www.iva.co.uk

hi there, im new to this so go easy on me!!, have got my self into a bit of a financial muddle which im hoping a iva will resolve, just a few questions,

ive been in contact with an iva firm 'bains and ernst' and after a lengthly phone call i understood alot more about it and how it was benificial to me, i was advised to stop making my payments to prevent getting my self into further debt and they wanted to take a fee of 580 off of me today to start proceedings , i havent got 580 , and then they said they would take half which i havent got either at the moment, a friend of mine used a different firm 'debtfreedirect' i think and wasnt asked for any large fees prior to anything?? i was taken to bains + ernst via a web link and they rung me. i havent committed to anything as i havent signed anything. can anyone tell me if the other companies have hidden fees or is this noraml??

thanks!

Hi and welcome,

Some do take fees upfront and I know from experience if you go with baines and ernst you will be transferred to there sister company Blair Endersby who will administer the IVA. I would personally contact a few more providers to get more of an idea and I would also highly recommend a lady called Melanie Giles who posts on here to contact but at the end of the day your choice. Best of luck

Also if you go on to a website called www.iva.com you can read reviews of all of the different providers out there

Hello and welcome ....we are with Debt Free Direct and have been now for almost a year. We did not pay anything until one month after our IVA had been approved by our creditors.

Get two or three firms involved and go with the best one - big or small don't sign anything unless you are sure you can cover the costs for the whole period.

We too made 2 payments - with Thomas Charles before being transferred to Accuma ( sister company of Thomas Charles I believe).

you dont have to pay any upfront fees to some firms dont go to any that you do if it fails you will lose your money speak to melanie on here she comes well regarded i think she asks for he first payment when everything is sorted but by this time you will have stopped paying creditors for 6-8 weeks and will have spare cash for the first payment of the iva if you go to one that charge upfront you are paying for the service and this is extra to the 60 months iva

good luck keep posting

Avoid the upfront fees you don't have to pay them, you can go straight to a IP direct instead.

It was a mistake I made, and wish I didn't.

Hi Kniterider ... welcome to the Forum and well done you on taking the first steps to address your debt problem. If you do decide to go for an IVA I am sure that you wont regret it.

I would echo the other's advice here ... there is no need to make upfront fees so early in the process, there are other companies Melanie's being but one of them ... although a highly recommended one. I would always advise to go with your intuition on making such big decisions, if it doesn't feel right for you then it probably isn't.

Good luck and keep in touch with the Forum.

Debbie

I would personally try a couple of IP firms, simply to get a feel for the different options and also whether you are comfortable with the advice. Ask if it would be possible to speak to the IP who will represent you. If this is not possible, will you be able to get hold of them if you ever need help in the future?