www.iva.co.uk

Just had s bizarre conversation with Very who phoned chasing their payment. Told them we were in process of setting up Iva , gave them IP and creditors meeting date. She then went on to a sky “Why did you not go through Stepchange?” And “how much is your IP charging you we can refer you and Stepchange is free for Iva’s”. I explained a) that’s none of her business. And b) that’s none of her business and c) no they aren’t free. Also that it isn’t her place to be telling me where to get financial advice from ! She then went on and on to the extent I asked her if she was working on commission ! Then she asked WHY I decided to go with my IP not Stepchange so she could note it. I told her I was ending the conversation and put the phone down.

Definitely speak to your IP about this and I would make a complaint to Very!

I agree with Kallis - very unprofessional and should be reported.

Stepchange and Payplan are, in part, funded by "donations" from creditors and are often the firms "pushed" by them when borrowers get into trouble. Personally I think it borders on miss-selling when pushing a product (firm) on a vulnerable individual. But,hey, many lenders have a history of such practices !!

Jackdaw wrote:

Just had s bizarre conversation with Very who phoned chasing their payment. Told them we were in process of setting up Iva , gave them IP and creditors meeting date. She then went on to a sky “Why did you not go through Stepchange?” And “how much is your IP charging you we can refer you and Stepchange is free for Iva’s”. I explained a) that’s none of her business. And b) that’s none of her business and c) no they aren’t free. Also that it isn’t her place to be telling me where to get financial advice from ! She then went on and on to the extent I asked her if she was working on commission ! Then she asked WHY I decided to go with my IP not Stepchange so she could note it. I told her I was ending the conversation and put the phone down.

Hi Jackdaw

Whilst SC are funded partly by charitable donations from cc companies etc. the reason that the call handler asked you this question is because often commercial IVA providers charge a lot more than SC and Payplan. They add these charges to your IVA amount, so essentially you could end up repaying much more with them than SC etc. I understand why people are suspicious, but it's actually in your own interest to compare the costs of getting an IVA with a few providers to see who offers the best value.

Critter1 wrote:

Jackdaw wrote:

Just had s bizarre conversation with Very who phoned chasing their payment. Told them we were in process of setting up Iva , gave them IP and creditors meeting date. She then went on to a sky “Why did you not go through Stepchange?” And “how much is your IP charging you we can refer you and Stepchange is free for Iva’s”. I explained a) that’s none of her business. And b) that’s none of her business and c) no they aren’t free. Also that it isn’t her place to be telling me where to get financial advice from ! She then went on and on to the extent I asked her if she was working on commission ! Then she asked WHY I decided to go with my IP not Stepchange so she could note it. I told her I was ending the conversation and put the phone down.

Hi Jackdaw

Whilst SC are funded partly by charitable donations from cc companies etc. the reason that the call handler asked you this question is because often commercial IVA providers charge a lot more than SC and Payplan. They add these charges to your IVA amount, so essentially you could end up repaying much more with them than SC etc. I understand why people are suspicious, but it's actually in your own interest to compare the costs of getting an IVA with a few providers to see who offers the best value.

Hi Critter. I have to take issue with your statement re fees. In fact Stepchange and Payplan both charge around the same amount in fees as the majority of IVA providers -- commonly 15% as often set by the creditors themselves. There are a couple of firms who try for 20% - 23%, but these are often limited at the initial meeting s to the usual 15%. Furthermore Stepchange actually farm out a number of applications to private firms. All IVA operators work the same way regarding the relationship of fees to the IVA repayment amounts.

I have to agree with Foggy - all firms have charges.

Hello

Agreed all firms do have charges but the OP was suggesting that SC and PP were being 'pushed' and bad in some way.
I'm simply suggesting that it might be in the customers' best interest:

1) The charges may be lower with other providers

And also:

2) SC can do a proper I+E and check whether an IVA is definitely the right solution

Commercial organisations might in theory suggest IVA because it is profitable, not necessarily the best solution in the interest of the customer. I'm not suggesting that this is always the case, but it is possible.

Just my two pence!

Critter1 wrote:

Hello


1) The charges may be lower with other providers

But that would mean more for the creditors.

Critter1 wrote:

Hello

Agreed all firms do have charges but the OP was suggesting that SC and PP were being 'pushed' and bad in some way.
I'm simply suggesting that it might be in the customers' best interest:

1) The charges may be lower with other providers

And also:

2) SC can do a proper I+E and check whether an IVA is definitely the right solution

Commercial organisations might in theory suggest IVA because it is profitable, not necessarily the best solution in the interest of the customer. I'm not suggesting that this is always the case, but it is possible.

Just my two pence!

All things are possible And why should Stepchange not do the same thing (possibly) ?

ALL providers must carry out a proper I&E to determine the correct solution (however, I agree that there are some who are more dilligent than others -- as with everything).

At the end of the day there is little between the "charity" organisations and the private sector -- even to the service standards they do ( or do not) offer. The only difference is that the majority of creditors do "push" PP or SC on borrowers in trouble.

Again - totally agree with Foggy.

As far as I am aware - fees are pretty much the same regardless and will be agreed (or modified) by creditors at the meeting - makes no difference to your payments.

The girl at Very was insistent that Stepchange “do IVA’s for free”. Which is clearly not true and could be confusing to people in a vulnerable position. They shouldn’t be giving false information.

Jackdaw wrote:

The girl at Very was insistent that Stepchange “do IVA’s for free”. Which is clearly not true and could be confusing to people in a vulnerable position. They shouldn’t be giving false information.

I suppose they appear "free at the point of sale" as the fees form part and parcel of the regular payments -- exactly like most other firms. Although the charity firms do not make this claim themselves, they do nothing to dispel it. In point of fact they do DMPs "free from fees", so the creditors get a bigger cut, so they do have their redeeming points. To be fair, we get very few complaints about Stepchange, so they must be doing something right !