In Autumn 2020 two of the largest IVA firms have recently announced the latest in a long line of customer transfers within the industry:
- all Aperture’s open IVAs have been sold to Jarvis Insolvency; and
- Vanguard’s open IVAs will be administered by Ebenegate.
UPDATE: In February 2021 Jarvis rebranded and it now calls itself Debt Movement.
Sale of Aperture’s IVAs to Jarvis
On 5 September 2020 Jarvis Insolvency announced:
Jarvis Insolvency have recently taken over your IVA from Aperture and will now be managing and supervising your IVA moving forwards. This follows an agreement between Aperture and Jarvis Insolvency and an Order made in the Leeds County Court.
Every IVA is under the name of an Insolvency Practioner (IP). The court order would have been to change the IP for all existing Aperture IVAs to Laura Prescott, who works for Jarvis.
Aperture was the second largest IVA firm in 2018, but it stopped taking new IVAs in June 2019. At that time there was some talk that new business that would have gone to Aperture would instead go to Jarvis – see some of the comments below my article Aperture – no longer taking new IVAs.
This transfer has affected 25,000 people who had open Aperture IVAs. They are receiving an email stating what has happened,
Aperture was itself spun out from Grant Thornton in 2015. It then purchased many IVAs from other firms – buying ClearDebt’s IVAs in 2016 and Debt Free Direct’s IVAs in 2017. As a result, many Aperture customers started with a different firm and the transfer to Jarvis will be their third IP.
Completed IVAs have not been sold to Jarvis. If you have an issue with your Aperture IVA that has already been completed, you can contact Aperture at IVATrusts@aperture.uk.com (bizarrely they say that email address is case sensitive so make sure you get the CAPs right.).
Ebenegate to administer Vanguard IVAs
Vanguard was the fifth largest IVA firm in 2019, setting up over 6,000 new IVAs. In August 2020 Vanguard announced:
Please note that as of Monday 17th August, all live Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) are now being serviced by Ebenegate.
This seems to be simply an outsourcing function at the moment. There is no mention that the IPs have changed so Vanguard remains responsible for these IVAs.
Ebenegate says:
Our UK office manages the day-to-day running of the business, while our Mauritius office are the customer care specialists and case-handling experts who will be your point of contact throughout the life of your insolvency case.
There are close connections between Creditfix, the largest IVA firm and Ebenegate. Finbora Group Limited, previously known as Creditfix Holdings Limited, bought Ebene Gate Mauritius in 2018-19. Creditfix and Ebenegate share some personnel. This weekend, the Ebenegate phone number on the Vanguard website was answered by a Creditfix employee, who knew nothing about Vanguard IVAs.
Here is a recent comment on an IVA forum:
I have been in an IVA for a year now and found it very stressful and taken a toll on my mental health (which I am in the process of sorting) I have been speaking to my mum and step dad and they have said they are willing to pay a F&F so I can start fresh, I have been trying to contact them for weeks now emails and phone calls and no response ( Was vanguard now ebengate) I don’t know what I’m meant to do as I can’t get through to anyone any help would be much appreciated.
It remains to be seen how well outsourcing administration to a different time-zone will work for people with Vanguard IVAs.
IVA customers can’t object
You have no right to object to a transfer, even if it is to a firm you deliberately decided not to use at the start of the IVA. You cannot switch to a different firm you would prefer.
After your IVA is set up, you become a commodity for many of the large IVA firms. Your case is a potential stream of income over the next few years. It can be sold to another firm or outsourced to a firm that thinks they can process the IVA more cheaply.
And if communications with the new firm do not go well, there is no independent Ombudsman you can appeal to.
Customers may lose out
The changes come at a difficult time. As furlough and other government assistance unwind, some people with IVAs will need help from their IVA firm to understand the rules around redundancy and payment breaks.
Without proper support, some customers may not realise there are options that could allow their IVA to get back on track or to complete. Systems that prioritise “efficiency” over good communication may result in more IVAs failing unnecessarily.
