Hi Mel, One of the things you need to appreciate is that the vast majority of people in IVA's don't understand how the whole process works and are grateful for the IP for taking away all the pressure they were under from creditors.
They are also terrified of upsetting the apple cart and ending up back where they were. This is why so many come on the forum and ask countless questions before they do anything, the last thing they want to do is go into a complaints procedure and end up with an angry IP who has the power to make their life far harder than it is already. They want confirmation from peers that if they go down the complaints route everything will still be ok.
In my opinion IP's like GT use this fear as a way of bullying and cajoling people into signing away their original IVA's and accepting new terms and conditions.
This is why I thought making a sticky post out of Foggy's post would be a start in helping people by giving them a clear and details step by step approach, they then may have more confidence in it.
Last edited by nickjohn on Sun Sep 15, 2013 1:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Sorry - I just don't get that Nickjohn - what experience do you (or I) have of the "vast amount of people in IVAs" when we are seeing only a miniscule snapshot of that populous here on the forum.
If a client complains about me or my staff, we all take this extremely seriously and when client's tell us they don't understand aspects of how the IVA works, or the rules that they have to abide by, then we take that as a personal failure - as clearly we have failed in our duties if that happens. Thankfully, it doesn't happen that often in my own experience.
Why would a client fear an angry IP if they had to make a complaint? It should be the other way round - and IP's who give their clients a hard time if they make complaints which are upheld, do not deserve to be in practice. An IP licence is a valuable piece of paper, and it not to be taken lightly. They are hard to obtain, and precious.
I can only reiterate here the need to submit complaints through the appropriate channels. No one on this forum - no matter how good, kind or diligent we are - can resolve anyone's complaint for them.
I agree with your concept of a sticky post - like the information Foggy posted yesterday, however that it outside of my remit as a forum poster and can only be taken up with the Administrators of the forum.
From a personal perspective I would not want to raise a complaint direct with my IP. I do feel intimidated by them and they have lied to me in the past over the way my IVA operates and if it had not been for the forum and the support given I would not have stood my ground and made the IP comply with the terms of the IVA.
Whilst I appreciate the way you handle your own complaints procedure and the seriousness you put on any complaint this is not, or appears not to be, the case with the likes of GT. Ultimately when you own your own business and have a hands on pro active approach you don't want all your hard work un done. When you have a monolith like GT there is no one person to takes things personally..
Melanie if only every IP was a diligent as yours there would be no real need for most of the complaints we see in this forum.
But unfortunately with one of the industrys biggest companys the same cannot be said as is plainly obvious on this forum.
If you was a GT customer (through choice or unwillingly) you would see, hear and feel the fear they generate with thier bullying, spam phone calls constant letters where they automatically threaten breach unless you sign thier variations etc.
I went through thier entire complaint process and the overwhelming feeling was they didnt give a jot about complaints (lied about first tier complaint and ignored 2nd and 3rd) or if they was going to be reported to the regulatory body, because they know any small fine or admonishment is outweighed by the extra money they make through thier tactics.
Even if 5% of thier clientel was uhappy that could still be over a thousand people and we know only a small percentage ever get the courage to complain.
Which is why this forum and experts like yourself are a godsend to us and the infomation and support ive been given on these forums has helped me greatly.
When it comes to Grant Thornton they really dont operate with a fair, even and professional hand like most IP's do, they just too big and abuse it unfortunately.
With luck the IPA will bring them to brook over PPI spam calling, Bullied Variations etc (its even quite possible they did break the law on mine).
To all those who do help on here ...Thank you so much!!.... without your help im sure i,d be still waiting for my completition.
Last edited by viperboyz on Sun Sep 15, 2013 2:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Time to end of IVA 0 days
Time to end of GT dealing with it...CC recieved after a battle royal !!
I would be mortified if I were fined by my regulatory body - as the results of such actions are made public for all to see. IPs who pay little heed to regulatory practices must err with caution, as licences can be removed as quickly as they are granted - and with the new FCA regulations looming it is only going to get tighter from a regulatory perspective.
I can only reiterate my previous advice. If the internal complaints system has failed, then the only place to go is to the regulators. If there were numerous incidents reporting the same complaints - trust me, the regulators would take note and action.
Its good news week here at the moment, I have received a letter direct from my IP Mark Allen, He has confirmed to me in writing that my IVA is complete and congratulated me on making all my payments on time and has confirmed that my C of C should be in my possession by the end of next week. No more funds are due, I can now relax and keep the equity from my house sale.
Perhaps this is a result of me instigating the complaints procedure with the Insolvency Commission who have also been in touch. I cant discuss at the moment as I do not wish to prejudice my complaint with them. As I said in an earlier post "shake the apple tree hard enough and watch the apples fall" Looks like I hit the jackpot on my tree and my C of C has fell off for me. Here's hoping. Will update IF it arrives
Final Payment made Nov 2012 after 72 months
C of C received - 18/10/2013 - + 11 months
NOW Debt Free woo hoo
GT are still a joke
That is great news to hear, and like you say all you ever wanted was for your case to be concluded. Let's hope that very important document is with you next week.
