Your IVA, if it was with Synergi, is perfectly safe. Cleardebt are an excellent company and they will be in touch with you. Just continue to make your payments as normal.
As you can appreciate,Synergi had a large client database and it will take time for everyone to be informed.
These companies such as Bankruptcy 365 are just trawling the Insolvency Register looking for Synergi clients to target.
Ignore them - they are just out to make money from you, nothing else. Carry on with your IVA, it is perfectly safe.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
We are 4 years into our IVA with Synergi and have just received a letter ourselves from Bankruptcy 365. We had no idea this had happened!! Thought it was odd that we hadn't heard from them for a while.
I have also started receiving letters from my debtors demanding money!!
Ignore bankruptcy365, they are a money making organisation, nothing more.
You can ignore any letters from creditors. Your IVA is still running.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
I can only agree with Jan. Do not do anything rash and continue to make your payments. Your IVAs are safe as is your money and there is nothing to be worried about. There are vultures out there circling and trying to panic people into cancelling perfectly good IVAs whereas you are still secure and Cleardebt are a highly reputable firm of IPs.
If creditors have sent letters it is more likely to be defaults as a result of the change in legislation and is only a coincidence. If in any doubt contact Cleardebt or the regulatory bodies if you do not believe them or us but do not listen to dodgy companies who will leave you in a much worse position.
I have spoken myself to a Neil this morning, although I appreciate that that may not be you. I can only reiterate what the others have said, your IVA's are safe and will carry on as normal.
As for UK Restart and bankruptcy 365, there is another thread running on that, but I do believe that once they got wind of Synergi's troubles they mailshotted every Synergi client they could, and some more than once I believe. That should tell you all you need to know in itself.
If anyone has any concerns whatsoever then do not hesitate to e mail me personally, my e mail address in in the expert profiles on the left, and I will follow every enquiry up as speedily and efficiently as I can.
Regards.
Cert DR
23+ years in debt advice
I do not post for anyone other than myself
I have had a call back from Synergi and they assure me there is nothing to worry about. I was just in blind panic this morning when i read the letter, i normaly just bin them as i have had a few in the past.
Feel a bit better now the panic is over. These companies that do this should be made to pay for what they are doing. If they want to attack Synergi or any other IP company do not use the clients to do this, it was a scary situation that could have been avoided.
You are lucky that you did not listen to this company and googled the roght thing. Had you stopped paying these companies will charge you £1,000 plus the bankruptcy fees to 'assist' you in going bankrupt. This could take you up to six months to pay in advance of the petition date and you then could have had an income payments order for the next three years.
For a man with 18 months to go in their IVA that would have been some advice! Glad you feel better and hopefully you will have a more relaxing weekend.
When is the OFT going to rid us of these vultures? There is no place for this type of service in my eyes - the Insolvency Service have produced perfectly good guidelines with regard to bankruptcy proceedings, insolvency practitioners and solicitors will also give guidance if necessary, and at the end of the day if someone genuinely cannot cope with a very simple application, the Citizen's Advice Bureau provide an excellent service free of charge.
It is incredible to see such an industry grow around such an opportune way of conning people out of money that they really do not have to spend.
I have just recieved a letter from the forementioned "Bankruptcy365" and having read through the threads, I am unsure as to what is actually being confirmed here with regards to Synergi. I have tried the number we have & it just rings off.
We had our annual review back in August and I have spoken to Synergi since (Mid Oct) which gives me some confidence that they were still actually doing something since this thread was started. Like others we have had obscure letters from other debt management companies more interested in taking money from those in difficult circumstances rather than giving real & proper advice.
If Melanie is still linked to this thread - perhaps she could be kind enough to confirm the current status of Synergi given she is an IP herself. Whilst I have no intention of stopping my payments (as this is a legal agreement made through court) - I want to be sure my money is going to be administered in agreement with my IVA.
Finally, admist all the stress that this type of letter puts upon IVA clients - I am still managing to crack a little smile at the fact that if Synergi has gone into administration - how much irony does that put out. Perhaps they could get in touch, I feel well placed to advice them on what they will need to do. They can start with sending me their financials
I had my review with Syngeri in November and my ip'S are Paul Gordon-Saker and S Watts. I only have 5 payments to go so although concerned I am still paying as at least I have the bank statements to prove I have paid if there are any problems. I haven't heard anything from anyone not even the sharks that like to try to feed on us, possibly because I have so few payments to go.
Jan
Nothing you can buy feels as good as not being in debt.
I am an IP, who used to post on the forum relularly a few years ago, and perhaps I can help to allay the natural fears of those of you who have your IVA's with Synergi.
All IP's must hold IVA monies in trust which means that those funds are held separate from the IP companies own funds. Each IVA has its own account so that each IVA's funds can be identified separately. This requirement is rigidly monitored by our regulators and failure to comply would certainly result in the loss of your license.
The transfer of the IVA book to Cleardebt will also have included the transfer of all client monies and so, from the point of view of those Synergi clients, there should be absolutely no effect upon your IVA other than that you have a new IP and possibly new staff will be overseeing your case.
In the very, very unlikely event that these rules have not been observed and client money has been "lost", then the IP bonding scheme and proffesional indemnity should cover these losses. Effectively insurers should make good any shortfall.
I have a considerable amount of sympathy for clients who find themselves in this situation. An important factor in any succesful IVA should be the rapport and understanding that develops between the IP and his client and those people who were in IVA's with Synergi will need to build that relationship again but there is absolutely no reason to believe that Cleardebt will not do a highly professional job and will understand the concerns of their new clients.
I cannot finish without an aside. Over the last three years we have seen Accuma, Synergi, Debtmatters and a host of other large and small IVA providers cease business. The reason for this is closely linked to the signicant drop in IVA fees that creditors have demanded to the point where it is growing increasingly difficult to run an IVA company profitably. IP's have rapidly introduced efficiencies in to their practices to try to accommodate these fee levels (sometimes at the expense of their clients to whom they would prefer to offer a better service)but it is growing increasingly difficult to take on clients with low disposable incomes because of the way creditors have so closely linked fees to recoveries.
Anyway, away from that grumble, I hope that this explanation will help to reassure Synergi clients. And whatever you do don't ever be taken in by the nonsense that Bankruptcy 365, and their like, spin.
And I completely concur with your views about our fees. Creditors do want more for less - but I also think the massive advertising costs incurred by some of the larger "IVA factories", and heavy acquisition costs of some areas of their businesses, also has a significant part to play in their demise.
Excellent post Cattalus, and hopefully this will allay the fears of anyone with Synergi, or any other company which folds.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley. http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
