GT

[markiboy]

There has been a lot of negative comments on here including me!!!

However I have been in contact with Karol in the last few weeks, and I cant fault her. She has kept me up to date with my CC and the reason it has not been sent. She has promised me the CC no later than 3 weeks.
If you do have a problem then she is the point of contact. She does go beyond the call of duty.

I hope in the next weeks it is all over!!!![:)]
Well done Karol.

[TheArtist]

Nice post markiboy. Yes Karol does go the extra mile. But why should she have to. She seems to be the only bright spark in what seems to be an appalling company. Thank goodness she does the things she does on this forum. I do worry for her though. There are only so many hours in a day. But your comments are great.

[Foggy]

100% with both Markiboy and TheArtist.

However, as I have mentioned elswhere, it should never come down to one soul fire fighting for the company. GT do need to get there act together, in many ways. And I hope they appreciate Karol !

[ivaclosure]

I don't know why you can't email GT closures team to get an update that would be helpful

[MelanieGiles]

Perhaps Karol could provide some insight into why clients are unable to contact the GT closures team directly? It is possible that this team are specifically not client facing for good reasons, but if so there should still be a point of contact for clients to refer to if they have queries.

[Foggy]

I can understand the difficulties with direct contact in that the closures team can either be answering phone queries or closing cases, given the current backlogs I imagine they opt to close cases!

That said, there should be a point of contact who can do a bit of digging and respond to queries in the background.

GT does need to work on it's processes, even a company of it's scale should do better than this, especially one of GT's stature.

[ivaclosure]

Yes I agree Foggy. Otherwise you know when your case has gone to the closure team and that it will then take about 6 months (being optimistic, PPI permitting) but it would be good to know how things are progressing every month or two somehow.

[ivaclosure]

I have just stumbled across this post from Karol in May. Has anyone been using the closure team's email and do they respond, are people getting the regular updates promised?


Following recent forum postings regarding the Grant Thornton closure process, I would like to take the opportunity to set out our position and, in doing so, answer the issues which have been raised.

Every IVA is unique and as such the closure of each case must be viewed individually. Most of our IVA proposals contain a period of six months to deal with any final administration and issue the final certificate. While we strive to complete cases within this period there are a number of reasons why a closure may exceed the typical timeframe.

All IVA cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were impacted following the VAT Tribunal decision which ruled IVA costs be exempt from VAT. This led to the temporary suspension of IVA closures. A backlog of cases has inevitably occurred which is being dealt with as quickly as possible. An issue which we have increasingly come across affecting arrangements (typically those previously administered by other companies – DebtMatters, Accuma, Wilson Phillips and Blair Endersby)) is the un-equalised dividend distributions to creditors. This has to be remedied by requesting a refund of the overpayment from each of the creditors concerned; unfortunately, as you can no doubt imagine this can be a time consuming process.
Your views are important to us; we have been listening to your comments and as a direct result are happy to announce some key improvements to our closure process. These will focus on communication and visibility - in the coming weeks, you should feel the effect of these changes, which include:

•providing information about the closure process, what’s involved at each stage and the typical timeframes;
•individual case updates; letting you know when your case has reached key milestones in the process;
•if we encounter any problems, we will tell you about the issues and keep you updated with the progress for a resolution;
•changes to our telephone lines to give you a direct link to the closure team who can offer accurate and comprehensive information about the closure process;
•for those who prefer electronic communication, a dedicated email address for your closure queries - iva.closures@uk.gt.com;
•additional resource to address the backlog and ensure that no one has to wait longer than necessary for the closure of their arrangement.

Our foremost aim is to ensure the correct and compliant closure of your IVA offering you confidence and peace of mind that your arrangement is fully resolved and satisfied.

Thank you for your continued cooperation and patience while we address the above issues.

I will communicate the new contact details shortly, however in the interim we are happy to answer any queries you have via the Customer Services phone number 0844 855 2166

[Foggy]

To be blunt -- none of these proposed improvements seem to have taken place for the majority of clients.

That said, and I have yet to deal with closures, I have had no problems with communication so far.

[4kidsnocash]

well after having our f^f accepted in october we have not been informed of anything yet

[MelanieGiles]

Perhaps Karol could come on-line and provide an update to the process for the benefit of all GT clients?

[markiboy]

Still no sign but I know Karol will not let me down.. Come Closures Team send me the CC please I am so impatient!!!!! Where's the post???

[MelanieGiles]

Good to see that your confidince in Karol is maintained. I am sure you will get the good news very soon.

[Emz1982]

I entered into my IVA in July 2006 with GT and never had any problems with them in the whole 5 years I was with them. My IVA was due to finish in December 2010. All payments seized in the December and I was waiting patiently for my completin certificate. In October 2011 GT contacted me and said I had two outstanding payments to make before the could close the case. I found this odd as it had been ten months since oayments had beestring shed but I was told there was a backlog of work at their end. So whilst I thought the case was in the process of closure it wasn't. At the time i was out of work and could not make the payments but agreed to do so as soon as I got back into full time employment which I soon did and all payments were completed by April 2012. Then in August 2012 GT wrote to me asking me to compete a yearly financial review which I found odd as I was no longer making payments to them and I hadn't done one for the previous year 2011. I completed it as requested and GT wrote back to me saying no changes to the payments were to be made even, not sure why they did this as. Wasn't even making payments. I rang them and they said this was standard procedure the case was been passed to closures and I would be contacted. Roll onto November 2012 where I receive a phone all from a PPi recovery agency where the woman I spoke to was extremely rude asked me for all my financial details and that I had to give them to her to complete the PPI claims and GT had asked them to ring me. Surely if this was the case then they should have my details and no one from GT had made me aware they were passing on my details whatever's happened to client confidentiality. I refused to discuss anything with this obnoxious woman. I contacted GT and I was told I have to claim for PPI before closure of my case if so why was I only been told now months down the line. I was told the case is with closures again, I swear they are talking parrots on the phone at GT saying the same thing over and over and it will take 3 months to close, every time. Ring it's another 3 months! I was told I would receive a letter before Christmas 2012 explaining everything we are now nearly in Feb 2013 and guess wha no letter! I am due to give birth any time now and this is stressing me out no end. I have been in this situation for nearly 8 years now and I appreciate it got into debt and had to seek help but come on 8 years what a joke!

[MelanieGiles]

An IVA which should have closed in December 2010, and still open in January 2013! I am finding this more and more difficult to comprehend - but hope you manage to get closure soon.