I drove down to Gloucester early today[3 hour drive]to interview forum expert John Tegg,in his home,who posts under the username Coveritall. On arrival his lovely wife Gwen served up coffee and toast whilst John and myself had a good chat.When Adrian arrived,from Film 121,we all went into Johns office and reviewed his various insurance products and his systems.I was very impressed with Johns paperless office and the way that he not only underwrites various policies but also deals with claims etc.He also collects many thousands of pounds in premiums each month.Not bad for a guy who has been through bankruptcy.

His latest product Protectiva is unique and I’m sure will eventually be welcomed by IPs and debtors
I would urge everyone to view my interview with John because his story is an inspiration and difinitive proof that there is life after debt.
After my interview we enjoyed an excellent lunch prepared by Gwen.
I have to say that John and Gwen are two of the nicest people that I have ever met,their success is a credit to them both and much deserved.

Well I had a call abot midday from a reporter/producer from the BBC Breakfast Business News asking if he could come to my work place later that day and interview me about my IVA story and the IVA.co.uk website.Said yes but then wondered how was I going to do the interview with the shop open ?
Anyway the reporter turned up with a camerman at about 3pm and I made them a coffee whilst we had a chat,nice guys and everything seemed fine.I was looking forward to talking up both IVAs and the IVA.co.uk site.I thought as the interview was pre recorded they could edit out any stumbling of words or long pauses so didn’t feel too nervous.
We kicked off but I kept having to stop and serve so in the end I locked the door.
I felt the interview went fairly well,with myself talking for about 30mins.
I was told that it would be shown from 7.50am the next day.
I was up early and out with my stall on the local market but was phoned at about 7.30 by my wife telling me that I had been on the main news ! No mention of the site though
I was then on the main business part of the show with a longer slot but again all mention of the site etc had been edited out.Have to say I felt a little embarrassed by it all and a little angry that no mention of IVA.co.uk was made.
Still getting comments from customers today,most simply say that they saw me on TV,some say well done and a couple of others have said that they didn’t know that I was in financial trouble[i’m not !!]
Let’s hope that next time I can talk about the site and all the good that we do.

On 8 January I met up with Andy Woodhead from the Policy Unit of The
Insolvency Service at their office in London. Andy explained that although he is not an official spokesperson for The Insolvency Service he was happy to meet with me to provide information and clarify a number of issues.

Andy gave me a brief (but very informative) outline of the Service, which I now know is an executive agency of the Dept for Business. Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), what the Service does and his role Service’s policy unit.

With regard to the Individual Insolvency Register (IIR), Andy explained that this has been a statutory (legal) register since 1999 and the register was made electronic as part of Government policy to provide more electronic access to public services. Andy was not aware of any any plans to change access to it, but he could understand my concerns. Andy advised that the responsibility for the IIR belongs to colleagues in to the Service’s Secretariat Unit and provided me with contact details. I will be contacting them directly going forward.

On the subject of the SIVA it still looks likely that it could commence around October 08,however there are still a number of legal hoops to be negotiated SIVAs should be in the format that I have already posted in the articles section on the IVA.co.uk site.

We then talked about the new IVA protocol that is due to start at the end of this month. Details of the new protocol can be found in the IVA News section and have now been published on the Service’s website (http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/). Briefly, the protocol will only apply to simple consumer type cases and banks and IVA providers have agreed a number of areas of best practice, for example by using the same guidelines on income and expenditure etc. The protocol also provides a set of Standard Terms and Conditions rather than each IP having its own version. The protocol also includes a standard approach for dealing with any interest in a debtor’s home. The protocol will be reviewed after three months.

Andy explained that the advantage of a protocol over statutory law is that it is flexible and things can be changed with agreement of IVA Standing Committee, unlike legislation, which can be very difficult to change.

Now that the protocol has been finalised the Service is looking at the demand for producing facts and figures relating to IVA failure rates, dividends etc etc, something that I would welcome.

I also raised the subject of IP fees being totally controlled by the creditors. Andy stated that it would be impractical for the Service to regulate IPs fees and that these should be controlled by market forces. He also pointed out that he was not aware of other professional service providers such as solicitors or accountants having their fees set by legislation.

The new Debt Relief Orders (DRO) are not active yet but are expected to come into force in 2009. They are aimed at the low income and low asset debtors that can’t pay their debts and find it hard to meet the bankruptcy costs. Applications for a DRO will be made to the Service but they will be done through authorised intermediaries, not the courts. I also learned of another abbreviation,”nina” no income and no assets.

Moving onto bankruptcy informed Andy that The Service’s guidance to ORs is available to all (under Freedom of Information) on its website http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/ . However given that the Service employs nearly 3,000 people it was almost inevitable that there would be some inconsistencies between ORs offices.

In regards to vehicles Andy did inform me that these are covered by a specific section of the Insolvency Act 1986 which sets out that a vehicle could only be exempted from a bankrupt’s estate where it was clearly identified as being necessary for employment, business or vocation. Andy also advised that the guidance also covered assessing the setting of contribution levels in relation to Income Payments Agreements/Order.

