I would say the majority of people in IVA's don't want to rock the boat and are prepared to go with the flow of whatever is put in their way.
To be fair whatever happens with IP's / PPI / Bank Charges is still a hell of a lot better than what the creditors used to put us through before the IVA..
It could be that some IP's use this to their advantage.
Some of you have been very lucky with your choice of company used. I'm with DFD and have never spoken to my IP and have not spoken to anyone from this company for around 3 years! I don't know if this is normal but I really wish I'd investigated other companies rather than just phoning the first number I saw in desperation. Some of you are so so lucky
I guess the message here is to be selective when choosing an IP firm and look for one who gets good feedback for ongoing client service and fairplay to creditors.
The forum can be invaluable when making a choice of who to talk to but at the end of the day the choice of IP is yours and word of mouth in my opinion is always the best way forward.
IVA final payment left the bank on the 26th January 2013...looking forward to a debt free future.
Whole heartedly agree with you Lesley about the forum being invaluable, it has helped me gain invaluable information to put forward to our IVA company on more than one occasion. I too, would have looked more into IPs/companies available to me if I had found the forum first but unfortunately I didn't.
One of the things I've really struggled with is the allowances. From several posts I've read, this is the case for several others too - there appears to be massive discrepancies in what some people are allowed against others, whether or not it is their actual expenditure. From my experience I've found that even if you put down your actual expenditure and can evidence it, these allowances can be cut down by the company. I've also found that some allowances are removed and we are told the creditors won't allow an allowance for that (even though that allowance appears on the BeatMyDebt list of allowances available). When you only have a small contingency sum built in (that hasn't increased over 3 years - it's difficult to fund allowances that have been reduced/removed and then leads to you having to ask for a payment break/reduction one month as you haven't been able to use the contingency to build up an emergency fund!)
Our experience with our company has been very good in some respects but then in others (especially our current ongoing issue re variation)we seem to hit a brick wall. The impression given is that as much must be gained for the creditors at all costs (even if it makes our allowances reduce) or the IVA will fail. We do feel at the minute that we are backed into a corner with no hope of changing anything for our benefit as it all has to be done for the creditors benefit.
Now I fully appreciate we got into the situation and we aren't trying to renage our responsibilities to the creditors at all but we have been given the impression that the creditors rights are more important than ours. When having paid back over £23000 so far, this does feel like a bit of a kick in the teeth, especially when, in our case, the problems we are experiencing are through no fault of our own!
This is just a personal opinion and definitely not a statement about all IPs/companies as the information I've had off this forum has proven to me that there are better companies out there than the one we chose - just wish I knew about you guys before I signed up!!! Hindsight - what a wonderful thing!!!
F&F approved May 13 - just awaiting Completion Certificate - moving to a new Debt Free life !!
I didn't find this forum until after we had signed on the dotted line eother, If I had I am certain Mel would have had another client. [:D]
I was passed to my company's sister company when I transferred from a DMP (Bains and Earnst) to the IVA (Blair Enbdersby). I had no problem with BE at all in fact I found them very helpful on the one occasion I had to ring them.
My only problem was when were were passed on again to GT we had no consultation about this so no amount of research we could have done at the start would have made any difference, we had no choice, since then everytime I have had a problem, GT have either not emailed me back or emailed me a standard reply which does not answer my question.
Duty of Care to the creditors yes, to the client very little although to their credit [:p] you can always get through to GT when you need to pay them extra from overtime etc, I think those telephone lines are overmanned [:D].
If life is what you make it, I must have been in a strange mood when I made mine
Not always possible to choose your IP as a previous post suggested. My IVA was taken over by GT without my knowledge or consent. I only found out when I had a letter from them to say who they were and that it had already been agreed in court!
I've had no communication from our IP. When I ring I can't speak to the IP and only can talk to the ppl in their customer services who in my experience have not been able to help me in most instances. I've put in a complaint in April which I still haven't heard anything back from them as yet despite chasing this up. Just so glad I've got my CC however that hasn't stopped them sending me texts and letters getting me to claim PPI etc. I feel under such pressure from them.
Yes sometimes when a company gets taken over and someone else takes over that does mean you have no control of who your IP is, I hadn't thought about that.
IVA final payment left the bank on the 26th January 2013...looking forward to a debt free future.
font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by Aprilia
Not always possible to choose your IP as a previous post suggested. My IVA was taken over by GT without my knowledge or consent. I only found out when I had a letter from them to say who they were and that it had already been agreed in court!
I've had no communication from our IP. When I ring I can't speak to the IP and only can talk to the ppl in their customer services who in my experience have not been able to help me in most instances. I've put in a complaint in April which I still haven't heard anything back from them as yet despite chasing this up. Just so glad I've got my CC however that hasn't stopped them sending me texts and letters getting me to claim PPI etc. I feel under such pressure from them.
If you've got your certificate of completion, feel lucky. I'm still waiting for mine nine months after my final payment.
Also, since you already have your CoC, I'd say you're justified in simply ignoring the texts/calls about PPI. It's not your problem any more, is it?
