Click here to read the IVA Mis-selling FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
The idea of IVAs was born in 1986 and were conceived initially to allow insolvent small businessmen to continue trading, as bankruptcy would have made it increasingly difficult to trade. They were also used to protect major assets such as the family home. IVAs were intended to be an individually tailored insolvency solutions, they were never initially intended for the general public. Around five years ago, Insolvency Practitioners began mass marketing IVAs as an alternative to bankruptcy. With the general public’s fear of the word ‘bankruptcy’ and the general ignorance of the actual facts surrounding bankruptcy many people felt that an IVA was their only option. Even though despite the fact that in the overwhelming majority of cases, their ‘clients’ would have been far better served under the protection of a bankruptcy order. An Insolvency Practitioner would, in every case, have at least one (or often several) face to face meetings with each and every client, discuss and investigate their case in detail and then examine all the options before deciding which insolvency solution would best suit the client. It has been reported that in the overwhelming majority of these cases the clients have absolutely no contact at all with an actual Insolvency Practitioner and are offered no alternative to the IVA. People who have no assets or equity to protect are often far better served under a bankruptcy order. Insolvency Practitioners have a duty of care to their clients to offer them the best advice. It is not acceptable simply to ask the client if they wish to go bankrupt and take their answer at face value without clearly and concisely explaining to them exactly what a bankruptcy entails. Failing to do so is inappropriate as the clients are prohibited from making an informed decision
The team at www.bankruptcy.co.uk are the first and only independent debt adjuster to offer a complete credit builder program that begins in the bankruptcy court and ends ( after a three year financial re-training program), with the debtor being financially rehabilitated and in a position to apply for and receive a mortgage offer, or any other kind of prime finance or credit facility. Leaving you in a position where you will have a positive credit score due to your credit file being re started at an early point after your initial bankruptcy order has been granted.
Also for those individuals that go bankrupt and don’t do anything to restart their credit file will find themselves un able to obtain credit at reasonable rates for many years after they have been discharged from bankruptcy.
We aim to have you entered into the protection of a controlled bankruptcy within 4 months. The quicker you are declared bankrupt, the quicker you are discharged.
The statutory period for a bankruptcy is 12 months, however, in many cases individuals receive their discharge from as early as two months from the date that the Bankruptcy Order was made. By being organised and co operative you can help the Official Receiver to do their job. They do not really want your file hanging around for a long period of time so the easier you make it for them to do the job the quicker you are likely to be out of bankruptcy. Co-operation and a helpful attitude is the key!
We will prepare all the relevant documents that will demonstrate that your IVA has failed. We will prepare your income & expenditure details included in your debtors petition for you to approve and sign. On the pre arranged date you attend the Court and, pay to the bankruptcy clerk the £485 court fees and hand the clerk your pre-prepared bankruptcy petition.
As we have prepared the paperwork in the format that we know the court requires, there is often no need for you to even see a District Judge (this is dependant on the actual Court which you attend but mostly it is not necessary). You will probably have the option to leave the Court for 2-3 hours whilst the application is processed and you will be required to return at a pre arranged time. The Order will, in these circumstances, have been automatically granted in your absence unless there are serious complications with your application. We are pleased to say that
we currently has a 100% success rate with all petitions prepared by us so this is extremely unlikely to happen.
You are immediately free from debt and will not be responsible for any of your pre-existing debts. It is a fresh start for you and your family to start again and build yourself up from a position of strength. You are immediately protected from all existing creditors who form part of your bankruptcy The restrictions that you are placed under for the duration of your Bankruptcy Order are simply that you are unable to act as a company Director until your discharge and if you borrow a sum of money greater than £500, you are obliged to disclose your bankruptcy status to the lender. You should understand that it is extremely unlikely that you will be able to borrow money from a high street lender. It is not unusual for a self employed person to obtain start up or project funding from a private source which is acceptable for an un-discharged bankrupt (providing the lender is aware of your circumstances).
You will be contacted by your IVA Company; they will probably try very hard to get you to change your mind, sometimes by offering to take you through bankruptcy for nothing, sometimes by threatening legal action, and sometimes by trying to frighten you about bankruptcy. The facts about bankruptcy are simple. If you are in any doubt what so ever then contact us and we will talk the issues through with you. You have to understand that there are cultural changes happening in the recent and forthcoming years about bankruptcy and the way that it is viewed. In many instances it is not necessarily your fault that you are in this position but bankruptcy will certainly act as a learning curve for you and you are more likely not to repeat the reasons that brought you to bankruptcy in the first place.
The IVA companies stand to lose anything between £5-10k by losing you as a client and they may aggressively seek to protect against this loss. You must remember that you must do what is right for you and not what is best for your IVA provider. It is common that people allow pride to stand in their way when making commercial decisions of this nature.
Do not allow yourself to be potentially bullied on the telephone and ask your IVA provider to put their comments in writing. Do not get pulled into unnecessary conversation with them. Remember they are trying to protect their interests NOT yours.
Yes you can. You are entitled by law to cancel your IVA at any time that you wish. We are on hand to provide you with assistance and help for any problems that occur in respect to your financial affairs. There is a process to follow and our advisors will help you with this.
