www.iva.co.uk

i am a bit concerned that i haven't received any paperwork back from synergi informing me that my iva has been rejected or any other paper work they have of mine, meeting was on the 18th december.
i have tried phoning but it just rings constantly, so far fingers crossed none of the creditors have phoned me, i also can't make this months mortgage payment on time as my hubby's firm messed everyones wages up and wont be sorted out until after new year, ironically i was in 2 minds to pay it or save it for bankruptcy, just fearful now for when all the calls start up again!
kerri

Scaredkez
Your IP is probably still on a Xmas break and you may not have any joy until after the New Year.
I think you need to think about a formal complaint to the supervising body once you are sure that Synergi are not going to be succesful or at the least answer your questions,you really have nothing to lose.
I had a problem with Lloyds bank a few years ago and had no luck trying to communicate with them,meeting a closed door each time.Once I got the banking ombudsman involved they quickly sorted out my case,to my advantage.
Good luck and do not give up

Hi scaredkez,

I would agree with Neverending that your I.P was/are probably still on their Christmas/New Year break. This time of year is extremely busy, so I would try calling them until you can get through.

However if you feel that this is not the first time and you would like to take this further, contact the Insolvency Practitioner Association (IPA) and make a formal complaint.


Hope this information is of use

Regards. IVA Experts

hi thanks for replies, i finally got my husband to give them another ring today and he got through, at first they couldn't give us any information and would have to telephone us back which they did, they informed us the paper work was sent out on the 28th so should receive it this week, didn't say what the delay was in getting it out to us, but i don't know if it is me but the next meeting was proposed for the 28th, but the ip said it wasn't worth having another meeting because of black horse rejection they couldn't have just done it anyway with out me knowing could they? obviously i will know better once the rejection letter has come
kerri

Kerri - I hope you don't mind me asking .... I am working with Synergi on my proposed IVA and am curious on what grounds your IVA failed? Quite worrying as the feedback on Synergi isn't all that great!

thanks
flowers2221

flowers
blackhorse had 26% of the vote but rejected outright and wouldn't change their minds even if i went with modifications from northern rock who had something like 28% of the vote, but what synergi done was they jigged my figures up so i could offer 43p in the £ instead of the 35p that i was able to offer, which meant my relistic figures for living was no where near what i actually needed to live on, i was then told on the day of the meeting life insurance would have to be cancelled, although stipulation of mortgage that i have it and also payment protection which is fair enough so that my monthly fees would go from 500 to 618 per month
kerri


i have had a lot of trouble getting paperwork bck off synergi, also be careful anything you pay them is not returned if the iva is rejected and they tend to take a long time to get to creditors meeting
kerri

Thanks for your reply Kerri.

My initial contact with Synergi was prior to Christmas - I'm still waiting for a date for my Creditor's meeting and have already made 1 payment toward Synergi! The next payment is due in a couple of weeks ...

Fingers crossed it will work out! If anyone out there has any feedback on Synergi I would really appreciate it.

thank you!

Helo

I have no experience, however Synergi are known to take 4/5 months of payments before you are in touch with an IP and then their IVA's seem unreasonable to live on, some have found that proposals are incresed at meeting, and since you have been waiting so long for a meeting, you tend to agree with it just to get it to go through. Also no-one is sure if the payments made before the meeting are actually IVA payments or Synergi payments, if it does not go through they keep all of the money paid. I would not use this company myself, I know its easy for me to say. I also would not make any payments at least until a creditors meeting date was forthcoming. I really wish you the best of luck though.

LILY

Hi Flowers

My instinct would be to walk away from Synergi after all the posts I've read on here. If you look back through Kerri's posts you will see that she has had appalling treatment from them.
If nothing else give a company like Thomas Charles a call and discuss your case with them. They will give you an alternative opinion and if Synergi are dragging their feet better you lose one payment to Synergi than make a second payment and lose that as well. Thomas Charles will be able to tell you if your proposal is realistic. If it fails, as Kerri says, you will not get any money back from Synergi.

Regards

Dave

Hi Flowers and welcome to the forum

Why not give the IP a ring tomorrow and ask some firm questions such as:-

1 What is the position regarding my case at the moment?
2 Why is there a delay in my proposal being prepared?
3 When do you think my proposal will be ready?

This process should not take more than 4 to 6 weeks from your initial contact with the IP. Get them to give you an exact date when the proposals will be ready.

See my latest blog for some tips about choosing an advisor.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

flowers walk away now , even though you have not had your proposal set they will not return any money to you, i am still trying to get paperwork off them now, try some one else like thomas charles who do charge 2 up front fees but they guarentee you if it isn't accepted they will refund plus £500 i think, sunergi are a waste of time and they will mess so much with your paaperwork to get figures to suit the creditors never mind if you can realisitcally live on whats left for the next 5 yrs, most people that have gone with synergi are now struggling and they tend to take over 5 months mimimum to get to a creditors meeting, every contact also you have with them is charged please rethink and talk to someone else.
kerri

Thanks to everyone for their advice!

I have one question though?? What would be the process if I decide to find alternative IP representation? I am worried by all the feedback that sticking with Synergi will bring long term headaches. I will ring them up tomorrow and demand some answers. They really have been dragging their heals and it just prolongs the stress. I will also ring Thomas Charles and get their advise.

Thanks again all!

Hi Flowers

I think that is a good idea for you to get a second opinion, and am sure any of the experts on this forum would be happy to help.

There is nothing wrong with you starting to pay monthly contributions right at the start of the IVA process - so long as they are fully returnable if you decide to change your mind or your IVA is not accepted.

I favour this route, from an IP perspective, as it demonstrates to me and more importantly to you, that you can afford the budget you are suggesting. But the important thing is that the money is held to your order until the creditors meeting takes place.

Let us know how you get on - and do read my blog as it gives you some useful questions to ask the prospective advisors. Good luck!

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

Hi Flowers,

I am with synergi, and i garantee it will be at least 6 months before you get a creditors meeting, I am not sure but it seems to be standard practice for them to ensure that there is funds in case it fails. If you have an opportunity to change i would advise you do this. If i were in the position you are at the moment and i had read the reviews here i would certainly had done this.

I hope it is not too late for you.

I feel that due to the incompetance of this company i am now facing BR just after 8 months.

51 payments to go
(I apologise for my keyboards poor spelling and grammar)
http://coco.blogs.iva.co.uk

Flowers, can I suggest that you phone an independent insolvency practitioner. They can't tout for business (professional ethics) especially when you're dealing with someone else so why not phone Melanie Giles.

I'm also interested in everything that's being said here because I'm researching Synergi for my blog (http://voluntaryarrangementmole.blogspot.com/) - they are actually owned by a company called Debts.co.uk. plc who trade as Debts UK and The Debt Counsellor and some of their IVA advertising is, to say the least, questionable so it's interesting to hear that they're also failing to deliver the goods.

I would therefore certainly endorse the points Melanie Giles has made about any payments you have made to Synergi. Unless you have signed a separate agreement (e.g. to pay them for advice) they are not entitled to keep your money if the IVA is turned down.

They are in breach of the law (the Insolvency Rules) if they keep the money and they should at very least be reported to either the IPA or the ACCA - i.e. the bodies who are supposed to be regulating the two IPs at Synergi.

The legal reasons why they can't keep the money are fairly straightforward. Technically, the money they are holding belongs to creditors and they are holding it in trust. They can only take the money as fees if creditors approve the payments to the insolvency practitioners from the IVA trust account as part of the IVA proposal.