Earning money is only one part of the equation for most good IP's nickjohn. If all I wanted to do was earn lots of money I would have stayed in a big 4 firm doing corporate reconstruction work - which I spent the first 15 years of my career doing. Far more profitable.
I have stuck with personal insolvency out of love for helping people and a desire to see my clients looked after to the best of my ability. Of course we are doing this to make a living for ourselves - but that is not the only reason I can assure you.
I can only speak for my IP - Melanie. Of course she charges a fee the same as I do for coming to work each day in effect. I have emailed Melanie at midnight, 2am and various times and believe me I was more shocked than ever to receive an immediate reply. Always listens, is always fair and works for both you as the client and the creditors. I believe that she cares for your welfare and is concerned when things aren't right within your IVA.
I used to love teaching and did it for passion since we changed departments it's money at the end of the month and I don't enjoy it. I am actively sourcing alternative employment as I know without the passion to teach you're in the wrong job and I know I am!
IVA final payment left the bank on the 26th January 2013...looking forward to a debt free future.
I had no issue with DFD throught the majority of my IVA, then in the last 6 mont fo my iva and the 6 months for closures i felt i had to do a log of the leg work, a hell of a lot of chasing up (espeically when involved with EiF for the PPI) and a lot of complaing for them to do what they should have been doing, there never seemed to be a sense of urgency for closures, the only time i saw this was when one of my payments went missing (within the 2nd year) after a bank account change (when i moved from clearstart to DFD) and they were quick on the phone chasing me up!!
Judith was a real help in the closures process but i still feel sad it took a complaint to my Ip before she was allowed to get involved and push things through!
All in all, i had a very good experiance with them until the end, hopefully when other get to year 5 all of these systems (and to be fait the VAt and PPI stuff is quite new to a lot of IP's) should be sorted and ironed out giving a smooth transition to closure!
Arty
IVA completion and certificate received 08/10/2012!!!
Ihave not any issuses as of yet with DFD and only 4 month left out of 72 but I think I too would have gone with Melanie had I looked elsewhere DFD was the first I looked at , i should have shopped about ( not literlly LOL) too much of shopping got me in this mess!!! good luck
the final months with DFD i had to push push push and nothing seemd to happen of its own accord. The thing that really grated me was the un interested bog standard reply you got when merely asking how closure progress was taking eg " approx 6-9 months " with no one the slightest bit interested in actually finding anything out about your specific case. No one appeared to take ownership of my IVA in terms of a case worker nor did they show any interest whatsoever in any questions i had once the final payment had been made.
I would also opt for Mel if I had my time again and can say DFD were superb until I had catually maxe my last payment. My sentiments are that perhaps if they spent some of the fee income earned from their pursuit of PPI claims, then they might actually have enough staff not ony to progress clousres quicker , but also to answer the bl**dy phone in less than 7 minutes before they cut you off .
The difference in my opinion between the smaller firms like mels ( who incidentally I have no qualms with however much she may decide her company can afford to pay her, as her commitemnt and service levels are second to none ) is that if you consider the poor customer service during the closure procedure at DFD compared the the swift helpful service from Mels, is that Mel prides herself in outstanding client service and support.
Read the annual report of fairpoint Plc ( DFDs parent company ) and check out some of the phrases & terminology & you will realise that if you are with DFD you are not a client, rather a profit & cost centre and this is perhaps why they dont in my opinion employ enough staff , because it will impact on their bottom line. Again of course they are entitled to make a profit
Just my views , but read tehir annual report and form your own opinions
Last payment made April 2012
Certificate received 1st Nov 2012
They also advertise on their vacancies, staff bonus's!!!!!
I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole that would span the Thames, they are not worth diddly, rude, the letters they send out in response to a complaint speak to you as if you are a naughty child and end with 'this will be our last communication, please speak with our solicitors if you don't agree!! That's initimidating to say the least, they don't bldy care one iota about you all they want is their pound of flesh and more and that is saying it straight.
I recieved my reply to my rather lengthy complaint and might as well have not bothered, it was pointed out to me that they were trying to improve the customer service by employing more staff and to use the email system they have, it was then mentioned that i'd sent a considerable amount of emails over the last few months etc, well that's because they didn't bldy well answer the first ones ,stupid people!
Don't go with them, go with someone like Melanie who cares about her clients and i would definately recommend her to anyone, even though i have had no dealings with her.
Om shanti, namesté, good luck to all who are embarking on the IVA journey, it isn't always an easy one but the outcome is the best.
IVA COMPLETED August 2012, received Completion certificate 18.4.13.
Hi 12 months to go, sadly i haven't heard a jot from these idiots other than a reply to my formal complaint, i'm now contemplating what to do next as i don't respond well to being spoken down to which was certainly the tone of the letter. They even had to cheek to say that it isn't the IP's responsibility to send an authorising signature in order to recoup a PPI refund, something that i'm really annoyed about as the letter from one of my creditors quite clearly stated that they wanted the ip authorising signature and that is what caused the delay of nearly 8 weeks till they paid out!!!!!
It would appear that they are still going to contest the halifax off set despite having reached 110p on the pound pay off to all creditors, this is because they have already had some money back and therefore it is viewed they have favoured themselves over other creditors, there is to be a variation meeting because of the statutory interest to see if that can be waived, then there is of course the HMRC which i do believe will be dealt with in the same variation meeting, once all of that is done, god knows when then hopefully i shall be in receipt of my completion certificate.
Annoyed i'm absolutely fuming to say the least and if i won the lottery tomorrow i would be taking this firm to town, they are dispicable!
Last edited by orchid5 on Fri Jan 11, 2013 5:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Om shanti, namesté, good luck to all who are embarking on the IVA journey, it isn't always an easy one but the outcome is the best.
IVA COMPLETED August 2012, received Completion certificate 18.4.13.
I am the same as many others. Fine for the first few years, but now I am trying to complete the IVA DFD are worse than useless. Trying to speak to someone there is nigh on impossible, especially as you are on hold for ages then the phone cuts you off with out ever speaking to someone!! They are more interested in chasing old PPI (even though it wasnt missold to me!) than helping their clients.
DFD were very good for me and helpful throughout IVA. I had no PPI so didn't have to go through that hurdle. I always got excellent service including email replies from my IP at weekends and public holidays.
"Just when you think that you can make ends meet, somebody moves the ends."
Hi Mattyboy, up until nearing the end of my IVA i didn't have any problems with them but since this PPI/VAT fiasco there has been nothing but trouble and i don't like the way they treat customers now. When you get a response to your formal complaint on photocopied paper for one and then they state 'please note that, under terms of our complaints procedure, this is our final response. If you have further concerns arsing from this response then you may raise your concerns with out solicitor'. It doesn'at exactly endear you to them and to be honest i think that's actually quite intimidating as they know i'm not in a position just yet to do that, oh if only i could win the lottery then i would take legal advice!
Om shanti, namesté, good luck to all who are embarking on the IVA journey, it isn't always an easy one but the outcome is the best.
IVA COMPLETED August 2012, received Completion certificate 18.4.13.