Andy recognised that how a debtor’s income and expenditure are assessed can vary as the figures might be based on the Family Expenditure Survey, the Common Financial Statement or the CCCS guidelines.

Andy also highlighted that the Service does have an easily accessible complaints procedure (http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/) that is also published on its website and that if the complaint could not be resolved by the Service it could end up with an independent adjudicator.

We also discussed whether there should be properly recognised qualifications for debt advisors. Andy did say that this is not something that could be progressed by the Service however he (and I) appreciate that if there was an NVQ type qualification it would be of great benefit.
.
We talked for a full hour and I found Andy to be a wealth of knowledge, friendly and very enthusiastic about the role of The Insolvency Service. I also realised that changing any legislation regarding insolvency is a long process. I found the meeting very interesting and worthwhile, it’s good to see another area of the industry first hand.

Follwing the Frugal Friends meeting the evening before I spent the following day at Melanies office,Cardiff. After a leisurely breakfast,and a sore head[thanks Andrew] I took a taxi to Melanies office,arriving at 9.15. The offices were larger than I had expected,covering two floors and Melanies staff were friendly and welcoming. We started the day touring the office and meeting Melanies business partner.

I then sat in on a creditors meeting,successful,and was surprised at the amount of paperwork and modifications involved.
Next was a client meeting and this I found so interesting as it reminded me of my own problems pre IVA.The gentlemen involved had travelled from Letchworth,close to 200 miles and Melanie explained all the options open to him.The sobering part of the meeting was seeing the guys face when it hit home to him that he really did not have enough income,even without any debts to pay,to live on.
We then met Adrian from Film 121 and I interviewed Melanie,this can be seen on IVA.co.uk tv.
After this we broke for lunch with Melanies business partner and their accountant,very nice it was too !!
A client telephone interview followed lunch and in this interview Melanie outlined the bankruptcy option to a client who had been referred from a debt management company but who had not been advised of all the options open to them[shameful]
I then sat in on another creditors meeting,another successful one,again noticing that creditors had attatched a list of modifications as long as my arm even though most of them were already included in the proposal.
My overall impression was the amount of work involved,both on time spent with the client and the time spent on the proposals.Let’s not forget that for the vast majority of IPs they do not get paid until the IVA is agreed,even then it will need to run for many years before they recover the initial costs.
A very useful and enjoyable day,as was the visit to TIX,it is always different to how you imagine it to be and it’s good to see first hand exactly what is involved.

This meeting was very kindly hosted by Melanie and we had Andrew from Brightoak,Tony[welshboy],John Tegg and his wife Gwen plus myself,so an experts only event !!!
I have to say that the evening was brilliant,as was the food.Most subjects were covered and John was able to report on his meeting that he had with TIX earlier in the day.
Myself and Andrew didn’t leave until gone midnight ,so much to talk about.
We have the debt debate in London on the 4th Feb,it would be good to see our London members[Dominc,Skippy,Ray A etc] at this event
I am on holiday in January so I hope to have the next Frugal Friends meeting somewhere in the North of England in late February.

Well I managed to choose a night when Arsenal were playing away to Reading,traffic was heavy and my apologies to all that had to battle through the traffic.
Again we managed to have our best turn out to date,infact each meeting as been slightly busier than the previous one.
It was one of those days where everything that can go wrong did.Melanie phoned me to say that she was not feeling well but would still make it,just for an hour or so but sounded really full of cold and had to pull out a few hours later,then my trusty old car decided to splutter all over the place when my wife used it to drop off one of the kids earlier in the day.That had to go into the garage and I had to close my shop three hours early and plod down in my van,however I made it with time to spare and parked in the long stay car park by the rail station.
Jon Tegg[Coveritall],his wife Gwen and business associate Rob were already at the hotel having arrived early[Rob had driven down from Liverpool !!]
Debbie [Soulgrowth] arrived just before 7pm followed by Ray[RAY A] Tracey[Skippy] and her partner Dave.
The lounge area was a bit small to accomodate all of us but luckily[?] John had eaten a rather poor meal in the restuarant and was due a refund but his business head kicked in and he managed to negotiate a meeting room[quoted £190] in lieu of his poor dinner !!!So we were able to have a chat in comfort,style and privacy.
As with all these events conversation was easy and relaxed.We covered areas such as TIX,reasons for getting into debt,various postings on the forum,life after an IVA/Bankruptcy,levels of debt in the UK and insurance products for IVAs.
John and Rob are working on a accident/sickness and redundancy policy specific for the IVA industry and hope to present it to TIX[The Insolvency Exchange].
My thanks to all that attended,I really do appreciate the effort made and am always so impressed with the people that I meet on my travels,forum members and experts alike.All genuine people with a genuine interest in helping others.
I stayed over but was up at six as,having the only vehicle,I had to take my daughter to a hospital appointment but was in need of treatment myself after having to pay £16 to get out of the station car park !!!

Yesterday,thursday 8th,I met Martin Prigent who is head of Insolvency Relations at the TIX headquarters in Nottingham.I had been invited to attend alongside Melanie and her business partner Philip Gill.

