www.iva.co.uk

Hello
I recently saw a posting regarding Clearstart and that they may cease trading and become part of their sister company i think Debt Free Direct? Can someone explain what impact this would have as i currently have an iva with Clearstart, but have heard nothing from them as yet. Its started to worry me already!! This is my first year into an iva and after the inital relief i am finding the whole IVA process difficult.

If that is the case, your IVA would simply be transferred over with no changes. Theres a lot of that going on with different IVA companies but its nothing to stress about.

Hi Sue,

Apparently apart from a change of name and address of your IP, you shouldn't notice any difference.

I too am with Clearstart and am also a bit fed up with them. Hopefully DFD will turn out to be a better run firm?

Hi Dave B
Is this your first year? Have you had a review yet?
Sometimes i feel i panicked and jumped straight in without looking around first. If only i had found this site prior to my iva!

Received a letter yesterday saying that our current IVA provider is now part of The Debt People.
We continue to have the same supervisor and the letter goes on to say that this does not affect your voluntary arrangements in any way and we should continue to make payments as per our plan.

The letter was the first we knew about it.

What facinates me about clearstart being taken over by debt free direct(DFD) was that DFD were the first people i got in touch with when i first applied for an IVA, after DFD done all their research on me they told me that i would'nt qualify for an IVA & would be better off going bankrupt, but as a last resource i contacted clearstart & they went through exactly the same research & accepted that i would qualify for an IVA in which was accepted last year by my creditors.
So with DFD taking over i'm not very positive about them taking over clearstart.

Hi Sue I think I saw Melanie posting that comment regarding the possibility of Clearstart cease trading and being taken over by Debt Free Direct. I've been with Clearstart for approx 1 and a 1/2 years, and they have been okay so far (only ever hear from them at review time). I'm a little concerned about the possibility of DFD looking after my IVA now as I have heard some horror stories about them. I hope I'm wrong!

Hi Sue,

No, I am into my second year now. I had my review, and it turned into a bit of a farce because when I started my IVA I was an apprentice on rubbish wages (hence the debts) then by the time my review was due my wages had nearly doubled, but so had my bills living costs. Clearstart weren't interested in this and tried to more than double my contributions! Also, the woman I spoke to on the phone couldn't speak very good english[:(!] and was having trouble understanding the situation, she just kept repeating "but you earn more money!" I was pulling my hair out. Eventually I wrote a letter and was very patronising in the way I set out my expenditure for them to understand,[^] but they seemed to get the message.

To NotSoBrightSpark - which IP firm are you with now?

To anyone worried about the Clearstart/DFD issue - don't be. This is an internal rearrangement within the group and is very unlikely to affect individual cases.

Hi Dave B -

Wow - your bills and living expenses doubled in a year? Thats pretty amazing!!! Can you elaborate??? I think if your salary has doubled you could reasonably expect a mega increase in IVA Payments. Or have I missed something?

I too have an IVA with Clearstart and its made my life happier. Its the first payment which comes out of my salary each month and its done and dusted.. Why shouldnt I be worried that ClearStart have ceased trading and changed ownership ?
My life is for the first time is calm and settled.. the idea of changes to my IVA is scary.

Hi Melanie,

Our IVA was set up with Debt Shave Limited which as of our letter dated 31 March is now part of The Debt People Limited.

The letter says nothing has changed apart from the contact details.

May I just add (because I've only just found out) that our case worker has now changed,although our supervisor remains the same.I'm not sure if this will affect us in any way.

[:)]Still smilin'.

Hi

I know both debtshave and the Debt People, whom I understand Stephen Quinn has just joined.

Other than a change of address I shouldn't imagine you'll see much of a difference.

Ian

Hi Ian,

Stephen Quinn is our supervisor.I have spoken with him in the past but he wasn't in charge of our case.Debt Shave and our case worker have been very helpful with us.Correspondence times have been good and they have been polite and courteous at all times.

I haven't spoken with our new case worker yet.I hope they are experienced because as you can see from my previous posts,our case is quite (and could get more) complex.

I'm still unsure of the best way forward and really need to speak to them as soon as possible [;)]

Generally you have 2 types of IP - those that will speak to the clients and those that won't. The good thing is you have had no problem speaking to him in the past. I can't see things changing too much so wouldn't worry.

Ian