Debt Free Direct

[cashonly]

Hi all
This is my first post so be gentle !.

I was accepted in to an IVA in December 07 with Clear Start & I have to say the whole process was handled superbly by them & the few queries I have had since have always been dealt with immediately.
Unfortunately I have today been informed that my case has been taken over by DFD.
Has anyone else had this happen to them & have they lost the 'personal' touch since it happened ?.
I have dipped in & out of the forums over the last few weeks & seem to remember some adverse comments about them.
Hope I am wrong !

Regards To All

[:)]

[luluj]

We are with Debt free Direct (DFD) for our IVa and have been since last September - although a big firm, we have not found they lack the personal touch - they have been extremely helpful and reasonable during the initialproposal stage, and since approval was granted - I wouldn't worry about the swap of IP - at the end of the day they were already the same company under two different names!

[OPTIMIST12]

Hi cashonly -

I think the very fact that Debt-Free Direct have become such a major player in the IVA field must indicate that they are doing a lot of good work - both from the debtors and the creditors perspective. Otherwise how do they continue to grow so successfully?

Given the number of cases they deal with there are bound to be a few that dont go smoothly (what company could say any different??) - but remember that some of the complaints against them may only give one side of a rather more complicated story.

I am sure a while back Debt-Free Direct were at the forefront of trying to do something about some of the more over-the-top IVA advertising and I think they come over as a very responsible company.

Make your judgement on your own experience.

[cashonly]

Thanks for replies guys

I am just disappointed that I wont be dealing with the clear start people for the whole of the 'journey'.
Good Luck To All

Dave

[shazzles]

hello. I am with DFD and they have been very good with me. Very informative etc..

[Lisa2009]

Hubby had his IVA with DFD.
They were brilliant to be fair, never messed us around with payments.
Our one and only gripe with them was the fact that you can never speak to your IP and its rare you speak to the same person twice.
It only became difficult when we tried to propose a full and final settlement because communication was so poor.
Still....it got sorted in the end and we are now free.

[cashonly]

Thats what I was worried about,I could e-mail my contact at ClearStart & I think the longest I had to wait for an reply was about an hour.
Anyway hopefully from now on there shouldnt be any need to get in touch until at least the first annual review.

Dave

[jupton]

I have been trying to get an IVA going with DFD;s help but since i turned down their proposal to sell my house i have not heard back from them despite phone calls and promises from them. Even if they cannot help me i would expect them to tell me. Not at all professional and a waste of time. I am now going elsewhere.

[Emily]

CS has 3 IPs with offices in London and Nott and DFD have about 8 and is based in Lancashire. As they are the same company they can transfer cases between them to balance work loads.

Not everyone with CS have their IVA transferred across to DFD.The chances are as DFD have 3 time more IPs it may need to take on more of CS case.

CS are still trading as the brand name is inportant.

[OPTIMIST12]

Hi jupton -

I am absolutly NOT an expert on the forum but - I am very curious about some of the vague "accusations" made against Debt Free Direct. I am sure that many are posted because everything does not fall exactly into place for the debtor. Well - let us please remember that the whole basis of an IVA is to pay as much as possible back to the Creditors (of what was clearly and knowingly borrowed by the debtor). Jupton - can you please be more specific about your complaint against DFD - remembering of course to give the FULL story.

My input as an expert is zero - but I am sure that DFD must have many many thousands of satisfied customers - do you not agree?? And you say you are going "elsewhere" - where would that be please?

[ianmillington]

DFD like any other business have their strengths and their weaknesses. They are the country's biggest IVA provider. That may give certain users of their services a comfort factor, and there will always be the perception in some people's minds that biggest is best.

They do employ some very high quality people. Most of the IPs are known to me. I have worked with some of them in the past and would have no problem in doing so in the future.

Like any large company, DFD relies very heavily on it's systems. When you do as many cases as they do it is best if everyone you deal with fits certain criteria, otherwise you buck the system. As a result, there are people who get turned down for IVAs by DFD that other IPs are able to successfully agree an IVA for.

Also, because of the sheer volumes, an IVA case is likely to be split into small bits. For every task that needs to be done, a different group of people will do it. The term "factory" was not applied to DFD, Debtmatters etc by accident, there is a type of conveyor belt process. This means it's unlikely that a client of the company (or for that matter some of the other bulk providers) will ever get to really know the person who is handling the IVA and vice versa.

In 90% of cases, it won't matter, because everything will run smoothly. The problem really only arises when the wheel comes off and of course it's those cases you hear about kind of like only bad news selling newspapers. Most of the problems I suspect are due to communication issues, exacerbated by the clients inability to contact the IP, which of course is down to numbers - they simply cannot afford to spend the time actively dealing with the clients as, with the sheer numbers, they would be on the phone all day and night.

As a result, I cannot suggest that anyone gives DFD or any of the other bulk providers a miss, but don't expect the same level of personal client care from the owners of the business that you would get from a smaller firm.

Ian

[ianmillington]

Sound advice - make sure you know who you are dealing with, and the problem immediately becomes smaller.

I am pleased to see that you have now got things sorted ladyh. Presumably your e-mail did the trick? Did you get a "result"?

Ian

[rollercoasterride]

Sorry to be picky but it's a bug bear of mine - why do people put 'would of' when the correct wording is would have!! Sorry but it really winds me up!![:p]

[animaleyes76]

lmao.

[ianmillington]

Great stuff ladyh! - just read your other thread.