An IP's nightmare

[catullus]

Most of the posts on this board deal(quite rightly)with the problems of debtors but it might be helpful for readers to know some of the common problems that IP's experience in their dealings with their clients.Readers here might recognise some of these failings and perhaps might start to understand how a relationship with an IP can start to deteriorate;

1 Claiming they understand when they don't.
2 Failing to return time critical information.
3 Not telling the IP the full story.
4 Signing documents that they don't understand.
5 Failing to respond to correspondence and phone calls.
6 Failing to properly read correspondence/proposals etc
7 Relying on advice from the mate at the pub.

I suspect that many readers of this forum don't fit in to these categories because readers naturally have an enquiring mind, want to understand and naturally will cooperate with their IP.
You would be amazed, however, just how many of our cases display some (if not all) of these issues and if you happen to read this post and have a problem/issue with your IP, ask yourself if you fit any of these categories.

I'm not here to defend IP's. I imagine I'll have a few things to say about them in due course but as I said in an earlier post most IP's are honest, decent people who want to do right by their clients but sometimes are frustrated by clients who just won't help themselves

[Sensible77]

I think number 7 is very true. The real information is easily available, but people seem to prefer to believe someone who has no experience of the situation. How many people mistakenly think that if you are made bankrupt, your house is sold immediately or that bailiffs can enter you home & take goods without a court order? The worse thing about this is that creditors perpetuate these myths too.

[Skippy]

I signed my proposal when I wasn't happy with it - stupid, I know. I didn't find this forum until it was too late, and I was just so grateful that something was being done about my problems. I never met or spoke to my IP at the start, and when I questioned a couple of things I was told not to worry, it didn't matter. With that wonderful thing called hindsight I would have done things differently, but hey ho, that's life.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is the present - a gift to make the most of.

View my blog at http://skippy13.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[scaredkez]

hi and welcome to the forum, it is nice to have another ip's view on iva and the difficulties with the problems arising from them, whilst i would like to agree on alot of what you said, many people on this forum that have posted negatively about their IP's have never in fact spoke to them although requested they are always to busy or dealing with other things,in my own experience everytime i phoned the office so to speak i was directed to someone else and spoke to several different people up the ladder depending where my proposal was at, i am still awaiting a call from my IP after complaining re his services but nearly 7 months on i don't think he will phone now do you?
in any trade, i would expect the professional to go through anything with a fine tooth comb to make sure they understand (quote 3) otherwise i wouldn't feel that a job was well done, all my paperwork was returned within days of receiving but still took nearly 7 months to get a creditors meeting!!!
i know you are not here to defend all ip's and there are alot of good ones out there, but the bigger iva factories are only looking at clients as pound signs, i often spoke to my comapny about the figures and was told not to worry as they had to "jiggle them" so they looked good for the creditors, i told them over and over again i was not happy but when you are desperate to rid a situation and try and make things right you will sign,after all they were the professional and i placed my trust in them, i knew nothing of iva's until reading this forum,i was told by my company i had no other option other than BR, i agree alot of what you say maybe true but a good ip will only put forward the best offer that is viable for you the client and make sure you understand everything before signing and the consequences, with out thinking of the fast buck they can make them selves first,

i don't fit into all your categories, i was told there was no other way forward for me, and was led up a very long garden path to be the loser at the end of it, if it hadn't been for this forum, melanie and admin etc i don't know what i would have done.

after a very long struggle and 10 months down the line i went BR which was the only option open to me really in the first place, instead of faulking out on IP fees when he knew that the iva would have never been accepted.

we do welcome your opinion, and we are glad to hear off other IP's as melanie is the only one so far that comes and gives her advice free of charge on the forum, we do like a good debate and i am sure others would like to tell of their experiences of their ip and how they fit into your categories above.
regards
kerri

Please view my blog at: http://scaredkez.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[catullus]

I'm delighted to have got this response so far. It does strike me that my ability to say it as it is frees me from some of the constraints that other professionals might feel.

I think that the first positive suggestion that I can make is that you should ALWAYS ask to speak to your IP before signing a letter of engagement. As far as I'm concerned, whether IVA factory or one man/woman practice, if the IP isn't prepared to speak to you at the outset of the engagement you should be able to guess what value he/she will place on your business weeks/months down the line.

I would be interested to hear other professionals views.

[scaredkez]

melanie is melanie and if you are decent you will identify yourself instead of hiding behind a name, any decent IP worth their salt will not hide behind an alias and would have identified themselves beforehand.

any pro that mails on here says where they are from, regardless, unfortunately we only have one decent ip who is prepared to give her true identity

Please view my blog at: http://scaredkez.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[catullus]

scaredkez,I don't know what your issue is. My last post singled out no IP (but tried to be politically correct) but gave some decent honest advice that I think no IP would disagree with.
As to not disclosing my ID I would prefer to be able to comment on all aspects of the "industry" free from concerns that what I might say are unpopular with debtors or creditors, or the suggestion that somehow I might be trying to self promote.
I haven't got a problem with anyone else that posts here, I genuinely want to help readers of the forum, and I have absolutely nothing to gain from posting negative comment.
I do believe, however, that by retaining my id will allow me to comment on certain industry issues in a more informative manner and, at the end of the day, there's sufficient expertise on this board that if I say things that are wrong, there will sufficient numbers who won't be slow in pointing this out.

Hope you understand now.

