hi -We are having same problems with freeman jones been a constant stress from day one with them .4yrs and 10 months we have been paying in to our iva .we had to extend our iva by 6 months.
We have had 5 different people dealing with our account ,they have lost our wage slips on two occasions now and ever time we have our yearly review it kept stating missing documenation for the same 6 months after sending them in
Offered a full and final offer in feb2013 and we are still waiting for them to send documentation to us so they can go to our creditors with our offer,We had to call them now on 4 occasions to chase this offer up and all we get told is that they are dealing with back log ,So from the day we made full and final offer we have made 5 more payments to them ,We offered the full amount of the iva agreement to finish iva ,
The way we feel we might of just continued the iva to then end now as by time the pull their finger out and get things moving it will be end of year
Really not happy at all .The stress of iva has ruined our marriage husband moved out of family home last year so we had to put a rquest in for reduced payments due to our outgoings changing ,but we have kept up to our new agreed payments,
We want to put the iva behind so we can try and rebuild our family but all freeman jones is doing is adding more and more stress
They only contact you when they want more money off you ,
I have just found this forum and is a bit of an eye opener. I finished my IVA in November last year and was awrded soemthing like 7000 in PPI which was put in the IVA on top of the 17000+ i paid back. Im pretty sure my whole debt was around 26000. I have paid back just under 25000 including the ppi, yet am still waiting for a closure certificate. They say the hold up is baceause their legal team is looking into where the PPI should be paid either into the IVA, to the creditors or back to myself. At the start of the IVA i felt like a weight was lifted and was grateful for the help i got but now i feel like ive been used.
I'm sorry that your experience with Freeman Jones has not been of the high standard both you, and we, would expect and I sincerely apologise for any unnecessary stress this may have caused.
I'd like you to please email me your reference number to Steve.Hewitt@freemanjones.com so I can look into this for you, and provide an update on your IVA.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Regards
Steven Hewitt - a member of the team at Freeman Jones
Surely it cannot take that long to decide who is entitled to the money. The options are pretty clear cut following the recent regulatory guidance, unless you have some complexities relating to your own proposal?
Hi. I haven't been on here for a while so thought I would just post an update. CAB have been pursuing FJ for a statement and I finally had enough after asking 4 times so I have requested statement, copies of correspondence and transcripts of telephone calls. CAB now believe I might have been mis-sold the IVA as no-one mentioned a PPI claim that could have been put towards my debt. (Also spoke to Gregory Pennington, which is a sister company as they had my debt management to ask why the possibility of a PPI claim was never put forward when I was with them (nearly 4 years) as this would have gone a great deal to paying off my debt and I wouldn't have become involved with IVA. I also requested statements, copies of correspondence and transcripts of telephone calls. As an aside, I found my yearly statement totally incomprehensible and tried about 6 times to get in touch with my PRM. Finally gave up and took the option to speak to someone else who told me that my PRM was out of the office that week!!! Somebody should make her change her voicemail. Anyway going to see what happens now after I have had all this information provided to me. I cannot believe how this company has treated me and intend to take this matter to the insolvency service if I do not get any satisfactory answers. By the way Freeman Jones is a subsidiary of Gregory Pennington - funny that. I believe I was shifted to an IVA purely to increase the fees I was paying. Will keep you updated.
Whilst I very much doubt whether a claim for mis-selling of an IVA, just because PPI was not mentioned by your IP - after all did you highlight to your IP that you felt you had a valid claim at the time the proposals were being prepared - I do struggle to understand why it is taking so long to provide you with paperwork you have requested.
Freeman Jones have representatives who post on the forum, so hopefully one of them will pick up on your post and invite you to contact them directly.
First of all I'd like to apologise that your Relationship Manager didn’t update her voicemail when she went on holiday. We will remind the team about the importance of doing this.
I am going to look into your case in more detail. However, from what I can see at first glance, the manager that you spoke to on Thursday is pulling together all the information that you have requested. I will chase this up for you, and I will be back in touch as soon as I know more.
Thank you
Steven Hewitt - a member of the team at Freeman Jones
At no point did I mention making a claim for PPI and neither was the possibility mentioned to me. From reading other posts I note that FJ are quick to make these claims after the IVA is completed in order to get as much money as possible from their clients. I still don't understand why this company who was supposed to help me with my debt has not actually done that.
Hi glad you got your iva sorted [:)]
could you tell me how they sorted it out for you, im having a similar problem with them [:(]
font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by wiggle1
Have you contacted Steve Hewitt? He picked up my thread on this question and swung into action! Now we are waiting for our cc, which we were informed would be with us in 3/4 weeks which will be the end of next week. Will let you know if it materialises.
By pursuing a potential asset - which I accept was not forseen by either your IP or you when you entered into the IVA - your IP is still continuing to assist you in repaying your debts. I can understand how frustrated you are that this has arisen so late on in proceedings, but at the end of the day they are only doing their duty by your creditors.
Hopefully one of their forum representatives will pick this post up tomorrow and offer you direct assistance.
After reading your message and finding out that many other people on here are having problems with freeman jones helps me understand why i am also. I had no problems through the first 4 years other than several changes in relationship managers. The first relationship manager was great he explained everything and helped when asked now however they are rude dont answer any questions and pass your issue around to others in the hope you will get bored and stop asking them. We have been told we also owe more money around the the £1400 mark due to income increase. However as explained we have 6 monthly reviews and our money was put up to compensate. I have asked for proof and where this is from they just give information over the phone but no written back up. All my reviews say they are running fine. The situation has become worse for the fact i was made redundant this year and told FJ. First lady very sympathetic and helped but passed onto RM who did not help at all. there has been no review or reassessment. I joined there insurance scheme which eventually paid. I had still been paying my iva with what little bit of redundancy pay i received and asked for it back. They argued and caused me great stress. It took me more than a month to get this. In addition i am supposed to get £100 per month to help towards bills. They are arguing this and tell me its not there issue. I have not had any contact from them for over 2 months. I have struggled to find work and now working parttime only. Left message to contact us but no body has. Even Think money has stopped contacting us. This company is good when it all goes to plan however when thing change they shut down, they are rude and offer no support. This company must remember we choose them and we are there customer they have no morals and they are abusing the vulnerable. I feel bullied and pressurized by them. I was even asked by one of the RM if i could make some of or all of the supposed extra payment from my £2000 redundancy money. I have asked for other support from them through these very trying times and all i get told is its your IVA not ours. FREEMAN JONES. you must step your customer service up by alot of notches and you must change your policies and support mechanisms. Anybody who is looking at IVA go to an independent party first like CAB.
Freeman Jones have a couple of representatives who occasionally post on the forum, and I hope that they will see your note tomorrow and be able to help you directly.
