Its started already :-(

[ThriftyWitch]

Well it was going to happen wasn't it?
Halifax have rung five times today (automated) and have sent a letter saying we have broken our credit agreement on a credit card and failure to pay will result in legal action being taken against us.

Ok, I knew this would happen, but I feel a bit[:(]

Whats the general advice now? Speak to them? Ignore them? Bit worried to speak to them and tell them we are going for an IVA as we have a bank account with them which our tax credits, child benefit and any money I earn from my relief work goes into. I can draw the money out but more will just go in as the above gets paid at various intervals and I am still waiting on coop to send my new bank bits out so can't phone tax creds etc with any new details.

What shall I do?

[666]

I'd wait until your coop account is good to go - get everything moved - and then start informing creditors. The annoying thing about the diallers is if you actually pick up sometimes there isnt even anyone at the other end as they 'bomb' a list of telephone numbers but only have a few agents on to take the calls.
I took out 'choose to refuse' for a month via BT which kept the phone quiet ... with 7 creditors it was ringing quite alot beforehand [:D]

[briggadeen]

Normally I would say speak to them and refer them to your IP if any questions. But I think I wouldn't do that until you got all your monies switched over - and I know from Tax Credits and Child Benefits that they quote 28 days for their systems etc to update.

Hopefully somebody else can shed some light for you.

Good luck xo

[ThriftyWitch]

Thank you both.
28 days is a concern!,

So should I not mention IVA to any creditors who phone? Even ones not associated with our banks?

Whats choose to refuse 666?

[Sinking Fast]

Hi Thrifty,

Yes the calls will come in their droves. We opted for BT Anonymous caller reject, and Chose to Refuse, which kept our phone quiet. We also decided to write to all our creditors informing them that we were proposing an IVA. Do make sure that if you inform your current bank, and if they are a creditor, that you have arranged all credits into your new account.

It is entirely your discretion if you wish to speak to creditors.

[ThriftyWitch]

Hi Thrifty,

Yes the calls will come in their droves. We opted for BT Anonymous caller reject, and Chose to Refuse, which kept our phone quiet. We also decided to write to all our creditors informing them that we were proposing an IVA. Do make sure that if you inform your current bank, and if they are a creditor, that you have arranged all credits into your new account.

It is entirely your discretion if you wish to speak to creditors.

Thank you, as I said above I can't tell my current bank yet as I have a loan and cc's with them, my new account was opened just over a week ago with the coop, but they are being hellishly slow sending out account details[:(]

Just wondered if I should mention IVA to any of my other creditors not associated with my banks?

[666]

you can ofcourse tell them if they call but it will only stop them ringing for a couple of weeks max. I wrote to all my creditors and told them what was going on but you will get put into a collections cycle and they will keep going until your creditors meeting. You'll learn to toughen up though as time goes on - I was quite scared initially but they're just doing their job at the end of the day. Most of the people I spoke to were fine - they just wanted something to put in the account notes so they could get on with their day.
Choose to refuse is a call barring service (£3.50 a month) where you can block callers from getting through. It works pretty well although some creditors have a bank of phone numbers so you cant stop all of them.

[c.j]

Out of all our creditors Halfax were a pain.Most of them laid off when we explained we were going into an iva but they still kept phoning and phoning until our iva was approved.

[justsurviving]

We changed our landline number, rang BT and explained we were getting a lot of marketing calls even though we were registered on the telephone preference service (not the main reason but true all the same!) They changed the number free of charge. This meant that the only calls I got were on my mobile. I'd ignore the call and google it to see who'd tried ringing then save the name against the number. I assigned a dog barking ringtone to the creditors. If the dog barked I didn't answer! I sent out a standard letter to all my creditors and once I'd given time for them to receive it I then answered any calls, explained the situation and almost all of them left me alone for a few weeks at a time. When they eventually rang again I'd just give them an update. Like I said most have been excellent and understanding, some even offering their help should the IVA not be accepted. The exception have been MBNA who, to be blunt, have been a right royal pain in the a**e. I'd explain we were having an IVA drawn up and they's say 'we'll put your account on hold' and then phone up again the following day and the following day and the day after that, I just started ignoring the calls again. They'd had a letter and an explanation about how I was addressing my debts, I couldn't tell them any more than I already had. I had a look back on my caller display and had had 33 calls over 10 days - unbelievable. The other exception, but only recently was Natwest who were very understanding and said they'd remove me from their auto dialler I got a further 2 calls the same night and 3 more over the next 2 days until I eventually spoke to someone who knew what they were doing and the calls have now stopped. I will happily answer the calls now as I have my creditors meeting date and this is new news for them to update their records but I'll only tell them once! At the end of the day they are only doing their job but it can be irritating. But as many have mentioned on the forums, now I've got my creditors meeting and have advised several of them about it, everything has gone eerily quiet.....

Regarding the bank account - definitely wait until you start getting money into your new account before advising them about an IVA especially if they are a creditor as I'm pretty sure they can freeze your account meaning you couldn't get at the cash.

Good Luck

Jon

[Adam Davies]

Hi
Good advice above. Do not inform Halifax of your IVA application until your wages etc are safely in your new account
Regards

[marsha1]

Hi, Chase the Coop. I got an account with them and they took ages to get me my account details. I even told them I didn't want it I got so exasperated with them!!! glad they ignored me and sent all stuff through anyway. It's a great bank

[Pandy]

Hubby is being plagued by LloydsTSB even though our meeting was last April we are getting 2 -3 letters daily and a couple of phone calls, they seem to have updated their systems regarding me but not him. We have contacted BE about it twice in the last few weeks but it is still happening [:(]