www.iva.co.uk

Hello, following advice i received earlier in the year from the members and experts in the forum, i sent a letter to my IP personnaly, requesting a variation meeting with the hope of reducing my payments, my letter was passed on to someone else in the company to deal with, and after a month, i got a set of figures sent through to me, which just did not add up. The figures were all changed in my income and expenditure, all being reduced from the original figures. they reduced my Food and Household goods to £130 per month (which equates to £4 per day to live on) surely this is wrong ?. they have all the evidence of my expenditure ie. bank statements, utility bills, service contracts, pay slips etc. but they have ignored all this and reduced my expendture allowances drastically.I was not too pleased, so sent another letter to my IP. AGAIN, it was passed on to someone else to deal with. After having a mild heart attack in the summer, my family offered a figure as full and final settlement, as they were worried about my health and the stress the iva has caused, My iva company telephoned me to say they would NOT be approaching my creditors to offer the settlement, as i had enough surplus to pay my creditors, which is completly untrue, so i decided to write to the regulatory body concerned, to see if i was getting the right service, and fair treatment from my IP. I requested my IP to provide me with Her IP no., also the address of the regulatory body, that was a month ago, and i have not heard since. I telephoned them today and was told that they are looking at the figures again, BUT the food and household expenditure will be staying the same at £130 per month. I still do not have the information that i requested concerning the Regulatory body.
Can anyone advise me what to do next, i would very much appreciate your help.
Thank You
Warren
ps sorry to have gone on so much!!!!!

Click on this link and type in the name of your IP, you will find the IP number.
Have you actually spoke directly to your IP or has it been other people in the company?

Hi
The main regulatory body is the Insolvency practitioners association [02076235108].However if you contact the Insovency Service on 02076371110 they will inform you which licensing body covers your particular IP.
Once you find out lodge a full complaint
Regards

Haha thanks viki, i copied the link and then forgot to paste it

hello Mrs Skint,
Thanks for your time and trouble replying to my question.
In answer to your question as to if i had spoken to my IP or someone else, the answer is I have never spoken to my IP even though i have written and emailed her, i have also requested to speak to her when i have telephoned the company, but alas!, all to no avail. I sometimes wonder if she actually exists, and also wonder just who is claiming the high fees being paid to the company.
Thanks again
Warrenv

Thank You Andydavie, for your helpful advice
Best Regards
Warrenv

Good luck with getting this sorted out. How on earth can they justify reducing your food and housekeeping in this day and age?!?!

Cheers Skippy,
Glad to know someone else understands.
All the Best
Warrenv

I am sorry to hear of this problem with your Supervisor (IP).If you would like to email me with the IP's name I will attempt to get the matter sorted out for you as soon as possible

The best route to deal with a complaint against an IP is via their regulatory body, but in order to have this treated seriously do make sure that you have attempted to bring your complaint to the attention of your IP directly. This can be found via the link that was posted earlier.

It may not be appropriate for other IPs to get involve in what is effectively a private matter between you and the firm representing you - unless of course they know each other and perhaps just a gentle nudge may be required.

Hello David,
Many Thanks for your very sincere reply, i appreciate it very much Thank You.

This current problem with my Iva, is just the tip of the iceberg, as i have had serious problems all the way through the 18 months that the IVA has been in place. First of all, after 6months of my IVA starting, i lost my job (i was on 6 months trial in a new job, and it did not work out on either side) I wrote to my Supervisor, also telephoned several times and emailed, all this started 3 weeks before my payment was due, and i could not meet. I was desperate for help and advice, BUT non was forthcoming, so out of desperation plus no funds in the bank, i was forced to cancel my standing order. LO AND BEHOLD, My IVA company contacted me within 3 days to find out why i had missed my payment (they were very quick off the mark then) after being spoken to as if i was a criminal it was decided to add the missing payment on to tha end of my agreed period of my IVA. Of course this meant EXTRA FEES. WHY couldnt this have been sorted out when i first contacted the company and was frantically begging for help and advice. Exactly what does the supervisor do to command such high fees?.( i got a new job the following week, so the payments resumed as normal).
Secondly, i wrote to the company on 3rd June 2008 requesting a variation meeting, as my income and expenditure figures were all wrong, and showed that i had a surplus income of £559 per month to pay to creditors, when in actual fact, the surplus is only £204 per month, which is why i am having to borrow on average £300 per month from family and friends just to survive. i fail to understand why this has happened, as the company have all the evidence of my income and expenditure, ie. pay slips, bank statements, letter from employer, utility bills in fact everything i could possibly send to them, i did, BUT they choose to ignore this evidence, which can be verified.
The company sent me a set of new figures, but again the figures were all wrong again, By this time, i had a mild heart attack and was hospitalised, so my family tried to help me out, by offering a sum of money as full and final settlement of my debt, to try to avoid any further stress on me. The company, refused to make an offer to my creditors, saying i had too much surplus income, they are simply not listening, and do not believe there figures are wrong, when it can be proved.
I have again written to the company, stating that the new figures are NOT acceptable, and requested the License No. of my supervisor, and the address of the regulatory body. That was a month ago, and i did not hear from them, so decided to phone them, I was told that they are sending me another set of figures, BUT my expenditures would be at the reduced rates they quoted in their last communication. They have reduced my Food and household goods allowance to HALF the original amount, which gives me approx. £4.00 per day to live on. Which i consider such a low amount at this time of rising prices.Also, they say i am only paying British Gas £24 per month, when in actual fact is £30 per month there are other amounts also which do not tally up with the utility bills, or other evidence of payments.
I feel like a victim of this company, as they are quite simply not interested in me or my problems, or cant be bothered to sort out their mistakes.
I have written, emailed, and telephoned several times requesting to speak to my supervisor, BUT can never be passed on to her, always someone else.
The company i am with, is DEBT FREE DIRECT, and the joint supervisors of my IVA are Ms Nicola Teader IP license No.9417 and MR Derek John Oakley IP license NO. 8630 ( i had to get these Nos. from the internet, as they have never sent the information that i requested from them).
I am completly at my wits end with this company, and feel they should not be in business, as they definitely do not care about the people who are actually paying them.
Thank You for your help,and i apologise if you think i have gone on too long.
THANK YOU
Warren

David Mond wrote:

I am sorry to hear of this problem with your Supervisor (IP).If you would like to email me with the IP's name I will attempt to get the matter sorted out for you as soon as possible

I think that David will probably know your IPs, so his intervention may well be able to resolve this matter without resorting to a more formal process. Have you actually ever spoken to either Ms Teader or Mr Oakley as a matter of interest?

Hi Melanie, Many Thanks for your reply,in answer to your question, regarding if i have ever spoken to my IP in person, the answer is only once, and that was when my IVA was being set up. I have tried so many times to speak to her, but can never get past customer services or the variation team, who quite frankly, do not seem to know what they are talking about. I have spoken several times to one man who is on the variation team, and who is dealing with my enquiries, but he can not see were the problem is, even though the information and evidence is there in front of him. All it needs, is for them to look properly at the proof they have, and act on it.
Thanks Again for your time and trouble.
Warrenv

I think that it Nicola were aware that her staff were not affording you the proper level of customer care she would be mortified! Not an excuse, just an observation. As this firm is based in the same geographical area as David's, I am sure he will be able to make a quick call on your behalf, or at least point your IP's to this thread on the forum.

So keep us informed of how this is eventually resolved, and good luck.