Debt matters

[Phil]

Hello
Are debtmatters currently downgrading their IVA operations.The reason being that my normal contact has left the company(maybe by natural progression Iknow)but It seems a bit of a struggle to get through to anybody plus I still have had no paperwork back to say they have received a cheque I sent them.I did manage to get through to them and did say it had been credited to my account,however alot of the numbers they gave me to contact them are no longer in use.
If there is anybody out there who works for debtmatters or has worked for them please could you lets us know what the current situation is with the firm and their IVA's
P

[MelanieGiles]

Hi Phil

Debtmatters made over 80 redundancies a couple of weeks ago, and appear to be in the process of transferring a large quantity of their existing IVA cases to two other providers. As my information may not be strictly accurate, but is marketplace hearsay, I cannot confirm any more information at present.

[Phil]

Hi Melanie thanks for the reply,Is there any chance they will transfer my Iva to your company !!

P

[MelanieGiles]

Much as I would have liked to have acquired some of the Debtmatters IVA portfolio, I am afraid that others more powerful than I are involved! Don't worry - the two companies I believe who are involved are experienced operators.

[Phil]

More powerful than you...........I doubt it Thanks Melanie.
If there is any former employees out there feel free to spill the beans[}:)]

P

[oldcazza]

ive had the same problems as you getting through to anyone...it is worrying as its our lives they are playing with but melanie and the others have put my mind at ease ..thank god for this site ....just as a thought have you had to put yearly reviews in ...we zare 26 months into our iva and have never been asked to do this it seems everyone else does though !! strange ..

[Phil]

I am coming up to my first one.I will let you know what Happens

P

[goulda]

Hi all,

I have just spoken to Debtmatters about the purchase of a new(I should say another) car. I asked the person I was speaking to about Debtmatters selling off some of their IVA's and she denied this and said to me "it was news to her and she had no knowledge of this happening". She also asked me where I had heard this and I told her I obtained the information from the internet. Something does not seem right here anyone any thoughts

[size5]

Hi everyone, for your info....

LONDON (SHARECAST) - Personal insolvency group Debtmatters will dispose its IVA and debt resolution business and concentrate on its loan brokering service.

“Accordingly, the company confirms that it is no longer in a bid period,” it added.

The group will sell its IVA book for £6.4m to a consortium comprising of Grant Thornton UK and Totemic. It will also sell the residual Debtmatters Limited business to Creditflex for £800,000.

It will now focus on its loan broking division, which is trading in line with expectations, and change its name to Loanmakers Group.

All the monies raised from the disposal will reduce its company borrowings, said the group.

“It was becoming increasingly difficult to operate a successful direct marketing IVA business with acceptable profit margins in the face of increasing costs of case acquisition and reduced fee levels in tandem with ongoing sector uncertainty,” said the CEO Ges Ratcliffe.

“As a result of a detailed review, the board has concluded that the best long term strategy would be to exit the IVA sector completely and focus on Loanmakers, the profitable loan broking part of the business, which was acquired in June 2006,” he said.

Ratcliffe added that good prospects exist for Loanmakers but visibility is limited due to the challenges and uncertainties that currently exist in the financial markets.

[Adam Davies]

Who's next ?

[OPTIMIST12]

Yes - who will be next?

If I recall, it was only a few months ago that Debt Matters were a regular advertiser on daytime TV (I think that their ad was the one with the building blocks).

What can go wrong so quickly? The other large-scale providers must be in a similar position costs and fees wise - what caused Debt Matters to jump ship when they did?

I know that Grant Thornton are well respected but must admit I have never heard of "Totemic" (size 5s post refers). Are they a new entrant to the IVA field?

[MelanieGiles]

No - they are Payplan in disguise!

[carlmcmullen]

My guess would be Accuma... havent they had problems recently ?

And yes they did have the building blocks, red and black ones "out the red into the black was there motto !!!!!

I am sure GT will take good care of the clients they have inheritied but i agree Optimist i have never heard Totemic.

I think the problem that has come with debtmatters is the fact that there buisness model has been structred to high volume IVA's and with all the changes in the industry they have not been able to maintain this volume and as they on the stockmarket they have alot of people investing who will quickly pull out if the company does not perform.

I dont think it has happend quickly, i think it is something that has been going on for a while and i belive they started to struggle mid 2007 but was never public knowledge.

[MelanieGiles]

I wasn't joking!

http://www.totemic.co.uk/

[carlmcmullen]

Are payplan not a 'non fee charging' IVA provider who have just purchased half of the debt matters book which sold for £6.4 mln ?

Wonder were that money came from !