Freeman Jones Complaint Full & Final Settlement

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lifenoteasy

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Post by lifenoteasy » Mon Mar 30, 2015 2:00 pm
They will quote money laundering regulations probably - just another risk averse process.
IVA started March 2011, Completed March 2016 and certificate issued 11 days after final payment. It was not always easy but then some of the best decisions aren't.
 
 

Financial Wellness

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Post by Financial Wellness » Mon Mar 30, 2015 2:49 pm
Dear rainonthewindows

I am sorry the evidence we require was not made clear to you at first and that this has caused both you and your parents problems.

We are required to verify the source of any funds that are used for a Full & Final and these regulations are fairly strict.

I have spoken to your Relationship Manager this morning and she has assured me that your report has been drafted and is ready to be emailed to you for approval. We will be able to do so as soon as we receive the verification evidence that we have requested from you.

Thank you,



Ian
A member of the team at Financial Wellness Group (Formerly Freeman Jones ) - www.financialwellnessgroup.co.uk
 
 

rainonthewindows

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Post by rainonthewindows » Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:26 pm
Longshot101 - They did not ask for a statement from my parents. They said if the deposit into my bank account showed my parents name and ref number then that would be fine.

Freeman Jones - Thanks for your response Ian.

I fully appreciate what you are saying and thanks for the apology but why tell me you have everything you need in January and then inform me near the end of March that you actually don't?

I don't think you fully understand the amount and stress and pressure this puts on someone when simple administrative tasks are not completed to the standards they should be.

Whoever looked at the evidence when I rung to confirm you had everything you needed should have spotted that you did not have everything. If someone spotted you didn't have everything you needed between mid January and mid March should have rung me. Whoever told me to provide the evidence in the first instance should have made it abundantly clear what was expected from me also from the outset.

These three keys areas have failed the test in my eyes and have been overlooked and I have been left to pick up the pieces to try and bail myself out to keep this settlement offer going.

I'm afraid to say I feel down by the service I have received lately Ian.

Thanks
 
 

longslog101

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Post by longslog101 » Mon Mar 30, 2015 10:20 pm
I did read somewhere that someone suggested in a f&F settlement offer that the amount reduces by the amount of each payment made under the terms of the current running IVA, that way if a firm drags their heels you're not paying off anymore than if they had been very efficient?

Perhaps FJ can add this clause for you backdated from when/if they gave you duff info ? as a gesture of goodwill ?
My Blog details, the route I took before IVA, how I choose my firm, equity release advice (year 4-5), challenging the CRA's keeping IVA on credit file once gone from insolvency register

IVA ended August 2015. Would recommend McCambridge Duffy
 
 

lifenoteasy

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Post by lifenoteasy » Tue Mar 31, 2015 5:24 am
Michael, Andy and Foggy routinely suggest that.
IVA started March 2011, Completed March 2016 and certificate issued 11 days after final payment. It was not always easy but then some of the best decisions aren't.
 
 

Financial Wellness

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Post by Financial Wellness » Tue Mar 31, 2015 4:02 pm
Dear rainonthewindows,

Thank you for the response.

I do understand that you feel let down – and I apologise. I know that you have an active complaint with us and we will of course address the points you’ve raised in that.

I don’t want to try and make excuses – there aren’t any – but what I would say is that it isn’t always possible to say at the outset exactly what documents we will need you to provide (because the requirements may change as we get into more of the detail) – and we should have been clearer about that from the beginning.

Thank you for returning the final pieces of evidence we requested – I know that you now have you F&F proposal. If you are happy then we look forward to putting it to your creditors and, we hope, brining your IVA to a swift conclusion.
A member of the team at Financial Wellness Group (Formerly Freeman Jones ) - www.financialwellnessgroup.co.uk
 
 

crazyjoe90

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Post by crazyjoe90 » Wed Apr 01, 2015 11:58 am
What I can't understand is the difference in time it takes to sort out a full and final offer from start to completion certificate arriving in the post. It took from the start of the process to receiving our completion certificate 2 months to the day. I have read of an awful delay in quite a lot of cases on here some of which can take literally years !! Surely the industry can deal with these requests a lot quicker !!
 
 

rainonthewindows

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Post by rainonthewindows » Wed Apr 01, 2015 6:04 pm
Thank you for all responses - much appreciated.

To Ian @ Freeman Jones:

You wrote:

Thank you for returning the final pieces of evidence we requested – I know that you now have you F&F proposal. If you are happy then we look forward to putting it to your creditors and, we hope, brining your IVA to a swift conclusion.

