IVA Mediation

[admin]

Hi Everyone,

We are pleased to announce 'The IVA Mediation Service'. This new service will try and resolve disputes between consumers and IVA firms/Debt companies.

Many times these disputes are down to a misunderstanding. Hopefully we can resolve the majority of these disputes or bring them to the attention of the relevant company.

In the event that the dispute cannot be resolved, we will escalate it to the relevant regulatory body.

To log a dispute please visit:
http://www.iva.co.uk/iva_mediation_hotline.asp

To see resolved disputes please visit:
http://www.iva.co.uk/iva_disputes.asp


Thanks

IVA.co.uk Mediation Team

[plasticdaft]

I thought this was to resolve issues between forum posters?!?

[admin]

Hi plasticdaft, the service can be used by anyone who has a dispute with an IVA firm or debt solutions company. Neither the individual or firm in question need to be posting on the forum in order to log the dispute.

However, disputes can be raised on the forum. Also we will post details of disputes on the forum to encourage community feedback.

Hope that clarifies things and thanks for your question.

best

[ivas4us]

That sounds like a good idea.

[Adam Davies]

Hi
The hope is that IVA.co.uk we can bring further transparancy to the insolvency industry. How a firm deals with a complaint/dispute is important and will give you an idea of how effective, and how important they view their customer service.
Regards

[ivas4us]

Andy,
I noticed a post yesterday was locked as they were unhappy with a misunderstanding with thier IP but I didn't see anything untoward actually posted. Is the forum now looking for people to solve any misunderstandings through this mediation route rather than posts on the forum.

[admin]

The community feedback on disputes is invaluable and will continue to be promoted. This additional service means that the dispute will be raised with the relevant company so that we can reach a settlement and record an official resolution. It is useful to bring the relevant companies into the loop directly as every story has two sides. Not every company posts on the forum which is why we launched this new service. However every dispute will be posted on here for community feedback.

best

[MelanieGiles]

What a brilliant idea chaps - and I very much welcome this an an IP who does have the occasional dispute with a client - generally through misunderstanding or miscommunication.

Having a dedicated route to discuss issues, rather than forum posts becoming rather lost with everyone chipping in (without detailed knowledge of the individual aspects of the case), is going to be far more valuable for the person suffering from the misunderstanding in the long run.

I fully support details of the initial query being posted on the forum, and the end result, but sometimes these issues get discussed on the forum and leave the client in an even worse stage of confusion - the "too many cooks" syndrome! And IP firms are bound to welcome this, as none of us like to think our clients are suffering or are unhappy about their IVAs or DMPs.

This could also be useful if anyone wanted someone to take a quick look at their IVA proposal before entering into it as well - a second pair of eyes could be useful if the mediation service were able to help in this area as well?

[Adam Davies]

Hi
The complaint that iva4us has mentioned was made before we launched the mediation service, so going forward future complaints will be dealt with via the service and details posted for all to see.
Melanie makes an excellent point in that comments are often made without the full facts and every case has two sides to the story. We will continue to discuss various problems, various companies on the forum but specifc complaints will be dealt with by the mediation service.
Regards

[ivas4us]

A great idea and yes the mediation service is a far better way of resolving any disputes between any individual and any IP firm rather than a slanging match on the the forum. If the IP firm has not got a representative on the forum will thier response to any complaint be shown via the mediation service as well or will it be geared to IP's that have a representative on the forum.

[MelanieGiles]

If you look at the Mediation section, you can read an example of a response from an IP firm already posted.

[ivas4us]

will they all be posted there even if the IP company has no links to the forum, as it would be nice to see a balance across the full spectrum of all IVA providers.

[MelanieGiles]

One would assume so - I cannot see why iva.co.uk would want to simply limit this service to firms who contribute to the forum.

[ivas4us]

thats good news, I like to see a balanced view so that anybody looking in for the first time can get a clear picture.

[kallis3]

An excellent service!

Hopefully it won't need to be used too often!