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Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 4:37 pm
by k_m
Hi, I am presently going trying to get an IVA with my creditors. My meeting is scheduled for the 4th of June, I have been paying into my IVA since May. I have just sent in my proposal and on closer inspection it revealed that the payments we have made willnot count towards our IVA and we willstart paying into it a month after agreement from our creditors. This means we will effectively pay up to 65 months providing the creditors agree. Is this correct? We were told it would be 60 payments, we are with Synergi.
Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 4:50 pm
by aguise
Hi Km
I am sorry to say that the opinion of synergi on this site is not a good one they have done the same to others, taken a long time preparing the proposal and taking payments during that time, which they will not return should it fail. Tell us a bit more about your offer, who your creditors are and how much you owe and others will be along to advise. I am sure you are going to get similar replies. Read some of the posts about synergi ( put it into the search and it will bring them up.
Help will be at hand from all.)
Ang
Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 4:53 pm
by scaredkez
hi KM i am one of those that was stung by synergi read my very first blog save me posting it all here, they knew full well that my offer was not going to be accepted because of Blackhorse debt, i lost 1568 to them in up front payments which i was told would go towards my iva, did you go through debt councillors?
please tell us more of your proposal, don't want to scare you want to save you from their clutches more than anything
kerri
Please view my blog at:
http://scaredkez.blogs.iva.co.uk/
Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 4:56 pm
by Skippy
Hi km and welcome to the forum. As soon as I saw the header of your post I was worried as Synergi don't have a very good reputation on this site. Several people have had IVAs with them which have failed as they have tried to push the payments up to unaffordable levels - read Scaredkez and Coco's blogs.
Please can you clarify one thing for me - your creditors meeting is on 4th June, and you say that you have been paying since May, so I don't understand where the 65 payments come from.
Sadly any money you have paid to Synergi goes to them, if the IVA is accepted your creditors won't see a penny, and if it is rejected you won't get any back.
All I can say to you is make sure that you are comfortable with what you are paying, and please don't let Synergi bully you into agreeing to something you can't afford.
I'm sorry if I sound negative or I've worried you, but I would rather you went into this with your eyes open.
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is the present - a gift to make the most of.
View my blog at
http://skippy13.blogs.iva.co.uk/
Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 5:04 pm
by DebtDummy
hello k_m, so they told you one thing and wrote another?
Sin-ergi,has been taking your payments for their services NOT
for the IVA payments. You probably will pay 60 months into an IVA if accepted. However, Sin-ergi should have elaborated that fact to you.
What gets me is, is how is Sin-ergi able to razzle-dazzle and double-talk the public for so long? I mean the complaints from posters have been for sometime now and Sin-ergi just keeps on functioning in the usual manner.
Take care.
All I have left is my humour.

Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 5:19 pm
by freelili
I so agree DD, if this was a Doctor or a shop taking money off people and NOT providing a suitable service something would be done. Their slimy tentacles are able to reach into your life and wallet in double quick time and in full view of everyone. Where does it go?, what incentive do they have to propose realistic efforts for their customers or should I say victims in a realistic time scale???? We know of two complaints, how many more are there out there??? OK so we are responsible for our debts and if we hadnt/didnt we wouldnt need to look for a solution. Synergi are not offering any solutions they are cashing in, it seems.
I am sorry that you were passed to this company I hope that you will be OK, I really do. Good luck
LILY
I believe that angels breathe and love will live on and never leave. I cherish all you gave me everyday.
Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 7:02 pm
by MelanieGiles
If you have paid your IP money in advance of the IVA proposals being submitted to creditors, this must be disclosed as "cash in hand". Depending upon the wording of the proposals, it is likely that creditors will expect to see that handed over together with 60 further monthly payments.
What did the IP say that you were paying the money for? Most IP's do not take monthly payments up front from clients.
Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.
For further details contact me at
http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at:
http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk
Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 7:52 pm
by jamesfalla
k_m
I would definitly speak to Synergi and get a straight answer from them. If the payments you are making before your IVA is accepted are not going to be part of the IVA, then at the very least, you should have agreement from Synergy that they will be refunded in full if the IVA is rejected.
James Falla
Expert in IVA, Bankruptcy and informal Debt Management solutions for over 10 years.
