Debt councillor from Jefferson Hobbs coming Saturday

[kallis3]

I quite agree that BR fees are ridiculously high, if you couple that with a fee to an assist company and these vary from the quite reasonable to the stupidly high, it works out a lot of money.

All for something you can do yourself.

As to the BR itself, what you pay back to the creditors, if anything, is determined by your DI - if you have over £20 a month then the lot goes across. This is determined by the OR.

[Mattybaldy]

Are you expected to find the bankruptcy fees and the assistance company's fees up front when you use them?

How on earth does anyone manage to find that kind of money when they are broke?

[kallis3]

Apparantly they don't charge the fees until the day of the court hearing - no idea how you are expected to fund the rest and then pay them as well unless they are prepared to wait.

Court fees have to be paid in cash, on the day of the hearing.

[dontlookback]

hi,can i add my twopenny worth ,BR has a stigma attached to it ,you loose everthing even self respect as your name is placed in local paper ,IVA YOU ARE IN CONTROLE,and i am quiet hapy to pay for this and follow the rules,its all about teaching us to live with in our means ,3,5,6 years what price for peace of mind i think i would have been 90 befor i had paid off my debts thank god for DFD they through me a life line and many others too i suspect.

[kallis3]

don'tlookback - your name is not now placed in the local paper, only the London Gazette and there is no stigma attached to it now. Some people have no option but to go bankrupt - we should not make them feel worse because it is the only way out. We have some bankrupt posters on here and they still have their self respect.

This thread is to do with the companies who trawl the internet looking for vulnerable people to take money off, not those who have no other option.

[dontlookback]

hi sorry if i have offended anyone ,our local paper states local br ,i must live in an area where there are many br ive seen the results on people .at the end of the day it is down to the individual what they think is best for themselves ,

[Skippy]

While there is still some stigma attached to BR (but nothing like it used to be) I don't agree that you lose your self respect. Anyone in difficulty can hold their head high for actually dealing with the problem.

[kallis3]

It is down to the OR but there are very few private BR posted in the local papers these days, firms may well be so creditors can spot it and make a claim.

[MelanieGiles]

Having read this thread this evening, I was in two minds whether to contribute, but just three points really from the world of an insolvency practitioner:-

1 Anyone who thinks that IPs who take on IVA work are greedy should come and see my accounts for my IVA business. Clearly these comments are made from complete naivety of this profession, and no wonder so many of my colleagues have decided enough fee cuts are enough and to concentrate on corporate insolvency. What other professions would agree to do work without knowing how much they were eventually going to get paid?

2 To say the IP gets paid before anyone else is a nonsense and again bodes from people who clearly do not know what they are talking about. The nominee's fee is a pre-contractual agreement with the debtor to pay for our services - perhaps in some similar way to the bankruptcy assist charges raised by Daniel's firm and others in that industry. The supervisory fee is drawn on a pro-rata basis to the funds collected - so when debtor defaults, IP does not get paid. Very simple.

3 It is true that generally around 40% pf IVAs do not run their course, but in some firms this percentage is far lower. It is also true that a far higher percentage of bankruptcy IPA and IPOs do not complete either, and that only around 10% of DMP cases actually get past the two year point. This compares with around 30% of loan and credit card balances which lenders anticipate will fall into default.

Debate is healthy, but I do wish that posters would be a tad better informed if they wish to contribute - especially those who claim to work in the debt recovery and management industry.

[Foggy]

I have said it before, and will say it again ... I don't care about fees! They have been agreed twixt my IP and the creditors and I have been informed all the way ---- then I signed on the dotted line, so that's it! At the end of my IVA, even if I paid 100p in the £ (which, if we carry on like this we will) the amount of fees are miniscule when weighed against the interest I have been freed from !

[Broke of London]

To continue Mel's second point...the supervisory fee is similar to a commission structure and so the IP profits from their clients' successes. They are effectively incentivised to help us work around those changes of circumstance mentioned - divorce, redundancy, etc - that could lead to failure.

[kallis3]

I'd go with an IP company any day! Don't care about the fees - they are helping me to become debt free. That's all I care about.

[MelanieGiles]

An interesting comment from BofL. We don't see our fees in that light, and the percentage thing is something that was enforced on this profession by certain powerful creditor representatives. We'd much rather get paid on the basis of the work that we do to be frank, but I can see the similarities.

[Broke of London]

The sentiment is different from commission I agree but ultimately we win or lose together...the longer I last the more my IP gets paid! I wonder if that was the creditors' thinking?!?

[kallis3]

I have never looked at it in that light. I am requesting a service and my IP is providing that. I really don't care what fees I pay as long as my IP and the creditors are happy, which they obviously are.