iva-synergi

[scaredkez]

I have applied for an iva 3 months ago through debt councillors who passed my case over to synergi, i have debts joint with husband of £60000, all the paperwork is in an and I am waiting for the proposal and the creditors meeting, this is now into the third month i have had to pay £1066 up front and this month will be £234 is tis normal even before the iva starts, they did day that this will go towards the iva should it be accepted i am scared in case it isn't as they are worried that the pence in the £ for northern rock isn't enough and they have the majority of the vote as we owe them £30000.
i am really making myself ill with all this and the telephone calls start at 8am till 9pm and some are automated on the hour from halifax.everytime i phone my ip they say there is a back log and they are working through it is this normal? has any one else had dealings with synergi if so how did you get on?
thanks to all who reply

[spenmotherhen]

Hi Scaredkez
Welcome to the forum!! you will find loads of experience and help on here from people who are or have been in the same poition as yourself, aswell as expert help so there is always an answer for any questions you may have.
Im not sure about Synergi, as I am with a different company. I did however have a similar experience to you where we paid money up front before the IVA was in place. It took 3 months for ours to be completed so hopefully yours shouldn't be too long now, it is a slow process but at least it is almost complete and once it is in place you will feel a huge relief. We had 26k with Northern Rock and we were also concerned that they would reject the IVA, they didn't however and everything is ok. When you get the phone calls just explain that you are in the process of setting up an IVA, creditors will keep contacting you in hope you will pay them some money. They should be aware by this stage of your IVA that you are setting up your IVA proposal. Once it is in place these calls and letters will stop as it is illegal for them to hasstle you then. Try to keep positive and it will soon be sorted. Good luck Spenmotherhen

[scaredkez]

thanks spenmotherhen for the advice its just very scary at the moment not knowing which way it is going to go, i have read through lots of the posts here and they all seem quite positive, i just wish it had been accepted and was up and running scaredkez

[Dominic]

the company i am with have not charged upfront fees

[ray72]

hi scaredkez, i know the feeling you are going through, but hang in their, as it will come good, the people on here know what they are talking about, they were their to help me, i got loads of calls from my creditors, in the end i said to them, "i spoke to someone from your company last night, and i will tell you the same i am entering an iva, and then gave them the phone number and reference number of my ip, and told them to phone him, they soon stopped,

[neverending]

Hi
As Ray states you may as well hang in there.My concern is what happens to your money if your IVA is not agreed ?? My earlier posts will confirm that I am against monthly payments before the IVA is agreed ,simply because your IP has no real incentive to secure your IVA as they are in a win win situation[THEY WILL PROBABLY KEEP ALL YOUR MONEY IF IT IS NOT APPROVED TO COVER THEIR COSTS)
For people contemplating an IVA DO NOT start paying until your IVA has been rubber stamped in the county court.Ask your IP at the outset if they will want payments before the IVA has been agreed and if they do move to a different IP.

[juditka]

We are with Synergi as well. I don't mean to disappoint anyone, but it took over a year to complete the IVA. I think they might be the slowest company to deal with + they charge a lot of money. Now our IVA is set up and we are paying a lot of money per month. Me and my husband have about £60000 in unsecured debts and we approached the Debt Counsellors as well, who transferred our case to Synergi. They told us we wud be paying around £370 per month. Unfortunately our biggest creditor HFC has rejected our offer and we are now paying £660 per month to keep them happy. If I could turn back time I would go with Payplan or one of the other low cost company. Unfortunately it was too late for us to change companies as my hubby did not want to start the procedure all over again.

[scaredkez]

thanks everyone for the replies, i am a bit worried if it gets rejected and they keep the money obviously as we didn't have it to pay in the beginning or wouldn't have been in the mess we are in but we struggled to pay it, the debt councillors don't inform you of any upfront fees, as we went to them for advice we thought we were getting the best advice at the time it wasn't until I started to look on the net that i realised thre were more companies and then found this forum , i hope it doesn't take 12 months as the wait is the worst feeling at present, i have spoke to many of my creditors who ring on the hour and repeat to them that nothing has changed within the last hour i gave them ip name and phone number but they said they are not allowed to contact them as a third party that the ip has to initiate contact with them to discuss the debt.
we were told initially our payments would be in the region of £450 per month then it went to £533 and now they say it will probably be £450 if northern rock agree to the pence in the £ as this has not been set yet i don't know what they are offering until my propsal comes.[V]

