good, the bad and the ugly

[Cybus]

We at no stage were told how high the fees would be before & after our IVA was approved. The true cost wasn't revealed to us until a copy of the Annual Report to Creditors was sent 2 years later.The company we were stupid enough to sign to is Debt Free Direct[:(!]
We were taken in by their misleading advertisements [V]

I'm going to have to disagree with you on this particular point. You must have signed a voluntary arrangemnt proposal, that DFD would have subsequently lodged in the County Court.

Within that proposal would be a statement of affairs, which will clearly show that you are intending to introduce funds of £X. From those funds, the costs (Nominee's Fee, Supervisor's Remuneration and disbursements) £Y would be deducted. This would leave X-Y available for your creditors. It would also give a comparison of bankruptcy.

[cr15py]

If the debtor did not read it properly before signing however ......... ??

Melanie - I think you have hit the nail on the head there!!!!

[BECKY]

I agree with James in principle , there were many things I didnt understand in my iva until I found this forum , but still signed anyway. I could now say I was was misold my iva , that im left with £30 a month some months for petrol & food and its my ips fault ..BUT it isn't its mine!! I know like everyone else I was just desperate at the time and went along with the advice given but the responsibility of making sure it was the right decision was mine noone elses. I dont think james is knockin those with true horror stories about there ivas just those who regularly post about how they thought "75%" was written off but how it wasn't for them and the such like who expect it to be so easy, when it isnt.
I also dont think James meant to knock anyone who opted for bankruptcy , from reading the blogs f skippy and scared kez anyone can see that its not an easy way out and is a path no one with any other options would take.

[ianmillington]

There are a number of steps that IPs have to take to demonstrate the level of advice that has been given. Everyone does things differently. For example, I have a list of the pros and cons of each procedure which is explained to every client and the client is then asked to sign. There's always a risk that some will simply sign the form without actually reading it or they have read it but don't actually understand it. Managing that risk can be difficult at times!

It is important that anyone who enters into an IVA proposal remembers that the proposal document is a contract that is intended to be binding. We've not reached the need to put on warnings like "danger- hot when microwaved for 5 minutes" - yet- but who knows where we will be in a few years time.

Ian

[DMB42]

When I was facing massive payments for credit card bills etc, I found this forum to be a literal life saver! The forum was the one place I could be honest about the mess I'd got myself into and what was even better was that noone judged me. All my posts were met with support, advise and people's own experiences.
At the end of the day, I had to make up my own mind about the path I took and an IVA was the way I chose. I'm not saying it's easy...we all know it's not, but I still find the forum a great place to come and see how everyone is doing and still pick up useful tips.

I promised myself I wouldn't get fluffy about this but I really don't know what I would have done without this forum.

[Lisa2009]

Hubby had his IVA with DFD. His proposal was sent and there were A LOT of papers to read through and sign if he agreed.
The fees were in there and they were mentioned in more than one place.

I really cant see why this would not be added as the fees have to be agreed by the creditors....After all, its basically them that would be paying them fees as they are agreeing to write off a percentage of your debt and the fees are coming from your IVA payments.

[johnt]

When I was facing massive payments for credit card bills etc, I found this forum to be a literal life saver! The forum was the one place I could be honest about the mess I'd got myself into and what was even better was that noone judged me. All my posts were met with support, advise and people's own experiences.
At the end of the day, I had to make up my own mind about the path I took and an IVA was the way I chose. I'm not saying it's easy...we all know it's not, but I still find the forum a great place to come and see how everyone is doing and still pick up useful tips.

I promised myself I wouldn't get fluffy about this but I really don't know what I would have done without this forum.

A great post, I think you speak for all of us.

[Adam Davies]

Hi
We will continue to debate all subjects on this forum.All I ask is that we do not judge and generalise.Everyone is entitled to an opinion.
I am sure,from my limited experience,that there has been miss selling and those people that have been miss sold have a right to moan,however some people have simply entered into an IVA agreement blind[alexbe ??]and then turn 'misunderstanding' or 'no understanding' into a miss selling claim.
This forum can help explain the misunderstanding and identify a possible solution for that person.
Some other sites and forums are clearly biased,I am proud of the fact that we are not....................good debating from all will maintain this enviable stance
Regards

[james.c]

Just to agree with Beckys post, i was not knocking anybody.

I think i ranted an too much and it got mis read.

Basically an IVA is a good thing, its hard and worthwhiles and i ahd just read some posts that had annoyed me, because i felt that an IVA like may people got me out of a black hole and I hate to see it been knocked.

I think i have opened up a can of worms which i did not intend to. And their is opionins which is a good thing, but i started this thread and think this thread ought to end now.

But I am very sorry if i offended any one.

[MelanieGiles]

You have not opened up a can of worms - but started off a very lively debate which has brought many views to the table James. I am sure that no-one was offended by your comments. You are a well respected member of the iva.co.uk community, and your input is valuable. You have your views and have the moral courage to share those with others, knowing that they may not always be well received. That is the spirit of this community, and long may it last.

[OPTIMIST12]

I would just like to say to james - topics like this are great - and well done for starting it. There is no harm in a healthy difference of opinion - but where I think iva.co.uk scores above other sites is that the resulting debate is (99.9999% of the time!!!) always conducted in a polite and restrained manner.

[alexbe1971]

I am still very confused as we cannot find any mention of what the fees are for our IVA with DFD on the contract that we have only that there fees to be paid?
Also Debt Free Direct told us that our payments would reduce after 2 years but they haven't if anything they have gone up.
The reason that I am beginning to dislike DFD a lot is that from various other sites which include Martin Lewis's I have read the horror stories that people have had with them & that they are one of the worst rated companies on various review sites.
We still think that we have not been told the whole truth before we entered into our IVA[V]

[MelanieGiles]

If you feel that you have grounds for a complaint, I am sure that they have an internal complaints procedure you could follow.

Ian Millington knows a lot of IPs in the North West - perhaps he could help you out?

[alexbe1971]

Oh also don't get me wrong as there are some very good IVA companies around who have better communication with their clients with more reasonable fees[:)]. It's just that I think we were taken in by their advertising campaign which even the ASA thought was mis-leading.
We now wish that we had done more researching of companies & hadn't rushed into it[V]

[alexbe1971]

Thank you Melanie for you help[:)]