Ongoing phone-calls and letters seeking payment can be a terrible problem.
Whether an individual makes an IVA or DMP proposal it can take a long while before the internal collections processes at certain creditors co-ordinate to acknowledge that the debtor has started procedures to make their best offer.
Probably best to be fair on the creditors in this respect. They can be huge organisations with huge numbers of clients. The teams that analyse IVA or DMP proposals are generally not the same teams that work on debt collection.
Many of the letters and phone calls are generated by automated systems.
Experience suggests that this inconvenience subsides rapidly after a fair proposal has been put forward. We find that our clients report a vast reduction in creditor contact after about four weeks.
We suggest to our clients that they direct any contacts to us. Under the BBA code any debtor is entitled to third party representation and a sympathetic hearing. The vast majority of creditors abide by this once they have had chance to communicate internally.
There was an interesting point raised by Andy earlier in the post regarding how the IR might deal with an IVA/DMP. Today the IR proved themselves very reasonable by agreeing to collect a balance via a tax code rather than a DMP.
Andrew Graveson
Mortgage Broker & Bright Oak Debt Management
andrew@brightoak.co.uk
www.brightoak.co.uk