Reform needed to Insolvency options
FCA tries to reduce IVA mis-selling
End your IVA and get a DRO?
Ellen Birmingham says
For the sake of reassurance I have copied the email below. Would you consider this enough? I have blocked out the numbers.
Good afternoon Ellen,
Thank you for your time today.
Your variation chairmans report will be issued via Docslink in the next 4 working days. The LSS amount due is £* ( you wil see on the report and as advised the resolution reads £*, however you paid £* via D.D. before this outcome so the payment can be less. Our details are as follows:
Account name: Debt Movement UK Ltd.
Sort code: *****
Account number: *****
Reference: ****
I trust the above to be satisfactory, however, should you have any further queries please do not hesitate to speak to our Variations Team on 0333 987 000 or reply to this email and we will respond in due course.
Kind regards,
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Personally I would wait until I have seen the chairman’s report. Also are you sure what amount you should be paying?
Terry says
My IVA review was due on 2 July 2021.
I supplied Ebengate with the relevant information in June.
The review was done quite quickly and my monthly payment increased from £100 to £120 as from 4 July.
I pay by standing order and have done since the IVA started 3 years ago.
My monthly payment has gone through my bank on the 1st of each month (by agreement with Peter Jackson) since then.
I duly increased my standing order to £120 on 4th July expecting it to take effect from the August payment.
Ebengate contacted me to say that the increase should have been applied to the July payment and demanded the underpayment of £20.
I tried to explain that the payment should not be backdated but was met with the usual curt response and threats of further action.
To date I have not paid the additional £20. Am I being unreasonable?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you think the increase to £120 was justified? or will paying this prove difficult and did your IVA firm not take sufficient account of the fact your expenses had increased?
Terry Newman says
The increase was reasonable and did take into account changes in income and expenditure. It was the sneaky practice of backdating it by one month that I objected to.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It isn’t sneaky, they are entitled to get the higher payments for the second year.
ANDY MOLYNEUX says
HI ALL THERE IS SOMETHING STRANGE WITH THIS VANGAURD-EBDEGATE BUY OUT ,MY CONTRACT WAS WITH VANGAURD IVA,
I was with Vanguard in Febuary 2018 , i didn’t have massive debt, i had 5 main creditors IT Was supposed to be £184 for 4yrs
IF.COM £1500 joint overdraft, and i Had another card for expenses £515
M&S LOAN APPROX” £13,000
BARCLAYCARD £7,500
ASDA Credit £750
APPROX “£27,000 ,IT could be more but ITS 4.22 am I’m that annoyed, i don’t know what initial settlement % was, they just but i never missed a payment, then on 15th may 2020 my partner Jacquie from Covid ,still carried on paying then tsb manager rang me advising Ebdengate had tried to get my debit card details Without my DPA clearance he advised to leave it as direct debit,
My previous bank 1st direct there PPI Dept rang me to let me know that They had already sent 4 cheques for £14,221 , but i still had £13000
sat at 1st Direct ,PPI out box to be sent over, he was concerned and advise me to ring them and not to send them,
I rang VANGAURD 1st and after 10mins a kid called Jack answer and i asked for my settlement which he replied £11800 all done
and it was now with ebdengate and i spoke to a French lady in Mauritius
they need to come clean with us all proper invoices showing what % they have saved us
there will be people getting ripped off out the
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Vanguard is still your IVA firm, but Ebenegate are now handling the administration on behalf of Vanguard.
Why was your IVA for 4 years? That would be very unusual… I am going to assume it was a typo for 5 years, so 60 months.
Your IVA does not complete when you have paid in a total of £184 x 60. The initial % it looked as though the IVA would write off was just an estimate if everything remained the same. This should have been explained to you.
Your IVA should complete early if you have paid in the total of your debts, plus the IVA fees, plus possibly 8% statutory interest on your debts (this was included in many IVA contracts but not all, you need to read your paperwork to find out if it applies to you.)
