I have heard of them and I dont remember any bad press. I honestly cannot remember bad things about them. Even so I wouldnt be happy paying months of upfront fees with no answers, its a tough enough time without that. That alone would be enough for me to say enough is enough, I am off and going elsewhere.
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
Thankyou for all your responses, this is certainly something my husband and I need to take on board. I appreciate your advice, it is nice to finally have someone to discuss the application with rather than keep it to ourselves. Thank you again, I will keep you updated.
From experieance as i am with Kingsgate (sister company of Churchwood financial) i would definatly try and get out. I had to pay over £300 up front fee's and whenever you call they refuse to put you through to your IP and say they will leave messages...and in 9 months of ringing all the time i have never spoken to the person named on my proposal and they have never called me back. I contacted them to tell them i had my tax back and would i need to pay it, they said "wait till we request something if we do" but it said i had to contact them within 14 days if i got anymore money, then they tell me differently. i must admit it is not all bad and i am only bringing the bad to the surfice, but i am trying to tell them i am struggling to keep up my payments now and all i get is "wait till the yearly review and we can do a I and E then....I need help now, seriously thinking of going bankrupt now as i have no assets. Sorry went off on one there [:)]
What led you to that particular firm in the first place Worryhead - just as a matter of interest. And did you take advice from a number of companies before choosing the firm?
We are also with Kingsgate, we paid one month up front before our IVA was approved but this was classed as our first payment. I think Melanie is right about them taking on too much workload as we are still waiting for a reply to a quarterly payslip review from four months ago.
We can't really complain as they have previously been quite helpful, it is very hard to talk to an actual IP though, which doesn't fill you with confidence. You really need to force the issue and e-mail your potential IP and find out where this money is going, if not into your IVA - demand your money back, and as others have said, try the experts on here.
I was struggling but wanted to pay everything i owed, then out of the blue Churchwood financial called and asked me about my debts, after talking to the woman she recommended an IVA and estimated how much money i would save per month and it would be 60 months where as she worked it out i could pay out all i was paying but the interest would take me 9 years to clear. She was so helpful and friendly and i thought it was the best so i agreed to get the paperwork, someone came to my home to collect it with all my credit bills/loans etc and it just went from there. I was so desperate and stupid i went with it. I did not know what an IVA was and thought they was the only company. Was not till i was accepted i tried to see what an IVA was etc i came acroos this site....and kicked myself since for being a fool and jumping into it before checking it out that day
I wonder where they got your details from? Debt companies are actually not allowed to cold call someone about a debt problem in this country, without you having made an enquiry and given them permission to contact you in the first instance.
I know someone at Churchgate and Kingsgate and I'll get them to respond if possible.
Regards, David Mond, Insolvency Practitioner for over 46 years. Personal Insolvency Practitioner of the year 2012, Personal Insolvency Practitioner of the year finalist 2013 & 2014 awarded by Insolvency & Rescue Magazine and 2015 finalist for Personal Insolvency Firm of the Year.
Having just googled Churchwood, I notice that there is another debt company with the same name as Davids, just with a gap between the two words.
How confusing is that?
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
Melanie, I'm interested that you say companies aren't allowed to cold call about debts in this country. We get calls at work that are a recorded message asking if we have more than £15k of debt, and if so press 5 (or whatever). I actually picked one up in the last month or so, but I couldn't really follow it through as I was at work.
Am I right in thinking that if the calls come from outside the UK, that they can phone you?
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
That is correct Jan - which is the way a lot of these companies get around it, by setting up foreign call centres. As soon as the person confirms that they are happy to speak to someone about their debt, the call gets hot-keyed back to the UK.
Last edited by MelanieGiles on Sun Jan 11, 2009 1:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
That's very naughty of them! Pity the legislation can't cover these sort of eventualities.
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
