www.iva.co.uk

So in brief we have been in an iva with freeman jones since April 2012 and want to now settle. The reason being is unbeknown to use the iva was actually going to stop us transferring our jobs which has subsequently caused an awful lot of heart ache and stress. As well as me now being pregnant and facing the reality of paying the iva whilst on smp. Having now fessed up to our parents about our financial situation both have agreed to lend us an amount of money to settle the iva. This is where the fun begins...

I originally made an offer in writing to freeman jones on August 15th. From this point on I have continuously had to chase them and provide them with a ridiculous amount of information. It is now the 25th of September and they have not even given my creditors the 30-days notice required for a meeting to be held to make the offer let alone done anything else! I have had to give them 3-months bank statements even though they have very recently done a review on our income, I have had to provide proof of the smp monies I will get, proof that the iva stopped our transfer, bank statements from both parents proving the money is available and that they are willing to pay. The saga doesn't end there. The statement my parents provided was not sufficient as it didn't have their name on. It was from an online savings account so this was as good as it could be. My parents further explained in writing the statement shows them to be the only people that credit and debit the account. This was still not good enough. My parents then transferred the funds direct to me and I showed the money in my account coming from them, and my parents sent an email confirming this. This is still not good enough. They have asked my parents to put in writing the exact account the monies have come from and an email is not sufficient it has to be a bit of paper with a signature on!

I appear to be jumping through hoop after hoop and this is all before my offer has even been out forward and accepted. This could all be a huge waste of time of the offer is refused! I appreciate there are certain procedures to be followed however at this stage I have found freeman and jones almost impossible to deal with. When I took the iva out they couldn't have been more helpful. Now I need to settle iva they appear to want to put every barrier up possible. Any reasonable person would be able to look at the evidence I have produced and know the monies are available and are coming from a legitimate source yet this is still not good enough.

I'm appreciate I'm pregnant, I'm hormonal, and stressed but what on earth can I do to get them to at least ask my creditors if they will accept this offer? Do I have to let the iva fail and call them myself? I've already made 2 payments to the iva since I made the offer and am rapidly heading towards another! What do I do?

Hi there and welcome. Sorry to hear you're experiencing delay problems with FJ in respect of a full and final offer. Hang in there we have expert posters who may be able to offer some advise and I'll keep this bumped up for you x

Dear Pidgeford

I am sorry that this has caused you worry and stress at a time when clearly you have a lot to deal with.

We appreciate that we asked you for quite a lot of information and that we weren’t able to accept some of the documents you provided. However, following your email yesterday evening it does now seem that we have received everything we need in the right format.

When proposing a Full & Final settlement where funds are being gifted by a third party we (as any other firm would) do need to verify the source of the funds. All of the information we asked for is exactly what we would ask of any client in the same position. We - like you - want to give your offer the best chance possible of being successfully agreed by your creditors so we set out to provide them with as much information as we can to back up your offer.

I know you have spoken to Gemma this morning and she has explained that your variation documentation will be sent out for you to sign, I expect this will be with you next week. At your request Gemma has logged a complaint on your behalf and I believe she has advised you of the timescales involved for both your complaint and variation.

We will be in touch as soon as we receive your signed documentation and to confirm when your variation meeting will take place. If I, or my colleagues, can help any further in the meantime please don’t hesitate to let us know.

Thank you