I don’t think you can be at that point at the moment unless there was other PPI from other debts in addition to the 14,000 you have mentioned. The extra 13,000 will get you closer, but probably not there – the fees IVA firms add on for processing PPI refunds are high.
I suggest you ask Ebenegate for a statement of how much has been paid into your IVA so far, the fees that have been charged and the amount distributed to your creditors.
Andy says
Hi Sara thanks for the fast response
I do remember 60 months getting mentioned but only if you fall behind your payment
Also the ppi money that 1st direct were told to pay vanguard is nothing to do with me a small part was mine £112 so if I understand it right as Jackies and I aren’t married it can’t be used in my Iva
I’m going ring vanguard on Monday and get my contract emailed over to me
Andy
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do double check your IVA paperwork. A 4 year IVA is not impossible but it would VERY unusual.
Is the PPI money relating to joint accounts? If not, why isIt not being paid to your partner?
Andy says
I’m sure they said as it wasn’t that much
And I think barclaycard wanted it paying quicker they started as 4 yrs and there was the
5yr if needed at the time I was paying about 700 so 184 was a godsend I did offer to pay more but they said that was enough,
As to why my partner Jacquie isn’t getting her ppi after 28yrs together.and helping her through nurse training, she was a senior mental health nurse. But as they do 6 month rotations in every dept and she was a bloody good nurse. She got dragged a9/4/20 into a COVID ward she did 1 shift they tested us as I dropped here off and I’d give her a kiss
And I never saw her alive again I watched her die over FaceTime the she went from this
Stunning olive skinned 46yr old . We had to watch all colour run out of her skin she died
On 15 may at 10.40am ,28yrs gone in a flash the week before my son’s 18 .that’s why you I don’t want them having it
Andy
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’m sure they said as it wasn’t that much
It’s not impossible that it is 4 years but it would be VERY unusual. I strongly suggest you check your paperwork.
oh so you are inheriting the PPI reclaim? That is such a sad story. Legally it has to go into your IVA, but given the circumstances, I suggest you could proposed to your IVA firm that instead the money should come to you and you will use some of it to make a settlement offer of all the rest of your IVA payments (this is why you HAVE to know if your IVA is 4 or 5 years long).
This would have to be put to your creditors to approve in a vote, but I would hope it would be passed.
Andy says
Sara
1st thing Monday morning so i can get this sorted
And a up to date statement and list of the creditors
Will keep u in the loop
Andy
Andy says
Sara I spoke to 1direct yesterday and the she told me what allay got off them already paid off the £11000 of jac ppi that would of covered my debt
More than I owed in the 1st place ,
They would of just kept taking my money and if it wasn’t for me finding a letter to Jacquie from her bank they should never of touched her money without telling me
They have breached there contract , broke fca rules, and dpa they had known right. I work for a insurance company
Im a engineer and i would of been probably sacked
We have to be clear, with everything with clients even if you offer them 50p less than the cars worth or a wip claim, is the Iva operating in the Wild West do what they like I’ll be on to vanguard and ebden
Will let you know the excuses they give
Andy
Kate says
Hi Sara,
I’ve had another shock from the lovely folks at Ebenegate…
They emailed around 3 months ago to say that provident had “found” more debts in my name. I do not owe them any money at all and asked them to get further details before they did anything. I have received my annual statement and there is an extra £13000 on there all to provident under 3 accounts. This has more than doubled my total debt. They are saying I may have to extend my IVA because of this but I honestly do not owe this money!
I feel so angry as they have started paying them money so have basically admitted and accepted the debt as mine!
What can I do?
Thanks
Kate
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Put a complaint in writing saying these are not your debts and you do not want them included in your IVA unless evidence is produced that the debts are yours.
Andy says
My Iva finished 7 years ago , it was with debt free direct then aperture now I understand it’s Jarvis , thing is rbs have said I’ve got a ppi payment to come which would over pay my Iva . Contacted Jarvis but no luck . I want to know what happens next . Thanks Andy
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t think Aperture would have transferred your closed IVA to Jarvis. I think you need to ask Aperture about this.