For more information visit
www.jamesfalla.com and visit my blog at:
http://jamesfalla.blogs.iva.co.uk
Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 11:14 pm
by RedDevil
Hi k-m, I am dealing with Synergi and my IVA was rejected earlier this week. I was offering 34p in the pound via a monthly payment of approx £235 and an equity release in year 5 of around £21.5k. My unsecured debt is approx 78k. My wife has about £15.7k of unsecured debt and I was only trying to protect her equity of an indentical amount however some creditors didn't like it. She has now decided to come into the IVA in order to make more disposable income available and her equity. From the Chairman's report some creditors are just Ba*****ds to deal with. If I go for BR the creditors will be lucky to get 20p in the pound! In my oppinion creditor voting should be abolished and replaced by some form of a government regulated body. Good luck and I wish you well with your creditors meeting.
Al
Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 11:27 pm
by MelanieGiles
I don't strictly agree with that Red Devil, I but you are going through a nasty experience with creditors who obviously do not like your proposals.
Are you going to represent them, or just put forward some modifications to see if you can tempt them to change their mind? Get your IP to find out exactly what the creditors did not like, and then try and address this. You can have a 14 day adjournment to consider putting revised proposals forward rather than just throwing in the towel - but of course your own IP ought to be advising you along these lines.
Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.
For further details contact me at
http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at:
http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk
Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 11:45 pm
by RedDevil
Hi Melanie thanks for your comments. They suggested to redraft and include my wifes debts in order to raise the disposable income and double the equity figure. I have sent you an email.
Al
Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 11:55 pm
by MelanieGiles
Thanks Al
I have responded to your e-mail and have a cunning plan!!!
Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.
For further details contact me at
http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at:
http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk
Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 8:31 am
by k_m
Hi,
Thank you all for your advice, I appreciate it and feel less alone during what id turning out to be a horribe experiene.
I am so confused we were so happy to get our proposal finally. And now it seems Synergi have had us. Between myself and my partner we owe a total of £83k this includes all the interest we would have incurred had we carried on. Synergi advised me in January we would make 60 payments and would need to start paying this in Feb so we would start paying into our IVA so we did. It is now May and I have Mercer on the phone last night advising that the debt collectors would be coming to our home now.
I was advised last November by Debt Councillors to stop paying our creditors which we did and that it would take 4-6 weeks for our IVA to go through. What are our options now.Hearing what everyone says about Synergi, they sound horrendous, I wish I'd found this forum sooner.
I rang synergi yesterday and they said it would be up to our creditor if the payments we have made would count towards out 60 payments or not...any more advice??
scaredkez wrote:
hi KM i am one of those that was stung by synergi read my very first blog save me posting it all here, they knew full well that my offer was not going to be accepted because of Blackhorse debt, i lost 1568 to them in up front payments which i was told would go towards my iva, did you go through debt councillors?
please tell us more of your proposal, don't want to scare you want to save you from their clutches more than anything
kerri
Please view my blog at: http://scaredkez.blogs.iva.co.uk/
Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 8:51 am
by ivoriva
Well, Im not sure about about synergi advice, though creditors might make a modification to include the payments you have made to synergi I guess. If the proposal is successful, synergi probably wont mind putting the money forward to the creditors. But if not, they have stung you out of lots of money that you'll never get back. So either way, they get paid and only you can lose out. Cos they work in this way, it seems they have little incentive to make good proposals and get them accepted.
As for mercers, they may send someone on a home visit but dont get confused for this being baliff's or anyone with even the slightest power! You have the right to tell them to get off your property if they ever did turn up. Do not let them in and do not speak to them other than tell them to leave or you'll call the police. If mercers keep insisting this will happen then say you'll only speak to them in writing if a Debt Collector turns up and will stop talking to them on the phone altogether. Then ask for their address and write them a letter to say you are only willing to communicate in writing. If you are employed and they have been calling at work say you will lose your job if this continues and they must not call there anymore. But I suspect they are just trying to scare you into a payment, which is normal procedure.
Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 11:19 am
by Adam Davies
Hi
My feeling is that if your IVA is approved then you will make 60 payments from the date it is approved,if it is refused then you will lose all the money paid in.Synergi have done the same to many on this forum and I doubt if your case will be any different.
I hope I,m wrong.
regards
Andy Davie
IVA.co.uk Spokesperson and site manager
(aka Neverending)
Please check out my blog:
http://andydavie.blogs.iva.co.uk
View my profile here:
http://www.iva.co.uk/andy_davie_profile.asp