Completion Delays

[OPTIMIST12]

I think that it is all too clear from posts that the service provided by many IVA Providers takes a mega downturn between the time you sign up to an IVA and the time after you make your final payment and receive that elusive Certificate Of Completion. Personally - I received a fantastic service during Payments 1 - 60 but - then - VAT /PPI etc. and - dear dear dear!! NOT SO GOOD!!! I HAVE now received my Certificate and - looking at the bigger picture - am by and large happy with the service I received (though with a nasty taste in the mouth due to the PPI garbage and the disgraceful greed of those involved).

Is there anyone from the large - or small - IVA Providers who would come on to the forum and confirm the percentage of resources they place on new customers and the percentage of resources placed on signing-off those who have completed their obligations?? I won't hold my breath!!

Thank you!!

[Michael Peoples]

Optimist. Your comment is quite insulting if you think that no one will answer your post and given the the spirit of this Forum I will do my best.

We employ about 100 staff and every one without fail tries to do their best for clients and creditors alike. Over the past couple of years we have had the Paymex issue concerning VAT and also the PPI problems. Neither of these problems were of our or our clients making but they had to be addressed. We have spent fortunes on legal advice, held numerous discussions with other firms and tried to resolve all the issues as quickly as possible. We have not tried to keep clients in IVAs against their will like some form of torture and indeed I would like to thank ClearDebt for their assistance in helping us close down files.

I would also like to thank Melanie for sharing her thoughts and advice which we have also done with those who are effectively our competitors. This has been to do the best for our clients and you ask about resources we have expended!

None of us IVA firms asked for these issues and to be blamed for circumstances beyond our control is frankly offensive. We love closing cases because it means we have done our job correctly for all concerned. We also have extra work to do to keep files open [for no extra fees I may add] so ultimately these two issues VAT and PAYE have not been the 'gravy train' you imply it has been.

[OPTIMIST12]

Thank You Michael - I appreciate your response. And - to avoid slipping back into the bad old days - I will stop further posting forthwith - I apologise if you were offended.

Kind Regards -

OPTIMIST12.

[Michael Peoples]

Personally I was offended because I know that our firm try our best. There may be issues with other firms but it is wrong to tar the whole industry with the same brush. Do not stop posting because all forums need proper discussion and I apologise if I was a bit prickly.

[Tina Shortland]

Optimist - you may have a style that occaisionally throws a hand grenade into the pot but every forum needs healthy debate. As you will have seen from this thread and others in the past, posts do get answered to the best of the experts knowledge. Obviously companies differ in their attitudes and processes but like McCambridge Duffy, we all know Melanie is extremely committed to acting in the best way for her clients and takes pride in doing the best job she can for them, she expects the same from every member of her team no matter where they sit in a clients IVA journey.

Do continue to post, you ask questions that others may be thinking and you have shown to accept what is said rather than have fixed opinions that cannot be influenced by facts.

[Adam Davies]

Hi

Healthy debate is good and from the Joe Public point of view the last year or so has not been good so I do share some of Optimists concerns.
I think for some companies Michael the PPI has been a way to keep revenues and profits up in a diminishing insolvency market and for other IVA companies the communication to clients over the last 12-18 months has been bordering on the non existent



Regards

[Tina Shortland]

I would agree Andy and it is upsetting for those of us operating differently to read some of the posters experiences on here. Hopefully poeple taking the time to read various threads on here can see a good balance of what levels of service, communcation and professionalism can be expected from different companies and not all IVA firms are of the same mold!

[Foggy]

I think the last year has, to some degree, highlighted some, shall we say ..., deficiencies in some firms.

I has become apparent, in my untrained and ever so humble opinion, that the larger the company, the smaller the client. This, I suppose, is a natural phenomenon. It has also become apparent that the larger ships take a LOT longer to change course.

As Andy says, I feel a lot of companies (maybe those unable to adapt quickly enough) are riding roughshod over the client in an attempt to increase revenue through PPI. Certainly, from my experience, some staff at these companies appear to have been drilled in the relevant scripted speeches, which they must deliver at all costs.

Tina, it is, I imagine, upsetting, as you say, to see the ways some other clients are being treated. I would guess it is equally upsetting to some of the staff in other firms to be handcuffed by company policy and or inadequacy.

[OPTIMIST12]

Thank you for those very sensible replies (and apologies for breaking my self-proclaimed embargo of two hours ago!!!).