Yes you can. We can arrange for an alternative bank account that will allow you to continue your life as per normal. We will even arrange a pre-paid gold MasterCard for you to use worldwide. Often is the case that people are put off from obtaining a bank account after they have been made bankrupt because they have gone into a high street bank and been refused. There are plenty of facilities available for people in bankruptcy and again we can offer you guidance and support on this.
The only reason a bailiff would come round would be because they were not aware that you have a Bankruptcy Order against you. Your creditors will not know about your bankruptcy immediately and it does take a certain amount of time for them to receive this information and adjust their files accordingly. Once you show them the Order or you tell your creditors or their collection agents your bankruptcy number and the County Court where the order was made they will go away and if for any reason they don’t then you can call the police and have them removed and charged with harassment if you choose.
We will endeavour to ensure that you have the maximum amount of beneficial financial allowances under the guidelines of the official receivers office. Our insolvency team is made up of several former Official Receivers Office employees and they assist in helping to ascertain exactly what you will be allowed as living expenses. You must understand that in many instances when you entered your IVA your IVA provider may have had to really reduce your expenditure in order to get your IVA accepted by your creditors, in some instances this would mean that you have been denied additional living expenses that would be allowed in bankruptcy. It is our duty to ensure that you are not denied these expenses and that they are taken into consideration within your bankruptcy petition.
As a basic example if your IVA provider was to enter you into bankruptcy you would almost certainly be subject to an income payment order because your bankruptcy would be submitted with the income and expenditure as it was at the time that your IVA was approved. It certainly would not necessarily take into consideration the rise in fuel and food costs let alone other legitimate expenses that you are allowed in bankruptcy.
It is standard operational procedure for an Official Receiver or Trustee in bankruptcy to try and obtain an income payments agreement and may well try and get you to sign a form agreeing to pay it. Do not sign it without consulting
us first. We will assess the Official Receiver’s request and consider whether it is lawful and reasonable. We are confident that if you should receive an income payments order it will be for a far lesser amount than if you were to attempt to file for bankruptcy alone or with the assistance of your IVA company (who as you can now see will be far less inclined to demonstrate that you were unable to afford an IPA monthly payment)
If you were to carry out a credit check against your name at the address that you went bankrupt from then yes it will usually show up. If other people live at your address they should not be affected by your bankruptcy as the credit search is against the individual at an address. Bankruptcy allows you to wipe the slate clean and start to rebuild (re-start) you credit file. By taking advantage of the credit builder you can be
on your way to re building your credit file from the day after your Bankruptcy Order is granted.
We consider you a client from the moment that we have received your returned and signed authorities completed questionnaire and standing order form contained in the pack. From the moment that you are a client of ours, we can act on your behalf when dealing with creditor situations. In some instances where lets say you are under pressure from bailiffs and debt collectors we can assist you in obtaining an Interim Order which acts as a shield and offers you complete protection from your creditors. This means that if you are being harassed by debt collectors and bailiffs you can effectively show them the interim order and they will go away. This carries a cost of around £175 and is an additional payment you will need to make if you feel it is necessary. When we receive your first payment you will be contacted by an advisor who will begin to prepare you income and expenditure and your bankruptcy or debtor’s petition. You may also be contacted by our claims management department with regards to re-claiming some or all of your IVA fees & payments.
We are a Government licensed debt adjuster and hold a consumer credit license registered with the Office of Fair Trading. We have been established in this business for over 10 years now and have provided help and assistance to many thousands of happy clients many of who are now completely financially rehabilitated and debt free as a result of instructing us.
You need to sign and return :-
1. Your 3rd party letter of authority
No.3 on the contents page and marked with a symbol
2. Your legal authority to act
No.5 on the contents page and marked with a symbol
3. Your regular standing order form
No.7 on the contents page and marked with a symbol
4. Please complete and return the questionnaire which can be done on line by visiting
www.bankruptcy.co.uk
Tell them the truth.
You have been in an IVA that
has not worked out for you
and that you are in the
process of completing the
necessary forms to petition
for bankruptcy. That’s it!
You do not have to stay on
the phone and listen to
them! You have to remember
that they want a payment
from you and in some cases
will try and use extreme
methods and wording with you
on the phone to try and
agree a payment with you.
Remember it’s your phone,
your time, and you are free
to talk to whoever you like,
when you like, they cannot
make you have a conversation
with them if you do not want
one. Tell them that if they
have got something to say
then put it in writing. You
can then forward the letter
on to us and we will look into it for you. If the phone calls are unbearable then call your telephone provider and request to change your phone number. It is really simple and can be done the very next day. All you have to do is contact your friends and family and tell them your new number. Your creditors will not be able to make contact with you by phone any more and before you know it you should have your bankruptcy order in which case your creditors will not be allowed to make contact with you. If they do all you have to do is tell them your bankruptcy number and the court the order was made and request they contact the official receiver for more information.
We are aware that certain IVA companies are telling their clients that if they default they may go to prison. It is completely untrue and again it is an extreme attempt to keep a client in the IVA. We are aware that some individuals have been told this and we are looking into the matter. It is entirely your decision whether you remain in an IVA or not. It is your choice no one else’s.
Simply complete our online questionnaire to enable us to confidentially see what we can do to help.
|
