I've been with Freeman Jones since my IVA started in 2011. My Relationship Manager from the start of my IVA until the beginning of last year was a very friendly, very helpful guy called Matthew. He really knew his stuff and we spoke a lot on the phone or via email for the first few months as there were a lot of difficulties with PPI payments from NatWest that created a lot of complications. He was very, very good.
Then there were a couple of issues with other members of staff at FJ contacting me to inform me of an increase in my payments, seemingly without his knowledge. I detailed this at the time in another post so I'd direct you to that to save me going through it all here - I think I started a thread called "Goalposts Shifting?" about it. It was annoying and unsettling to find that other members of staff were seemingly undermining him (whether they knew they were doing it or not) and making changes to my IVA without his knowledge. It rather defeated the object of having a Relationship Manager - one member of staff who called me even said, on my asking if Matthew was aware she was calling me, that it "has nothing to do with him". She got short shrift from me and I made it clear that I would only speak to my RM.
Shortly after that, Matthew left FJ and has apparently emigrated to Australia. I wish him well - he was very good to me.
Since then, I've had two RMs, the first of which I spoke to a couple of times and sent my statements to directly each month, just as I had with Matthew, the second of which (and current) I've never actually spoken to and seems to prefer my sending my monthly statements to the generic Customer Services email address. I just have her first name. I've never actually spoken to her, and I think I've only ever received one email from her. The rest have been generic replies from whoever has picked up my email with my statements attached.
I'm not 100% happy with this. Being in an IVA isn't something I like to discuss with people outside of this forum or FJ. It's a private matter. Matthew understood this and was very sensitive towards it, as I'd have thought a RM should be. I'm really not keen on the fact that, despite supposedly having a RM, my calls and emails just seem to go to a pool of staff, and dealt with by whoever is available.
Now, my IVA is quite straightforward, so it's rare that I'd actually have an issue that would require me to contact my RM for advice or guidance. So, in the grand scheme of things, as annoying as it is that the idea of a RM seems to be something of a redundant concept in my experience since Matthew left, it's not a huge problem for me. But for others, whose IVA's are a lot more complex than mine, and whose circumstances much more difficult, the importance of having a reassuring, knowledgeable person on your side, who knows your case and who knows you, and with whom you have some sort of relationship, is extremely important and makes all the difference. Especially if you're experiencing some difficult times, which I know a lot of people on here have.
I'd be interested to see what FJ have to say about this. With the notable exception of Sarah Jolly, who has never been anything less than extremely helpful and reassuring, there seems to be a lack of continuity and communication if you're a FJ client.
IVA? Best financial decision I ever made.
