www.iva.co.uk

Another excellent topic on IVA complaints why so few on debt camel this month certainly worthy of a read

http://debtcamel.co.uk/why-few-iva-complaints/

I do agree that compliants can be handled badly and many people give up but I also believe that there are not the number of complaints that people think. People rarely go onto online forums to say all is well so the comments on the like of this forum will be loaded towards complaints and is not reflective of a sample cross section of IVAs. This would be true of most online forums.

We get complaints like everyone else but we try and deal with them inhouse so how you deal with a complaint is in itself vital. No one likes complaints or unhappy customers and if we can resolve the problem to the client's satisfaction they will rarely take the matter forward.

In the vast majority of cases the clients are thankful for their IVAs and express their gratitude to their IP. If we make a mistake the client will usually forgive this as the good things we have done for them outweigh the bad and provided your overall service is good then you should be able to deal with most complaints without the need for the regulators.

Well said Michael.

We were certainly grateful for our IVA and mostly had good service from Payplan.

Everyone makes mistakes and whilst some can be bad, at the end of the day we are only human.

font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by kallis3

Well said Michael.

We were certainly grateful for our IVA and mostly had good service from Payplan.

Everyone makes mistakes and whilst some can be bad, at the end of the day we are only human.

It's the related mistakes, time and time and time again that are the problem, when it starts to look like its a co oany policy to enforce something on those in an IVA in the hope they won't grumble and complain becaue of the imbalance of power and embarrassment associated with being a financial failure.

I'm inclined to agree with debt camel (not based on personal experience) but instead based on what I have read here in the last year, I believe all IP's should be mandated to be part of one government association and that association has the power to come down on an IP or firm they represent harder than Thors hammer when it transpired they are guilty of sharp practise and e.g. Trying underhand techniques on a regular basis, let's face it, a fine of a few thousand quid is nothing, they can get that off next mug that doesn't question e.g. Them being told they have to do equity release when they don't have to, or they have to take an unsecured loan for 25 years when they are not bound by protocols that say they do.

Until such time as there is a an association which represents the consumer with almighty power in the IVA market nothing will change, what we need is a "rogue traders" episode on the IVA firms that are persistently guilty, such that no one will ever use them again and the likes of someone asking the relevant ministers in a harassing bulldog way on camera "but why do you let firm X continue to trade in this market when it is clear they are abusing consumers, you don't allow it in any other sector so why are those in vulnerable financial positions an acceptable target to the government" etc etc bla bla bla..

But that would be far too sensible, the government loves its statistics that paint them in a better light instead.....

The problem is though that there are far more people out there either in an IVA or looking at one than there are on here so I doubt you will ever solve the problem.

There is roughly 180000 people in an iva at any one stage - a working complaints process is workable.

The iva industry generally seems reluctant to want one.

font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by kallis3

The problem is though that there are far more people out there either in an IVA or looking at one than there are on here so I doubt you will ever solve the problem.

I agree, but large solutions that benefit many today were once just a spark in one persons mind who had the time and determination to try and change things, what we need is for the insolvency service to be the ones to propose this as and harassing TV people (like watchdog and Martin Lewis etc) to get it in the light and then the government to do something about it.

love
Erin (Brockovich)

I think many people will keep quiet rather than complain due to feeling unable or unwilling to rock the boat. Iva firms whose 1st response to any formal complaint is to claim the iva could fail have an attitude of the client is over a barrel!

Just my personal opinion on the subject.

Paul

Comes out of the insolvency act basically stating that an ip is God and that any decision they make cannot be changed.

I'm with Paul on my opinion too. A lot enter the IVA and accept whatever is handed to them, through fear of failure some of the time. I was happy within my IVA (relatively) as I had a good understanding IP.

Sometimes an IVA just isn't the correct solution for your circumstances. Mine was mis-sold to me from Payplan. They were helpful but pushed for more and more monthly payments until eventually I knew I couldn't take anymore. The inflexibility of them and the ball ache I had when my partner became pregnant and they were unwilling to discuss my monthly payments till after the baby was born was the final straw. I won't complain as they didn't break any rules. IVA's are a godsend to some people. To others they are a ball and chain.

I suspect that many people simply don't even know they've been given the wrong information by their IP. Many of us here are a little more savvy but most of the 180,000 people in IVAs possibly aren't.

font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by thisusernameistaken

I suspect that many people simply don't even know they've been given the wrong information by their IP. Many of us here are a little more savvy but most of the 180,000 people in IVAs possibly aren't.

Exactly, in my letter to the insolvency service I said if let they should be sending information out to people in IVA reminding them of a typical FAQ type document about what can and can not be expected off them. They have the database of everyone in one, so why not educate them.

font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by longslog101

font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by kallis3

The problem is though that there are far more people out there either in an IVA or looking at one than there are on here so I doubt you will ever solve the problem.

I agree, but large solutions that benefit many today were once just a spark in one persons mind who had the time and determination to try and change things, what we need is for the insolvency service to be the ones to propose this as and harassing TV people (like watchdog and Martin Lewis etc) to get it in the light and then the government to do something about it.

love
Erin (Brockovich)

Can't agree on the Martin Lewis thing I'm afraid. Undoubtedly a clever man, however his knowledge of IVA's, as demonstrated by his hopeless guide to them that you can find online, is clearly inadequate. Maybe that's the wrong adjective. Incompetent, misleading and obsolete may be better ones, and he should be encouraged to either take it down completely or, if not, then update it so that it is a reflection of the here and now.

It may be just me, but I cannot access anything on the Debt Camel site, or the link provided, so cannot comment on that as yet.

Regards.

May just be you as it works for me - try http://debtcamel.co.uk/why-few-iva-complaints/

This is the Martin Lewis guide that I found http://images2.moneysavingexpert.com/at ... aGuide.pdf

Not sure when it was written but to be fair it provides more information directly than most companies web sites.