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love hope and strength

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Post by love hope and strength » Sat Sep 18, 2010 11:32 am
Hi all,

I have decided to take the IVA route and have an appointment with CCCS next week and have put an enquiry form into Melanie Giles company.

I applied for a Nationwide Flex Account which they seem to have accepted and am waiting for them to open fully (had a letter just requesting my signature). I am paid on Thursday so will be setting the alarm so I can get up early to transfer my wages into my new account via internet banking (hope it works).

I have up to now kept up with my payments but have decided going forward to stop paying since I just haven't got the money to pay my creditors and my wages don't cover the overdraft. Barclays returned a direct debit to Egg and I have just had my first 'chasing for payment' call.

I'm trying to stay calm in the knowledge that I am trying to sort out my mess. Should I just ring all the others to let them know or just wait? I'm really scared my wages are just going to get whipped by Barclays and I will be in complete limbo.
 
 

Shining

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Post by Shining » Sat Sep 18, 2010 11:36 am
I would remove your wages as soon as you can and I'm afraid the calls will come thick and fast, how you deal with them is up to you. I personally wrote to all my creditors once a month but in hindsight I don't think it did a lot. I took every call too when convenient and sometimes you can buy time with doing that, they often said ok thanks, we'll call you back next week thereby they weren't calling at every opportunity.

Have a script and stick to it, is my advice, don't let them bully you into paying anything. x
IVA final payment left the bank on the 26th January 2013...looking forward to a debt free future.
 
 

kallis3

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Post by kallis3 » Sat Sep 18, 2010 12:07 pm
Excellent advice from Lesley.

I personally did not speak to my creditors at all and it makes no difference to your application.

It does sometimes make a difference as to the number of calls you get, but as Lesley says, don't be intimidated by them. They are just call centre workers trying to earn commision on top of a basic wage and they will try and bully you.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley.
http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
 
 

TheMatrix

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Post by TheMatrix » Sat Sep 18, 2010 12:45 pm
Tell them you are not in ;-) incorrectly answer their security questions. Just put the phone down when they say who they are. Unplug your phone, change your number on their banking system, or change your phone numbers. Some of the ways to avoid their calls and the intimidation.

It gets personal however when or if they start calling you at work, as they did with me. I told them I'd call them on the evening, and certainly made that call to tell them in no uncertain terms to stop calling and harrassing me at work, cause by doing so they were jepodising my job and thus my ability to pay them through a IVA and they would get nothing in doing that as the only option then would be to declare bankruptcy.
Last edited by TheMatrix on Sat Sep 18, 2010 12:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
We're willing to wipe the slate clean, give you a fresh start. All that we're asking in return is your cooperation.
 
 

JoeB

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Post by JoeB » Sat Sep 18, 2010 2:22 pm
This is the worst time - calls and letters - but keep calm. Calls - we pulled the plug on the bt line for the 6 weeks or so it took setting up the IVA and used the mobile easier to screen calls - the letters are not too bad! Remember you are now moving forward and not just treading water wasting money. Its hard now but will get better - be careful and make sure you budget fr everything on the IVA proposal - that is absolutely crucial
 
 

kallis3

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Post by kallis3 » Sat Sep 18, 2010 2:50 pm
We were lucky in that we took out BT Broadband talk at the time and so had a totally different phone number. I just used to plug the other phone back in occasionally to clear ansaphone messages and see who had called.

The letters I used to reply to. Never answered a call though until the date of acceptance when I took great pleasure in telling Mercers they couldn't contact me any more!
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley.
http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
 
 

nepensioner

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Post by nepensioner » Sat Sep 18, 2010 2:54 pm
Hi
I am a few weeks ahead of you and the calls have just Started. I wrote 3 weeks ago to all my creditors telling them that I am in the process of applying for an IVA and Melanies team did the same. I have so far answered the phone but have just repeated what was in the letter and refused to answer other questions like how many creditors do you have and what brought you to this position. The first call was the worst and now have script that I stick to. I found that by not answering the auto dialler, in one case they called 17 times over 2 days so decided just to answer in the end. I suspect as the others say it really makes no difference, its whatever you feel comfortable with. Good luck
F & F Accepted 19th Oct 2010
 
 

love hope and strength

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Post by love hope and strength » Sat Sep 18, 2010 2:56 pm
@kallis3 that sounds like a good plan to me! I will unplug the phone, answer letters and only answer calls if my IVA proposal is accepted .... please god!
 
 

kallis3

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Post by kallis3 » Sat Sep 18, 2010 3:05 pm
I'm sure you will be ok. Just don't let the calls and letters get to you.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley.
http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
 
 

bobby1969

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Post by bobby1969 » Sat Sep 18, 2010 3:05 pm
when i started to get calls i was so stressed out some of the call centres are so rude and egg were the worst
my wife said why dont you just find the most stupid word you can that means nothing and put it in the conversation and just say it a few times
i know it was not the correct thing to do but when you are at your lowest small things cheer you up
dont worry it will pass ,i get a few calls now but i do the security questions then say i am not in even though the answers are correct the call centre cannot cope with it and put the phone down
 
 

kallis3

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Post by kallis3 » Sat Sep 18, 2010 3:11 pm
The calls should stop soon Bobby. Just refuse to answer the security questions, or do as I would do in your position, be less than polite!
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley.
http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
 
 

Broke of London

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Post by Broke of London » Sat Sep 18, 2010 4:22 pm
For each creditor, I took the first call, explained I was proposing an iva and asked them to contact my caseworker with any further calls. My caseworker suggested referring them to him knowing full well no one would have the initiative to call. I also told them I would not be answering their questions or making a payment ever. It was inevitable they would continue calling so then I started having some fun!! Just do not believe anything they tell you about ivas... They know less than you do and will lie their a***s off to get even the smallest token payment as it hits a target. Stay strong the calls will dry up.

*sorry - had to do a little censoring!*
 
 

leaKybrain

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Post by leaKybrain » Sat Sep 18, 2010 4:41 pm
This is really helping me this thread, I'm not strong enough to answer the phone, but have told hubby tht if by accident we pick up the phone and its a chaser that we are to either hang up or just say 'an iva is in process of being set up, sorry you've wasted your call' then hang up.
 
 

kallis3

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Post by kallis3 » Sat Sep 18, 2010 4:51 pm
Good reply - just don't get involved in any conversations with them. They will try and bully you into making payments. Don't let them.
Sharing from experiences of dealing with debt
The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.
Bob Marley.
http://kallis3.blogs.iva.co.uk
 
 

love hope and strength

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Post by love hope and strength » Sat Sep 18, 2010 6:38 pm
All of your replies have helped like you wouldn't believe. I received a call from Melanie's team this afternoon, only sent my enquiry in this morning - wow !!

I have learnt so much in 7 days and so so glad I found this forum - I'll be sticking around. Cheers guys x
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