www.iva.co.uk

Hi

I posted some comments last week about the IVA we have with Debt Free Direct. We decided to close our IVA and do a DMP. We heard from our IP tonight. He has closed our IVA, won't make us bankrupt and said in his email he wants some money from us for his fees. NO CHANCE!!!!

We have £4-£5k in the 'pot' as he hasn't sent any of our payments to our Creditors in two years and if thinks he is worth £5k he has a shock in store!

I don't think he knows who he is messing with. He isn't getting a penny out of me.

I was going to celebrate but I can't drink cause I am pregnant but my husband can have a nice pint of cider for me!!!

I am so glad we are shot of DFD, to anyone out DO NOT USE DEBT FREE DIRECT. They have done sweet FA in two years for us. I was the one who did everything. I contacted our Creditors and told them we were in an IVA and then my Creditors had to contact DFD!!
They are bas*ard lazy.

Thankfully we are shot of them.

Onwards and upwards from here!!

Thanks to Melanie and Andy D for your advice and to Brightoak for their communication in relation to the DMP. I shall be in touch.

xxxxxxxxx

I am happy that you feel a lot better now Charlotten. I hope the DMP runs smoothly for you.

I get the feeling we have not heard the last of this thread......

Charlotten, I am glad you have managed to sort yourselves out, and good on you for standing your ground over your IP fees.

It must be a relief to know that you can take control of things again.

Good luck to you.

As Lily says, I think we will be hearing a lot more on this subject

Charlotten -

Hi -

You have stated in your previous posts that

1) You knew from Day 1 that you could not afford your repayments required by your IVA (I assume you signed and accepted the initial proposal??)

2) You do not like IVAs!!!!

Well - without wishing to get on my same old bandwagon - and apologies to those already groaning!!!! -

Many people - me included - DO like IVAs with a passion and I am quite sure that many,many,many of those people happily rowing across the IVA ocean are with Debt-Free Direct. It really does sound to me like you had decided from the start that an IVA was really not for you. Well - that can hardly be blamed on your IVA Provider.

IVAs are tough - they are meant to be - it is just something you have to accept on that long journey to - hopefully!!! - debt freedom.

DFD were quite fair with us. Their communication is DIRE though.
We were completely left alone and things ran smoothly. Problems only started when hubby asked to end early. It was becoming an impossibility trying to speak to somebody that actually knew what we were talking about.
With help from Melanie and other forum members, we eventually got it sorted and have now been debt free since December.

I think its probably the same with most companies, theres good storys and bad and even some in between. I think you were very unfortunate that yours was a bad experience.

I do hope your DMP runs smoothly and you will eventually be debt free.

Best of luck xxxxx

My experience is that the bigger companies are probably Ok for the very basic cases where there is no overtime, no house, no possibility of ending early with a full & final offer, no liklihooh of increases etc.

When there is any liklihood of a modification, change in circumstance, breathing space in 5 years etc then you really need to be able to get to the IP rather than a bank of phone people without any authority to act in everyone's best interest.

If you can reach out & touch your IP ( american phrase ) then you had a decent change of having a good working relationship for 5 years which means you are likely to succeed.

The figures I have show that many of the large companies have a higher fail rate than the small / medium ones, and when one looks at the reasons for potential failure it is to do with communication and misunderstanding.

We propably help 7 - 10 people get back on track with their IVA's each month ( free service ) amd mostly it is because of a breakdown in communication.

Only my experience though.

Optimist, when you're desperate you will do anything to try and sort out the situation so I don't think it's fair to criticise Charlotte. I signed my IVA and deep down I think I knew I couldn't afford it, but when I spoke to my IP's staff about errors I was told not to worry. All I wanted to do was try and get my life back on track, but I know now I should have gone BR at the beginning. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

I'm pleased that you are happy with your IVA, and I don't doubt that many people have successful IVAs with DFD. However, people come onto the forum for help and advice, not to be told that they should do this, they should do that, or that te fact things have gone wrong is their fault.

