Hi

I signed up to a trust deed with Invocas in Apr 05 and made my final contribution in Mar 08, however they are still failing to release me from the TD.

They have advised as I took a car out on HP in Nov 04 they are investigating if they can claim back any funds for my estate from the HP company for irresponsible lending.

They continue to send me out annual income and expenditure reviews to complete however when i contact their office I am told to ignore these as they are sent automatically and they are aware i have completed my contributions but they still need to investigate the HP company.

From looking at the costs and time they are continuing to deduct from my estate there are no funds left for my creditors, so is there any benefits of doing this?

The car is still under the HP agreement which is due to end Nov 09. When initially signed to the TD i was told as my TD will end before the end of the HP agreement then i will get to keep the car as still under obligation. If i fail to be released from this TD does this mean the car will be taken off me in Nov 09?

What steps can I take to be released?

How long will my credit rating be continued to be affected while i am tied to this TD?

I'm speechless, little miss, which is probably a good thing because I should probably be careful what I say in case I get into trouble!

Again, maybe you should get in touch with your trustee and kick up a fuss and ask who his/her authorising body are so that you can make a complaint - that might get things moving along.

I'd be interested to see what has actually been done over the last year and a half since you should have been discharged. You could ask to see their records if you want to, which might help clarify things.

Let us know how you get on, will you?

Hi Kevin

Thank you for your response. I contacted my Trustee today regarding your advice. They advised that my file was still under investigation by Cartel Client Review. I asked for an update and expected date of completion for the investigation but this could not be provided. I was given Cartel's number though.

My Trustee will also forward me a copy of my complete file. When I asked about the regulatory body I was told the Institute of Chartered Accounts however they could not provide their contact details which I was disappointed with.

I have since contacted Cartel Customer Services. I asked for the date they started the investigation re my file, I was told Apr 08. This was the first month after my contributions had stopped. Is my trustee able to do this? Surely if my contributions had been made I should have been released as no investigation had begun???

The Customer Service agent was unable to send me a copy of my file but has passed on another departments details. All they could say is my investigation has not had any action on it in a while which I think is appalling.

Again I have asked for the regulatory body for this company. The employee reluctantly provided the Ministry of Justice but again failed to provide contact details. She also advised that she could not send out any code of compliance/ complaints/ or conduct. Should I be provided with this info???

I am awaiting a manager calling me back tomorrow we'll see what happens. Is there any other steps I can take???

Hi ls

This is an interesting point in a few ways. At the start of the TD was the car an asset. The answer is no as you have no ownership rights until the last paymet is made. Not seen your agreement, but it's usually clause 9. Is it a debt. No, contingent debt perhaps, but they allowed you to retain and use the vehicle so is it a debt? No. So why try to pursue this as a mis sold loan?

I would ask them to confirm in writing exactly what their position is.

Mark

Hi Mark & Kevin,

In your opinion is this modus operandi likely to garner much favour from the creditor organisations that accept/reject Trust Deed proposals from this firm?

There is some anecdotal evidence of mortgage brokers who have involved themselves with Cartel (and other similar businesses) finding that certain banks will no longer allow them to sell their mortgages.

Hi

I guess it depends on whether these "investigations" are successfully increasing dividends for some creditors at the expense of others. Certainly those creditors who are falling foul of this will not be happy, but then it could be argued that they should have complied with the letter of the law in the first place.

Even those creditors that could benefit by other competing creditors claims being shot down might only end up waiting a lot longer for a dividend and I imagine the increase in dividend may be very marginal if there is a significant cost involved.

I would certainly be very interested to know the facts and figures regarding the cost of investigations and the outcome for creditors if any of the forum members to manage to find out this information.

Hi

I have contacted my Trustee and received a copy of my file the other day. I can find nothing in my file in relation to them instructing Cartel to carry out any investigations. Just loads of paperwork.

I am also concerned that they have sent me out a list of other clients and their personal addresses, is this a breach of Data protection? Does this mean my info is being sent to other clients?

In terms of my car I believe it is a conditional sale agreement but don't see what relevance this is?

Can I also ask, after my 3 years worth of contributions there appears to be no dividend left for my creditors as this has all been eaten up in fees. Is this why the hourly rate the trustee charges changes? As one month it was approx ?ú70 then ?ú80 then ?ú90 and back down to ?ú80. Are they allowed to vary this figure?

Cartel have refused to speak to me so I don't know where to go now, I feel I'm getting no where and can't move on with my life. Any advice?

Keep plugging away at them Little Miss - demand answers and refuse to be palmed off. Your trustee cannot simply pass the buck to Cartel, they have to be able to account for their decisions and show why you should not be discharged already. As long as you have cooperated throughout the trust deed there should be no reason why you cannot be discharged.
As I said previously, if you do not get satisfactory answers you could contact ICAS and ask them to look into it.

Just to back Kevin up I am shocked by your story little miss.

If you cannot get satisfactory answers from your Trustee I think you should approach ICAS. This site does not wish to encourage the making of complaints but you have every right to move on with your life.

In terms of Data Protection it's clearly very poor that the private details of others have been posted to you.

I'd suggest that you return that paperwork to the firm. You could add a letter confirming the information posted to you that appears to be a breach of the Data Protection Act, listing the issues that you require to be resolved, and explaining that without prompt assistance you'll be left with no option other than to contact ICAS and the Information Commissioner for their opinion on your concerns.

Hi

I took your advice and have kept on at them and eventually managed to speak to my trustee who is a director in the company. He has assured me he has passed my details to the closure department and I should be formally released within the next 2-3 weeks so fingers crossed.

He said the timescales regarding my "investigation" are not reasonable and I can follow this up myself once i am released from my TD.

Good for you little miss.

I think it's great that your Trustee has accepted that this delay is unreasonable and shouldn't delay the end of your Trust Deed.

How strange though that after they have delayed the end of your Trust Deed (by instructing this company) that they now expect you deal direct with them because they're washing their hands of it.

Hurrah. Well done

Good to see sense has prevailed - though I wonder how many others are in your position but don't feel confident enough to demand answers...

Hi all

I'd be interested to see if this case is completed, dividends paid and finalised in 3 weeks.

I have a tenner that says.................

Mark

Well let's hope Mark's concern about the short timeframe promised proves to be incorrect.

Please let us know that this all happens as it should from here little miss.

I was delighted to hear about the progress that has been made by Little Miss and I too will now be demanding answers from my TD. Despite my contributions being paid and assurances that I was in the final stages of investigations by Cartel, I'm still waiting on discharge.
I am of the opinion that for those of us who have been involved in a TD the shame and embarassment has left us reluctant to pursue or demand fair treatment!!
Fingers crossed and hold onto your ?ú10!!!!!