fortunate that we had some equity on our home and the entire thing was sorted out within 8 months... they even referred us to a fantastic morgage advisor who really did work with our best interests in mind. I did feel ashamed that I had to take this route out of debt as we did spend the money and our creditors did deserve to be paid back everything we owed them, but I've since discovered that RBS /BOS were our major creditors at the time - and our remorgage was taken through one of their subsidiary companies - so they're happy as they're getting their money back just in a different way.

I only wish I had found this website a lot sooner. And I agree with the person who referred the OP to Martin's IVA guide - it's very good.

Good luck with your decision.

sparrabeth

BUMP

I'm very interested in this thread and if it helps people go to the right place for the right advice, I think it deserves to be bumped