Charlotte, I'm glad you're on the road to getting things sorted out and I really hope a DMP works for you. Please carry on posting to let us know how you're getting on x

Hi Charlotten
Good luck with your DMP,it is true that an IVA is not for all.
Optomist,you are so pro IVAs I'm starting to wonder if you are on someones payroll.Many people sign upto IVAs who should not but much of the responsibility for this must go to the provider.As Skippy rightly states when people are in serious debt they will jump at the first solution put to them,I know that I would have done.
From memory you fully researched your provider,DFD,and are very happy with them,however many that post on this forum are not mainly due to poor communication
Regards

Andy has a point there in that researching the situation and gained knowledge is often really important in an IVA being successful. Like Optimist my IVA and F&F would not have been successful if I had not put a lot of the leg work in and researched the situation ... left to the original response of my IP when things started to go wrong I would be BR by now and have lost my home..

The problem is that not everyone would have the know how to do what Optimist and I would have done.

Debbie

Dear OPtimist 12

We started the IVA in May 2006 with high expectations yes but from the start our IP filed the IVA with the Courts without finalising anything with us. We have a letter from them saying our monthly payment was £210 and when they filed the IVA our payments were increased toe £478. That is a significant increase. We were told (and I have the written proof) to expect regular variations, any problems immediately responded to and assistance in an emergency. NONE OF THAT HAPPENED.
From the start our IP failed to deal with certain creditors. I had to write, email and call and act as a go between for our creditors and DFD. WHY AM I PAYING THEM THOUSANDS A YEAR WHEN THEY FAILED TO DO EVEN THE BASICS OF THE IVA?
We have had endless problems over the years with DFD and their failure to act. They have refused to do variations, ignored emails and telephone calls and behaved inappropriately. If we had the final papers and the final draft of the IVA proposal we certainly would not have signed it and gone ahead with it and yet DFD filed the IVA before we saw a draft. That is not acceptable so I have battled to get our IVA closed and now DFD can go and jump if they think they are getting paid.
If your IVA works for you then obviously yours was done by the book. Ours wasn't.

Hey Charlotten, are you taking this any further? As if you didn't sign for the IVA, surely it shouldn't have ever been approved? What have DFD said about that? It doesn't seem right to me. X

I agree totally that things should be looked into fully before committing... However, I think most people will feel ashamed and listen to the first person they speak to. Its not something you want to repeat, really is it? I mean talking about how much debt youre in.... Anyway, I didnt do any research, I found this site by accident, I do not consider myself foolish or under educated. Ashamed, stressed and desperate.....YES.

So the first company I phoned (Synergi) got my email address wrong and didnt follow up as promised so I phoned someone else, I didnt want to... I checked my inbox repeatedly.

I guess it depends on the individual concerned but a great many will jump in, without considering there are other options and other compamies.

You may wish to take further advice from Melanie (as Melanie has already been advising you). If you did not sign the proposal then the IVA may not be valid, in which case DFD may need to refund to you all the contributions that you have made without deducting fees. You could use these monies to make a lump sum payment to your creditors before starting a DMP.

Hi Charlotten,
Good luck with your DMP - good for you standing your ground with the fees.
Not everyone when they started out their IVA journey would have known how many companies there are our there to choose from and I think it was Lilly that said, that you hardly want to keep telling someone about your debts, so if you pick the firt one, then that's how it goes - sometimes they may be the best, but in Carlottens case, it has not worked out - I would not say you decided from day one that an IVA was not for you, as it dounds like you have tried to make it work.
I wish you the best of luck.
k.

Going from an agreed £210 to £478 sounds like misrepresentation!! This is no yearly variation rise. If I was you I will take action and sent a strong worded letter to the company!! IPs are paid decent fees for their work and if you did all the work for them then that's neglect of duty.