Hi I am with Freeman Jones and just had my 3rd annual review. My official payback rate is £317/month but they keep raising it outside the scope of my contract (if you have more than a 5% increase in income; my salary's only gone up 1.3% in 3 years). I've sent all my pay slips inc P60s going back to 2010 proving my salary has only gone up 1.7% in 2 years and letters & new pricing for all my utility companies showing my bills have gone up by far far FAR more than that. My salary is now only £6 more than my total direct debits. One operator at FJ went back through the paperwork and said since my salary's not gone up by 5% I should still be paying £317. That's in the Ts and Cs. Try telling that to my account handler... I have, if I'm lucky, £25 a week, and have to borrow from my parents to buy food. However, my acct handler insists my disposable income has leaped from £317/month to £455 though provides no supporting evidence. FJ claims my bills come to £1173 when the mortgage & utility direct debits set up with Think Money come to £1267.12 (I've got letters from all the utility companies and a statement from Think Money confirming that). Does anyone from Freeman Jones come on here, can they explain the complaints procedure?
Just to clarify, the variance in my % annual increase is correct. Over 3 years it's only gone up 1.3% based on my hourly rate - we had a salary freeze that continues till April 2014. The 1.7% "increase" for the last 2 years should be ignored; that's due to the prev year being artificially lower, as I was in and out of treatment and only received SSP for that duration. Bottom line is my take-home is £1302, I pay £364/month into the IVA and FJ want to increase it to £386/month. BUT my bills are £1267.12 including FJ (so when FJ increase my payments, my direct debits will come to £1284...) Hence the £25 a month to live on. BUT since my salary's NOT gone up by 5%, as I understand it I should still be only paying £317/month? That would at least give me £20-25 a week to live on. Still sounds rough to me...
Sorry to hear of your trouble , Sarah Jolly from Freeman Jones has often come on the forum , hopefully she will see your post and answer soon .
Good luck
If I am reading this right - it seems that your creditors insisted that your payments increase by 5% per annum, regardless of your actual circumstances. This is a nonsense, as it takes no account of your current position - and no wonder you are struggling. It may not be your IP's fault, as they are obliged to supervise the IVA as it is written, however it seems that a variation of terms is necessary to enable you to revert to affordable repayments.
Hi according to another advisor at FJ the amount agreed with my creditors is FIXED - at £330 per month, so (a) why have I been paying more than that for over a year - and why on earth do they want to increase it to £384? That would mean I'd overpay!!!
I am sorry you’re struggling with your payment and for the worry this is causing you.
An IVA payment is always based on affordability and we clearly need to look at your income and expenditure again as you shouldn’t be struggling like this.
I am just in the process of looking into this for you and we will be in touch today to get this resolved.
Thank you
Sarah Jolly
Sarah Jolly IMA CMAP - A member of the IVA team at Freeman Jones
Hi cstaddon38 - glad to see Sarah is on the case for you as this sounds an awful position for you to be in - no-one should ever need to borrow for any normal living costs if a budget is set correctly. I am sure they will be able to rectify this for you once the I&E is looked at again.
Regards, Tina Shortland, Debt Advisory Manager for Melanie Giles at Debt Advice TV.
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