Having very recently received my Completion Certificate I am probably not the most level-headed person to go on about IVAs but - in my experience - I appreciated the regular reminders that came during months 1 -60 telling me when and what was required review-wise etc. After that last payment everything seemed to change - it was all down to me to chase and see what was going on and I just felt as if I was in a form of limbo. Don't get me wrong - in the big picture my IVA provider were GREAT - I will be forever grateful to them - but those months after the final payment going through the VAT and PPI stuff were simply SO disheartening - with no idea of when things were going to finish. There WAS a lack of communication and at times it seemed like I had simply been forgotten completely. Anyway - hopefully we are now seeing the end of VAT and PPI (God help us from anything else rearing its head!!!) and we can get back to IVAs being what they have always been supposed to be!!

Thanks to Michael, Andy, and Tina for excellent replies.

[MelanieGiles]

The adverse PR directed at some companies is unfortunate, and to be frank I don't know why they don't do something about it to reassure their clients that they continue to act with their best interests in mind.

I share Michael's frustration with the content and tone of the original post, and with respect I will keep the details of the way my own firm is run and managed, and the ethics we work with, to myself and my own clients. My clients make a choice when they instruct me to act for them, and once that choice is exercised it is our personal mission to ensure that their IVA journey from start to finish is fair and compliant. I will not be drawn to comment on other firmst.

I get sickened by the constant sniping about my profession on this forum, when most of the bad press is generally about half a dozen firms - and two of them from the so called "not-for-profit" sector which creditors seem to believe are the best option for all people who are indebted beyond their means.

[OPTIMIST12]

And - as usual - very sensible replies from Foggy and Melanie too.

May I say that my original post was NOT meant to offend - I am so sorry if it did - but I used to count down in a little book the days until my last payment and when I reached that day I was so happy as I thought everything was over. FAR worse than anything during the duration of my IVA was when I realised that VAT and PPI had belatedly kicked in and that I basically had NO idea when I was finally going to come off the Insolvency Register. After entering what you believe to be a 60 month agreement - then to be thrown into a black hole completely outside of your control is just so depressing - and I did wonder sometimes if those running my IVA quite realised just how mentally draining this was. I think unless you have actually been in an IVA - counting down those days - it is hard to understand.

Anyway - for me - and to use an often quoted cliché - I am now OUT of the tunnel - I sincerely hope that VAT and PPI RAPIDLY disappear and that IVAs quickly revert to what they used to be.

[MelanieGiles]

I suggest that blaming HMRC for caving in to a frankly ridiculous ruling in the PAYMEX case, and the banks for selling unwanted insurance policies over a number of years, might be more appropriate than having a go at the IPs who are having to deal with these issues on a daily basis.

We don't make up the rules - but unfortunately do have to carry them out.

[Foggy]

font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by MelanieGiles

I suggest that blaming HMRC for caving in to a frankly ridiculous ruling in the PAYMEX case, and the banks for selling unwanted insurance policies over a number of years, might be more appropriate than having a go at the IPs who are having to deal with these issues on a daily basis.

We don't make up the rules - but unfortunately do have to carry them out.

Again, Mel, some firms have managed to carry out the extra work involved in a far more client friendly manner, whereas others, despite a couple of years being told about it, frankly, my dear, don't give a damn.

[Paul.55]

I'm afraid to say that in all other professions, The Law, Accountancy, Medicine, Teaching et al, and almost all the craft trades, where continuous and often disruptive on-going developmental legislation is prevalent, these professionals seem to be able to manage and implement change far more effectively than the sector dealing with a simple VAT ruling, and a process to claim back money illegally taken by the banking sector from it's customers. It is a question of perception, act professionally and you will be perceived accordingly. However I do accept, as in life, some are better at this than others. To claim organisations who command ever larger percentages of this market are not geared up to deal with such complexities, frankly beggars belief.

Maybe if these organisations were better at dealing with people as clients on an individual, consistent and timely basis, there would be little need for the amount of barely concealed fury and frustration evident on this public platform - centred it would seem on a small number of well known Practitioners, or do the small numbers not really matter in terms of the "unheard" majority who seem to be leading a charmed life in terms of quality of service? There is quite clearly a problem here, how long before the elephant in the room becomes too large to ignore?

Best to all.

[MelanieGiles]

That is really a matter for the IP firms' own professional regulators at the end of the day, who I understand are well aware of these issues out in the marketplace.