The Insolvency Exchange [TIX] represent several creditors[HBOS,RBS group,M&S money,HSBC,and First Direct] and process and vote on nearly 80% of all IVA proposals[if memory serves me correct]
Melanie and Philip were looking to get answers to some technical issues regarding the proposals that they were submitting [TIX compliant proposals] and my focus was to get answers to some questions that I had put together from a “Joe public, debtors” point of view.
Martin was very open and I felt was keen to listen to both Melanie and myself,he came across as someone who wanted to explain the reasoning behind TIX and the recent changes that had been introduced to try and bring the IVA procedure into the twenty first century[automated payments from IPs to creditors,paperless office system and statistics gained from the IVAs that are processed]

My main question related to assurances that people who had a low monthly IVA proposal would not be excluded from an IVA due to the fee structure[the TIX compliant IVA states that IPs will be paid a proportion of the debtors monthly payment and a £250 monthly IVA would result in a total IP fee of less than 3k,compared to the industry average of 6k].Martin assured me that they still received proposals with payments of less than £200 per month and that,as there was no fee capping ,IPs would earn 15k on a £1200 per month IVA and this would make up for the low fee IVAs.

My next question related to HSBCs 40p hurdle rate that I felt was unacceptable as it prevented debtors from entering into an IVA if they had a debts with HSBC that represented more than 25% of the total debt and couldn’t realise a 40p dividend .Martin stated that this was a condition that HSBC had imposed and that they would,generally,not budge from.However he did think that there might be a relaxing of this policy in the not to distant future.

I asked if the clause relating to equity release in the fourth year not costing more than 60% of the debtors disposible income was standard and he said that it was,something that I welcomed.I also asked how he felt about the remortgage for equity release running past retirement date and he felt that this should not happen in the majority of cases and is something that they would look at.
I asked how they felt about an insurance to cover the debtor in an IVA against illness and redundancy and Martin felt that this was a “no go” purely because there was not a suitable policy in the market place,however he did say that if a suitable policy became available that they would look at it.
Finally I raised my main concern and that was regarding creditors asking for increased payments at the meeting stage.I said that on the forum I had noticed an increase in the number of modifications asking for increased payments from debtors.I explained to Martin that at the time of a creditors meeting debtors are highly emotional and would agree to almost anything resulting in hardship several months down the line.

More trust should be put with IPs to produce accurate disposible income figures and that these should not be changed for no good reason.I think that there was agreement on this and a possible way forward was an accreditation mark for IPs from TIX to show that they were trusted 100%.
I have to say that I felt proud that IVA.co.uk had been invited to meet such a major player in the IVA industry and feel that,as we continue to grow,the site and forum is becoming widely read and respected by both debtors AND creditors.

Well we had our best turn out so far for this informal meeting of forum members.
Aguise[Ang],Lily,the bear[Dave],Gavin and his wife Donna all made the trip to the Brittania Hotel last night.
We discussed the reasons for getting into debt and nearly all agreed that consolidation loans were the main downfall of someone in debt.We all had experience of this and the worst part of a consolidation loan is the fact that the credit cards that are paid off from a loan are infact still “live” and it,s all too easy to start using them again.Before you know it you are back up to the limits and further in debt.We all agreed that a condition of consolidation loans should be that you cut up your cards and close the accounts once they are paid off.
We discussed the various methods of debt collection used by creditors and agreed that many scare tactics are employed and that if you are not “in the know” then you can be scared into making payments that you simply can,t afford.We all agreed that the forum educates and helps people but often that they find it too late.Hopefully as the forum grows more people will be educated by it and be able to see through the scare tactics of creditors.Such tactics used are threatening the repossession of cars,ignoring IVAs,stating that charging orders can be placed in several days on the debtors property and the threat of door step collectors.
We then discussed bankruptcy compared to an IVA and agreed that the allowances seem easier and fairer in bankruptcy with only a 70% maximum of the disposible income having to be paid,over three years, compared to the 100% over five years in an IVA.We would also like to see the property in an IVA dealt with at the start of the agreement,as in bankruptcy,rather than at year four.
Donna then spoke of the time that she realised that she and Gavin had to do something about their debt when the CCCS said that it would take 18 years under a DMP to repay their debts.
Finally we had a good discussion on contact lenses as Dave is an optician !!!
A great evening and thanks to everyone.
My next social is planned for Manchester on Tuesday 2nd October

Well IVAs third debt debate held on the 1st August was very well attended.It was great to finally meet Zoe,one of our forum experts,and to meet again some of the other experts including Melanie,Nicola from Finebridge and James Falla.Also a big thank you to the other forum members who managed to attend.
The debate itself seemed to fly by and really could have gone on for another hour as the audience participation was great.
There were many IPs in the audience and I think this just shows how topical and interesting the insolvency industry has become.
I am looking forward to viewing the evening on the IVA.co.uk tv.
I have to say that Mark Allen,who is a partner in Grant Thornton, was excellent and explained the problems surrounding IVAs very clearly.
I,m already looking forward to the next event.