iva with money group

[cornflake]

hi im really sorry to ask this but am rather concerned abt the whole process of iva, has anyone dealt with the money group at all, my husband and i have agreed over the phone to go ahead with a iva, and someone else on another forum has told me that they are not insolvency practicioners..im getting into such a state over it all. we have debts via loans and credit cards amounting to 40k, have been told by money group a proposal iva would be £240, we have not defaulted on any payments to creditors but we r only makin the minimum payment.
we have sent off all our financial details and signed a client authority for them to deal with our creditors.

any advice greatly appreciated

[Michael Peoples]

Hi Cornflake and welcome to the Froum.
If you have debts of £40k and a surplus of £240 an IVA does sound like a good option for you. Your proposal should be drafted relatively quickly and be sent to you for signing.

Many firms do not charge up front fees and effectively work 'no win no fee' so if you are unsure about the Money Group you could take a second opinion and go directly to an Insolvency Practitioner. If you have been asked for money up front do not pay anything until you are sure of what you are getting. For example, if these people are not insolvency practitioners make sure you get your fees back if your case is rejected.

[St75]

Hi Cornflake and welcome to the Forum.

I hadn't heard of the Money Group until I read your post, so I searched online. On their website they seem as if they are IPs (but I may stand to be corrected)

I would advise checking out another couple of companies on www.iva.com before signing up with a company. You need to feel comfortable with the company you are going to use, as you will likely have a five year relationship with them.

The form of authority you have already signed won't tie you to the Money Group if you want to go with a different company instead, so long as you haven't signed a contract with them.

[cornflake]

oh michael, thank you for your reply. we have been asked for fees upfront which my husband has paid.. this is for £60 weekly and is to cover their costs of setting it all up apparently, and is due weekly for the first 8 weeks as their initial fee. from then all other fees will be recovered from any approved iva. i am concerned now as we have sent off all our sensitive information. i have sent them an email today outlining my concerns and am awaiting a reply as to wether they are insolvency practitioners or who is with in their group,and what their terms and conditions are of cancelling. i do feel that we have maybe jumped into this rather blindly, i do think that an IVA is the road forward for us just dont want to get taken for a ride on route to it

[Michael Peoples]

If they are insolvency practitioners they will be paid from the contributions you make to your IVA. It sounds more likely they are a firm of introducers and will pass your details on to an IP when they have collected their fee.

Introducer firms provide a good service but make sure you know what you are paying for and what protection you have. Your information should be returned to you if you do cancel as most agreements for any service have a 'cooling off' period.

You could still take other opinions to see if the original advice was correct and go with whatever firm makes you the most comfortable.

[cornflake]

thank you michael once again. i have just come off the phone to them and theyare as you say introducers not the ip.. theip is harrington brooks who i have just googled and have read very mixed reviews.. i am not happy about this as we believed it would all be handled inhouse, where would i be without forums and ppl who are so helpful. we are i think going to cancel this . i doubt we will see any of our money back although i did ask about it and she said it depends on the work done..but as she admitted to me she hasnt even looked at it yet. have just rung my husband and he is going to speak to them and get it sorted hopefully. thank you so much for all yr help. we shall take heed of all the advice on this forum and take control of our finances xx

[FluffyFish28]

hi im really sorry to ask this but am rather concerned abt the whole process of iva, has anyone dealt with the money group at all, my husband and i have agreed over the phone to go ahead with a iva, and someone else on another forum has told me that they are not insolvency practicioners..im getting into such a state over it all. we have debts via loans and credit cards amounting to 40k, have been told by money group a proposal iva would be £240, we have not defaulted on any payments to creditors but we r only makin the minimum payment.
we have sent off all our financial details and signed a client authority for them to deal with our creditors.

any advice greatly appreciated

[FluffyFish28]

Hello, I have recently joined the money goup and have been having continuous problems with them!!!! I am begging to think they are frudulant!! in less than a month they have taken £270 out of my bank using my debit card details. This is more then was originally argreed! I to agreed over the phone. I have gone to my bank to try and block the payments they have been taking from my account but have to provide two letters/emails I have sent to this company saying i do not want them taking anymore money out of my account before the bank can do any thing about it. I am a single working mum on a low income and they have left me with nothing I havent even been able to by food for 3weeks because of this! They have also gone against their own contract!!! which makes it void so have a read through your as it means you can take legal action! as long as they are ligit!!! i have been trying to contact them and have had no joy. This is such a worry as I do not know whether I will have money in my account from one day to the next!! how can a company take payments out of your bank with out setting up direct debits? Does anyone no if the money group is a ligit company?????

[kallis3]

Hi and welcome.

They are a legitimate company and are licensed.

They will be what is known as a 'packager', they will charge you for doing the initial legwork for an IVA and then send your details to an IP.

If you have provided them with debit card details then they can take money from your account. What you can do is to report your card lost so your bank will replace it and they cannot take any more money from it.

If you are looking at an IVA then please do speak to some other companies. Either click on the 'Ask a question' link on the left hand side of the page and contact one of the experts who post on here, or visit the comparison site www.iva.com for a list of companies and reviews and give one or two a ring for some free advice.

There are plenty out there who will not charge upfront fees.

I'd have nothing else to do with this company to be honest.

[Michael Peoples]

If you want to stop the payments it might be worth cancelling your card with the bank. You can then order a new one but at least nothing else can be taken from the current one.

You should try and go through some complaints procedure and get to speak to someone senior. If this is not possible threaten to call Trading Standards and the Office of Fair Trading. This should make someone sit up and take notice.

Finally you could seek some free advice from an IP firm and be very wary about giving out your debit card details in the future. Hopefully everything works out.