www.iva.co.uk

i have recently been dealing with the debt advisory line and feel i have been badly misled

they had innitially told me that that i would qualify for an iva and that it would work out to be 300 a month for 5 years and that the first payment would be of 375

and then once the third payment had gone through ( which goes towards the 5 years) that my case would be passed onto an IP and they would present my case in court

i had not set up a standing order with them as at the time they had advised me to open a new account as creditors can take money from your account. i had been told when paying the 375 innitially that the debt advisory line does not keep any payment details on record when i had phoned to make the first payment. i had tried calling the debt advisory line after the second payment to see how my case was progressing and had left several messages and had not heard any answer from them. i finally got through to them and they had also had advised me that a third payment had already been taken out from my account (without my permission) so obviously payment details were kept. i did not want to pay this payment as i felt that this company is not right. i had told the person that i want an explanation of this and will be expecting a phone call and still have not received one. the ip mitchell farrar had sent an agreement stating that there fees were 2,000 and that this could also go up acoording to a time cost basis. i really do not want to proceed with this firm and was told innitially that it will be 300 a month.....i feel really stuck and at an end with know where to turn. i do want to make some sort of payments towards my debts but feel that being ccj is my only option left.

am i doing the right thing i cant afford theese fees

Hello headbuttingthe wall and welcome to the forum.

The initial fees that you have paid will have been for the Debt Advisory Line to 'introduce' you to an IP.

You do not have to use this firm, and it does sound as though you have been treated badly. You should contact them and ask for your money back, but I would be surprised if they agreed to repay you.

Contact one of the experts who posts on here, you can find their details under the experts link on the left hand side of the page. Or visit iva.com for a list of companies and reviews. Give one or two a ring. The advice is free and impartial and the majority of companies will not charge you upfront fees.

If you decided to go for bankruptcy, do you have any assets you might lose?

Hi and a very warm welcome to the forum from myself.

I would definitely take Jan's advice and take a look at www.iva.com for a list of companies and some reviews and then contact 2 or 3 alternative IP's, you can get impartial free advice. If you're not happy now you have a long journey to go when in an IVA so being content and satisfied with your IP is paramount.

The professionals who post on site come highly recommended by many. Please give 2 or 3 a call and see what they can do for you and we're always here if you need any further advice/support along the way x

Hi there - have they ever explained to you exactly what these fees are for? And did they give you a choice of IP firms that they feed cases into? I have never heard of an IP called Mitchell Farrar, or a firm of that name, and it doesn't sound to me as if anyone has properly explained the basis of an IVA with you or the fees involved.

Why not take advice from another IP firm directly. A number of reputable firms will be back at work tomorrow, and a phone call for reassurance will not cost anything. You really should be careful to not enter into any form of repayment agreement that you do not feel you can afford - this would be a recipe for disaster.

welcome HBTW
definitely take the advice posted and please post if youre unsure and need more help x

Mitchell Farrar were a mortgage broker, its possible that in the credit crunch they have moved into insolvency work. Several other firms have. I just googled them and they appear to be recruiting an IP.

I fell into the trap of paying money to a Debt advisor. Talk to IP's direct this should be free advice.

Well they cannot do formal insolvency work until they have an IP, so I am now curious as to what is actually going on with this case! Are they intending to refer you to an insolvency practitioner in the meantime?

You'd think the "Debt Management Provider of the Year 2008/2009" and a member of the DRF would be a bit more concerned about their reputation.

I think that the Debt Advisory Line is owned by Mitchell Farrar, but I still cannot find trace of an IP - and certainly one is not listed on the Insolvency Service website.

A company cannot call itself Insolvency Practitionera unless it has an Insolvency Practitioner either employed or owning the company, so perhaps they have recently appointed one.

I couldn't find them either.

They could be just be acting as intermediaries I suppose.

hi, long time lurker first time poster
i started the iva process before i found this site, any way i went with the debt advisory line/ mitchell ferrar and can confirm that Timothy J Pope is dealing with my proposal as the licensed insolvency practitioner at mitchell ferrar

Hi bilko, and welcome to the forum.

He is actually shown as working for a company called JB Law, so I assume that the other companies are acting as intermediaries.

Mr Pope is a solicitor and also an insolvency practitioner. Whilst it is possible for solicitors to qualify as IPs, this is generally done to ensure that they have appropriate insolvency knowledge to advice on insolvency legal matters rather than taking on insolvency appointments. He must be a very busy chap!

He is on the IS website, but, as you say Mel, he must be very busy!

Personally speaking I would deal with an IP who deals solely with debt problems.