New member

[Nellie]

This is my first attempt at posting on this site although I have been viewing the site for more than 3 months now. My husband and I are hoping to be granted a joint IVA and we started the ball rolling in September/October 09. We have appointed Melanie Giles's company after reading so much good feed back on this site and are sure that we must be in good hands. After our initial telephone conversations with Tina we were then passed on to Garth and have been informed that Susan will be our IP.All our documentation was sent off to them at the beginning of December but we are still awaiting a proposal.
We have written to all our creditors at least 3 or 4 times now but we are still getting phone calls and the letters are getting more threatening. One today from Mercers saying that they are going to send a debt collector to the house. Has any else actually had a debt collector come to their house? I am now terrified and wondered if anyone else has waited so long to receive their proposal? I feel our creditors are going to get fed up with waiting and fear what is going to happen. [?]

[Max]

First, so pleased you are with Melanie - you are in the safest possible hands; we had no end of hastle from Mercers - they threatened all sorts of dire things - in the end I took my macaw to the phone and he just screached down the line. Very easier said than done but try to ignore them- if they do send a collector just explain what you have done re Melanie - you will find the collectors polite and they will go away but it will not, I regret, stop Mercers. They are bullies. Do your best to ignore them. Melanie works very quickly so it will soon be over. Best of luck to you

[kallis3]

Hello Nellie and welcome to the forum.

I am surprised that you have been having trouble with communication with Melanie - she and her team have an excellent reputation both on and off the forum, and she will be upset to know that you have had problems.

I am sure she will pick up on this thread later.

Mercers were one of my worst creditors and I was always being threatened with debt collectors. Whilst they do sometimes send them round, you do not have to speak to them, and you don't have to pay them anything.

Don't worry, Mel will be in touch.

[Nellie]

Thank you Max & Kallis3 for your replies I am probably just being impatient but I just want it to be over. This has seemed like the longest 3 months of my life!It has been reassuring to view this forum and to find out how you have all coped with all your various situations. I am snowed in today and am just dwelling on matters!
My husband is self-employed but has also taken on a part-time job to help & I was working part-time up to Christmas & am waiting to see if I am going to be offered a permanant job. We understood that we would have a meeting with our IP as my husband is self-employed but have ben told that this now would not be necessary, so we really don't know what the situation is. I know with Christmas in the middle hasn't helped matters but just hope that things will move on quickly now.My husband is managing with the situation much better than I am, but I feel better for taking the plunge and writing on this forum, knowing that there are other people out there dealing with the same problems.

[Max]

You just put your trust in Melanie - she will sort it for you - have no fear of that - just to put your mind at rest I was told by several companies that I would never get an IVA - Melanie got a very difficult and "odd" one through at the first attempt. You could do no better than Melanie - you believe that!

[Nellie]

Thanks Max!

[kallis3]

Give the company a ring tomorrow. I know they have been busy lately but you obviously could do with knowing what is happening.

[Shining]

Hi Nellie and welcome to the forum, you've certainly chosen a good IP, Melanie is my IP and comes highly recommended on forum. All the best.

[Skippy]

You're in good hands with Melanie Nellie, and I'm sure she'll be in touch soon x

[MelanieGiles]

Sorry for my delay in picking up this thread, and Nellie I cannot identify you from your forum name so could you please e-mail me directly and I will look into the issues you have raised.

If we have a complete set of documents now from you, there is no reason why the IVA proposal cannot be prepared but I would rather deal with this issue directly now.

[Nellie]

Many thanks Melanie. Just had a call from Garth and he is ringing us next Monday to go through figures with a view to speaking to Susan on the Tuesday so hopefully we should have a proposal soon after that!

[casiquebrado]

Hi Nellie,
Like everyone else says , creditors/collectors will use all kinds of tactics, it's how they work sometimes.
Just try to remain calm , if it gets bad , unplug the phone for a while.
You are in very safe hands with Mel and team.
Good luck

[kallis3]

It's moving forward then Nellie. Hopefully the proposal will be with you soon.

Try and rise above the bullying tactics used by the call centres (and that is all they are). They have no influence over your IVA proposal, regardless of what they say.

[MelanieGiles]

It is fair to say that there has been a slight delay with your case processing due to Xmas leave and the inclement weather we had here prior to, and beyond the break - we are still operating on skeleton manning unfortunately - but I am glad to see that progress is being made and I will be speaking to you myself next week to.

[Cath]

Nellie, hope it all goes well for you. I too am self-employed and had a personal meeting with Melanie prior to our IVA proposal being sent to creditors.

Mercers are a nightmare but we got through it. If you don't feel like answering the calls, don't answer them. They never sent doorstep collectors to us even though they threatened to. They were both one of mine and hubbys creditors.....strange but when he spoke to them with his strong Glaswegian accent they put him on 30 day hold, when I spoke to them I got 7 days, that was when we had a creditor meeting date!

It will pass and I know that it is the most draining 3 or 4 months you will ever go through but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Hold tight, your creditor meeting will be here before you know it. xxx