[juditka]

Don't worry about Synergi, because we've been paying for the IVA upfront(for 12 months), they said we've only got 48 months left to complete. [:D]

[ray72]

hi scaredkez, you know i must be the lucky one, i was with a debt management company, who then told me about the iva, they put me in touch with the ip, who got me my iva, it took 3 months but i was still making payments up front towards my iva, this was held by the debt management company who are going to pass it to my ip. then i will pay him direct.it is all a worry and it will sort itself out, trust in people and the info; they give you. all the best to you

[Perfectly worried]

Hi All

After reading all your replies i must admit i am a little worried. I am too with synergi, and it has now been nearly two months and they are only just writing to the creditors to get up to date balances. They told me that with debts of £28,000 plus i would be paying £358.00 a month - but as of yet they have not sent me a standing order form - The main thing that is worring me is that i suffer from Endometriosis and I.B.S and asthma and they have asked for me to produce bank statements and copies of all my perscriptions that i have had for Pain killers etc, as this amount was originally calculated in my Declaration sheet..... along with cost for regular 6 monthly dental check up's? I need the painkillers regular to be able to live a normal life and be able to get up for work? and the inhalers are a live saver?( but i have not saved previous prescription sheets) surely my health or medical records have got nothing to do with them or my creditors... Should i have to justify why i need the prescriptions and how many i have to buy? - NOT just that but for someone to dictate when i can buy them....

I AM REALLY Worried that my illness will go against me because some months i spend nothing and other months i could spend on average £25.00 alone on a few prescription items.... I am getting to the end of my teather will all the evidence i am having to produce along with the Late night calls from creditors (telling them the same thing all the time and they never seem to up date their systems or relay the information to other staff?...... CAN ANYONE PLEASE provide some advise - this is causing me even more stress than i can take?

[neverending]

Hi
I am concerned at this company synergi,both for the lengh of time that they take and for the information that they ask for.
Have you paid any money to them yet ? if not it may well pay to ask for a second opinion from a different company and I would suggest one on this site.
As your costs regarding your illness are true/accurate then just work out the average and list it on your monthly expenditure.A signed letter from you explaining your need for medication should be all thats needed.After all £25 per month is not excessive and it is an essential cost.
Be on the back of your IP on a weekly basis,try to deal with your initial contact rather than an assistant.Remember this company or any other will earn very well from arranging and managing your IVA,THEY ARE NOT DOING YOU A FAVOUR.
Regards

[Perfectly worried]

Hi Neverending - No i havent paid them any money yet that has been sitting in my account for over a month and half - to be honest i was tempted to spend it on xmas presents (that's how fed up i am getting). They havent even sent me a standing order form for the payments as i do not have a chq book. When i first did my monthly expenditure for Debt Councillors I put on there that i spend an average up to £65 over 2/3 months on dental bills and prescriptions and submitted it with a letter stating why this was so( explained my illnesses etc)I even told them they names of the medication i take.... If i sought advise from else where would i be legally binded to use synergi...

Thankyou

[neverending]

Unless you have signed a contract then you are free to move.You need to weigh up the fact that you will have to start again.It will be no problem just seeking a second opinion,just give all the facts and see what they say.
Good luck

[scaredkez]

I am still no further on with synergi telephoned them again yesterday as halifax are telephoning every hour and are very insistent that i make a token payment, again synergi told me there is a back log and although my case is on the top of the file they don't know when it will be proposed hopefully by the end of next week which is what they told me last week, i aslo informed them that another creditor black horse telephoned my work yesterday asking to speak to me, i am unable to discuss anything in work as i work for a nhs practice, they telephoned me at home this mornin and told me the process is taking too long and they are now going to progress with my case and go for a ccj which they said would go through my work is this righ? i have tried to contact synergi this morning as i am totally stressed out i think my kids are realising something is going on as i am getting so upset, i just don't know what to do i am getting really frightened now and making myself sick with it all.
scaredkez