Review from Mark (1478 views)

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Review of: Bridgestones
Review date: 14 March 2007
Insolvency Practitioner who handled case: Jonathan Guy Lord
I proceeded as far along as: Accepted IVA
The solution I opted for in the end: IVA
 
Speed of response
No of days to make a decision after I spoke to IVA company: 4 days
Weeks to IVA proposal after decision made: 4 weeks
Weeks to IVA accepted/rejected after decision made: 8 weeks
 
IVA Company Ratings
Their debt solutions expertise: 10 out of 10
Their customer service: 10 out of 10
Their speed of response: 10 out of 10
Overall Company Rating: 10 out of 10
 
Insolvency Practitioner Ratings
The quality of IVA proposal: 10 out of 10
Overall Insolvency Practitioner Rating: 10 out of 10
 
My circumstances:
I am 30 and live with my wife in Lincoln, altogether I owed about £34000 in loans and cards, and I have no equity apart from a car which I use to drive a 40 mile round trip to work each day which is worth about £500.<br> <br> My wife and I moved into our rented home in March 2005, at the time I had two loans with a loan company, with the expense of moving in to our first home we ran up bills with credit and store cards.<br> <br> At this stage we decided that it would make sense to take out a third loan with the loan company we were with to pay off the credit and debit cards.<br> <br> We didn’t realise how much running a house would cost as we had been living with my parents before getting our own house, we soon started running up large credit card bills again, using the cards to pay for council tax, bills and food etc...<br> At first we could pay the extra bills every month but soon it became impossible as my wife was in a badly paid job, it got to the stage of just transferring the balances between credit cards, this also worked for a while but then I ran out of credit and no one would up my limits on the cards, sadly with the running of the house and my loans I found myself being unable to pay for everything each month, I wanted to pay all my debts back but found it impossible with inertest charges and balance transfer fees. <br> <br> My wife took the first step and contacted a company on the internet called DEBT FREE ME, they called me next day and got the ball rolling.<br>
My interaction with the company:
My first contact about applying for an IVA was through a company called DEBT FREE ME, they sent one of their people out to me to work out what was the best route to take for my finances, after going through everything it was decided that I should apply to take up an IVA.<br> <br> This was September 2006, DEBT FREE ME did all the paperwork they were fantastic, when they were confident that I had a good case for an IVA they passed me and my paperwork to BRIDGESTONES in December 2006, from then on I was dealt with by Steven Cook who I can only describe as fantastic at his job, never judging me and always on the end of the phone to answer my questions however stupid they were!<br> <br> Steven Cook went through all the paperwork and my money in goings and out goings and drew up a proposal to be sent to my creditors, this was sent to them, my creditors meeting was set for Feb. 15th 2007.<br> <br> The IVA was accepted, it was an amazing day, and a huge weight had been lifted from me and my wife we could start to live again!<br> <br> It was about 2 months between being passed from DEBT FREE ME to BRIDGESTONES having the IVA approved, I was so impressed with the speed considering this was done with Christmas and New Year in the middle!<br>
Why I gave the ratings I did:
I rated them 10 out of 10 on everything they did as I can not fault them in anyway, they did not judge me and my debt problems and they were only a call away and always put my mind at rest when I was worried, letters would drop on the mat from creditors they would be photocopied by me then sent in pre-pay envelopes to them, they did everything, my wife and I can not thank them enough for their help.<br> <br>
One thing they did - which really impressed me:
Listened and never judged me and always there to help at the end of a phone.
One thing they did - which I felt could be improved:
Nothing to improve on, they said they would try 100% to get me an IVA in place and thats what they did! 
Other points
My wife and I now live within our means, we now have control of our money and know our limits on what we can spend each month, we will never get caught by debt again, it causes too much pain, auguring and sleepless nights.<br> <br> I owed about £34000, about half of it has been written off, roughly £16000, now I have one monthly payment to BRIDGESTONES via direct debit and they do they rest for me.<br>

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Reviewer quotes

  • Bridgestones
The speediness of their service.
Review from Vignal, 01-Jun-2011
Always rang me back as soon as information was found out or anything was needed.
Review from Daniel, 29-Nov-2011
Listened and never judged me and always there to help at the end of a phone.
Review from Mark, 14-Mar-2007
Great credit to Steven Cook who was always available and kept us fully in the picture.
Review from Atkinson, 24-May-2011
Customer service, second to none.
Review from Leanne, 22-Jul-2008

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