Review from Jules (2185 views)

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Review of: Payplan
Review date: 23 January 2007
Insolvency Practitioner who handled case: John Neil Harrison
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: 2 days
Weeks to IVA proposal after decision made: 2 weeks
Weeks to IVA accepted/rejected after decision made: 6 weeks
 
IVA Company Ratings
Their debt solutions expertise: 5 out of 10
Their customer service: 3 out of 10
Their speed of response: 6 out of 10
Overall Company Rating: 4 out of 10
 
Insolvency Practitioner Ratings
The quality of IVA proposal: 6 out of 10
Overall Insolvency Practitioner Rating: 8 out of 10
 
My circumstances:
I am a Hospital Manager living in Kent. I had 42k debt with 15K equity
My interaction with the company:
We were introduced to the company through a "not for profit" company. Everyone was friendly and helpful - the people I spoke to on the phone said that they had had similar problems. The Insolvency Practitioner, whom we met at the Creditors meeting was kind and helpful. He was very Gentlemanly. He assured us that his company were there to "hold our hands" througout the IVA process. We liked and trusted him. He also mentioned a sister company, who, if our proposals had failed, might still have been able to help us.
Why I gave the ratings I did:
Initially the company were excellent. However, the "sister" company took over, and the overall attitude has become much more "aggressive" - although passively. The staff openly admitted to me that their sole remit is to get as much money for the creditors as is possible. Of course our creditors are entitled to their money, there is no questions of that. We have always paid, and always paid the anual increase as and when asked to increase our "Voluntary" contributions.
One thing they did - which really impressed me:
I cannot think of anything since the "sister" company took over - although I could say that I am impressed by the way that I cannot get answers, or direct answers to direct questions when I need to. I may also say that I was impressed by the ambiguity of the last letter I received from them - unless you know how to read the facts behind the way the letter is written, it could be very scary.
One thing they did - which I felt could be improved:
At the last Annual Review, we had an overall increase in "disposable income" of £6.23. That was enough for them to halve our supposed disposable income, and we were left with some £95.00 per month spare. This has not covered the increase in the utilities, coucil tax etc, and I really believe that they are trying to push us into bankruptcy, as our debtors would benefit even more. - I do not say that our creditors are not entitled to as much money to be recovered as possible - of course they are. There is a difference between managing an IVA and discreetly tyring to, in my opinion, push someone towards bankruptcy. We opted for the sixth year in which we pay back 75% of the 15K of equity in the property, in order to protect our home. Our creditors would stand to gain more if we had to go bankrupt in the interim.We have been unable to undertake repairs, and very little in the way of maintenance on the property in the last 5 years. - I dont think that a sale price would reach the full potential because of this. 
Other points
Current circumstances are that I am facing ill health retirement because I have a chronic degenerative disease. My future is very uncertain at this time, as the company have made no bones about the fact that if I cannot keep up my payments they will bankrupt us. - Great if you have a pension etc, but grave if you dont. We have paid 4 1/2 years of the 5, and have the last year to pay the equity. In corresponding with another company, I discovered that there is insurance avilable to cover things like sickness. However, nothing like that was ever mentioned to us at the beginning of the IVA. When I asked the other company if mentioning that should be the norm. they replied "no - you would have been told if your payments cease your IVA will fail." Perhaps there is some room for thought here on the regulatory side? In learning terms it has been a long road. We will never have credit cards again, and I wish there were more serious information for others. Buying on credit is so easy - just the swipe of a card, and you can have whatever it is that you want.I know that one should be able to use self-control - there is no excuse for that really. However, we were very poor when I was growing up, and perhaps that had some kind of bearing on spending. (I do not offer that as an excuse)I also thought it was fine because they kept raising my credit limit without aksing me - so I must have been worth it - mustnt I...? Is there some way of publicly advertising the ease, and the ultimate cost? I feel really strongly about that - if only others knew where it could lead!In terms of writing off debt, I cannot be sure at this point. It could be that I will have repaid 75% of what I owed, if I am not bankrupted because I am ill.

Community Comments of this review

Quality? Genuine? Date
5 out of 5 5 out of 5 08 June 2007
Quality? Genuine? Date
5 out of 5 5 out of 5 08 February 2007
Comment: A good insight into this creditor controlled company
 
Quality? Genuine? Date
5 out of 5 5 out of 5 05 February 2007
Quality? Genuine? Date
5 out of 5 5 out of 5 05 February 2007
Quality? Genuine? Date
5 out of 5 5 out of 5 05 February 2007
Quality? Genuine? Date
5 out of 5 5 out of 5 05 February 2007
Quality? Genuine? Date
5 out of 5 5 out of 5 05 February 2007
Quality? Genuine? Date
5 out of 5 5 out of 5 30 January 2007
Comment: I note that the original Insolvency Practitioner, who was well rated, is now no longer a part of this company
 
Quality? Genuine? Date
5 out of 5 5 out of 5 30 January 2007
Quality? Genuine? Date
5 out of 5 5 out of 5 30 January 2007
Quality? Genuine? Date
5 out of 5 5 out of 5 24 January 2007

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Reviewer quotes

  • Payplan
I cannot think of anything since the "sister" company took over - although I could say that I am imp...
Review from Jules, 23-Jan-2007
The speed that they replied to queries.
Review from MP1965, 15-May-2009
relieved my stress making me ill!!
Review from Adyj73, 30-Jul-2011
they were very reasurring, and was in constant contact with me all the way threw
Review from mr e, 02-Aug-2007
I was really impressed by their speedy replies and any time they said they would call, they did, at ...
Review from jimmyc, 12-Sep-2007

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  • Very poor company customer service wise, I also have ended up with them after my account was transfe...
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