I regret to inform you that I don't have my f&f proposal yet. Your 1st message states someone would e-mail it to me but that has not happened either. One would presume that is just for me to read through whilst the copy I need to sign is on its way in the post. Or I am to assume I need to print it off when you e-mail it through, sign that copy and send it to you.

This is exactly what I mean....no communication from my relationship manager / team. They rang yesterday to confirm they had what I sent because I had written a note requesting them to do so and put it in the envelope with all the other info.
 
 

rainonthewindows

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Post by rainonthewindows » Wed Apr 01, 2015 6:14 pm
I'm constantly having to ask for Freeman Jones to do things that should be done automatically.

I have been out of work for the past 5 months and the Insurance policy I took out when I took out the IVA has been covering my IVA payments. Included in this monthly payout from the insurers is a sum of £100 which is payable to me by Freeman Jones when you receive the monthly amount from the insurance company. The insurance company paid Freeman Jones quickly and on time but every month without fail I have had to ring Freeman Jones to action my £100 refund which should be done automatically !! I should not have to ring to get what is rightfully mine!!

One person I spoke to about 3 months ago to action the refund had the cheek to say, and I quote " Oh so you actually want us to process this refund and not leave it in your account to go towards you IVA payment...oh OK " ...or something along those lines. Honestly it beggars belief the incompetence that I have had to put up wioth recently. Hoping this is brought to a swift conclusion and if it goes through I am not waiting and chasing Freeman Jones for my certificate.
 
 

Financial Wellness

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Post by Financial Wellness » Thu Apr 02, 2015 6:29 pm
Dear rainonthewindows

All I can do is apologise. The paper version of the proposal was posted to you on 31st March so if you haven’t now got this it should arrive any day. I also understand that after another false start you do now have an email version of the proposal.

I know that you have now spoken to the team today - they were trying to reach you earlier and you called us when you returned from work.

Your £100 insurance payout should now be sent to you automatically each month. At present this process takes 48 hours once we have been notified by the insurer but this is something that we are now looking to speed up so that we can get the funds into your account faster.

I hope you have a good Easter and we look forward to progressing this for you next week.


Ian
A member of the team at Financial Wellness Group (Formerly Freeman Jones ) - www.financialwellnessgroup.co.uk
 
 

rainonthewindows

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Post by rainonthewindows » Wed May 13, 2015 6:04 pm
MAY 2015 Update:

My creditor meeting was due on Monday 11/05 but some of them did not vote ( 30 days notice and they couldn't look over the proposal...shocking ). This was chased up by Freeman Jones and the creditor involved stated it would be done by 1pm the following day...it wasn't which left me very frustrated.

Thankfully the f&f settlement offer was accepted today 2 days after the proposed meeting date and Freeman Jones rang me to give me the good news. Credit where credit is due to Freeman Jones for chasing the late voters.

Then came the bad news .... they told me it could up to 4 MONTHS to now receive my completion certificate because they were "very busy closing IVA's at the moment...it was 2 months but now it's 4 months unfortunately"

This I found totally unacceptable and very deflating after the initial good news because as we all know you are still bound by the legal terms of the IVA until this certificate is drawn up and received even though you no longer make monthly payments.

I have an open formal complaint with Freeman Jones regarding some of customer service I received in the past. I suggested that I may need to add this 4 month wait for the certificate to the complaint and left it there.

I then got a phone call 15 mins later stating that due to the simple nature of my IVA I will have my certificate within 6 weeks of the f&f payment clearing in their bank account. Thank you ... that's much better.

Fingers crossed this happens and I will update this message feed in due course to inform everyone if it did happen.

Nearly free !!!!!!!!!!!
 
 

Foggy

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Post by Foggy » Wed May 13, 2015 6:07 pm
Fingers crossed --- to be fair to Freeman Jones, they are one of the fastest in the race in closing and there are many of us who would be over the moon at 4 months :-)
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Lisa Thomas

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Post by Lisa Thomas » Thu May 14, 2015 10:52 am
What a palaver you've been having! I hope you get your CC soon and all this will then be a distant memory!
I'm a licensed IP with 16+ yrs at Neville & Co covering the South West area. I have a YouTube channel with advisory videos on here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMPTTu ... Z5k9ZcC2MA http://www.nevilleco.co.uk 01752 786800 Lisa@nevilleco.co.uk
 
 

welshwiz

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Post by welshwiz » Thu May 14, 2015 4:03 pm
Congrats on offer being accepted, I did an F&F with FJ and they took 2 weeks for completion certificate from final payment clearing so hopefully you will get it within the 6 weeks Good luck with the future and good luck with finding a new job
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