[scaredkez]

i have no issues and have no need to have issues i am free of ip's to a point that the only one will be taking my home lol very funny, i am not singling you out but you have come here to make a point on IP's yes? and make your point yes? i am not having ago , i welcome different opinions i had a very raw deal with my ip, and welcome fresh blood, i just wish you didn't feel the need to hide behind a name, i welcome your comments i am only saying for a long time all we have had is melanie and its nice to have someone else post in regards to iva's in my personal opinion i am so glad mine failed, there is always 2 sides of the fence, but what i am trying to say to you you will not gain any trust from this site until they know who you are,and where you come from, trust on this forum has been built up through friendship and the relying of others through their circumstances and this is something you have to be aware of, still on a personal level love to know who you are from?
all good fun yes?

on a personal level do you not think we put mel through the mill too, ask her!

Please view my blog at: http://scaredkez.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[maxdebt]

1 Claiming they understand when they don't.
2 Failing to return time critical information.
3 Not telling the IP the full story.
4 Signing documents that they don't understand.
5 Failing to respond to correspondence and phone calls.
6 Failing to properly read correspondence/proposals etc
7 Relying on advice from the mate at the pub.

1. No-one wants to look a fool especially people stupid enough to get so heavily into debt.

2. Some of the information asked for is either difficult, embarassing or involves contacting people you would much rather avoid

3. Not telling the IP the full story of what an idiot you have been, the money you have thrown away, living way way beyond your means and burying your head to the approaching realities. Of letting your family down, of the possibility of losing your home, mabye your job

4. Signing a lot of documents lately empowering this person to do that, that person to do this, legal fees, re-mortgage costs, lawers fees. Do my absolute best to understand them all but always running in the back of your mind is the terror of losing everything. If signing these documents makes that possibility less then sign

5. The postman, a friend of many years, bearer of much happy correspondence, is now bearer of bills, warnings, threats and demands. The gentle flutter drifting envelopes is now replaced by a thud of demands. I jump 2 feet when the phone rings and rush over to stare at the screen to see who it is. I always answer it anyway and give the standard reply of sorry sorry sorry I cant pay you this month I am doing my best to come up with a financial solution etc etc etc

6. I grit my teeth and open every envelope now but for months I would leave credit card bills unopened for fear of what lay within

7. No mate of mine knows about my situation

[catullus]

I do appreciate how difficult it all can be but anyone going through the procedure should remember

1 There's no need to be embarrassed, The chances are
that your IP has seen it before.
2 It's essential to tell the IP the full story.Again
they've probably seen it before and they simply
cannot advise you properly unless they know the
full story and understand your hopes and fears.
3 A good IP should always be prepared to spend time
with you explaining things that you don't
understand about the procedure/proposal and you
shouldn't be afraid to ask.

[lily]

When you are being hounded by creditors to within an inch of your sanity, you feel you are worth more dead than alive and read stories of how people are being ripped off by IVA companies you are coming from a very black place. None of us would WANT to deceive the IP company etc but its not an everyday thing to the debtor as it is for the IP. The debtor has so much more to loose than the IP. If or when desperate people stop being ripped off by the minority this relationship would be so much more likely to be based on trust.

lily

[Sensible77]

I used PayPlan for my IVA and overall, I am happy with them. I never spoke to an IP, but I didn't feel that I needed to. The Chairman of my Creditor’s Meeting was the most senior person I spoke to at PayPlan, and he answered all my questions satisfactorily. One point I would like to make is that something as important as an IVA should be dealt with locally. i.e. one that, if necessary, you can go to see easily. Their fees, which I don’t have a problem with, should take personal meetings into account, but I get the impression from some posts on this forum, that their IP feels that it is not necessary to see them. A local Chartered Accountant or solicitor wouldn’t do that, I’m sure. If you buy a house you probably use a local solicitor and if you have an accountant, you probably also use one locally to you. I can understand that people may want anonymity, which is what a distant IP can give you, but, I would have preferred to see someone face to face.

[Adam Davies]

Hi Catullus
I totally understand the reasons for you keeping your ID secret and welcome it because you will be able to help many.
As you can see from the forums response there have been many IPs and IVA providers not giving the service that they should.
I think a large amount of problems that we hear about on the forum simply come down to poor understanding and poor communication,however I,m wise enough to know that there is two sides to every story.
What are your thoughts on the equity release clauses that ask for a valuation in the fourth year and a 85 percent release of equity ?
Regards

Andy Davie
IVA.co.uk Spokesperson

About me:
http://www.iva.co.uk/andy_davie_profile.asp

IVA Helpline: 0800 197 4838
http://www.iva.co.uk/iva_helpline.asp

[thebear29uk]

Hi all

I think catullus' intention here is to provide information to the forum from an insiders perspective. By keeping their identity hidden they can pass comment about creditors and providers without damaging their professional standing.

I'm sure there are times when Melanie has to bite her tongue and not respond to a post as she would like due to professional courtesy.

Also the list of things that stops an IP doing their job effectively is useful information for any new member embarking on the IVA route. For the more experienced of us members it may come across like teaching your granny to suck eggs but somebody searching for information needs to know the facts.

Catcullus points out that they are not here to defend IP's and will have things to say about them in due course. I for one will be interested to see what is posted in the future and will respond to any posts as I see fit.

Isn't this situation the same as Storm who obviously works in the industry but provides information to the forum anonymously?

Regards

Dave

[Adam Davies]

And lets be honest we,d all be lost without Storms knowledge and quite simply he would be unable to post if he had to identify himself
Regards

Andy Davie
IVA.co.uk Spokesperson

About me:
http://www.iva.co.uk/andy_davie_profile.asp

IVA Helpline: 0800 197 4838
http://www.iva.co.uk/iva_helpline.asp