Grant Thornton as IP

struggler

CCCS in Northern Ireland looked at my situation, and recommended I go to Grant Thornton to arrange IVA (Full & Final lump sum )

Has anyone experience of them ? I know they are a big accountancy firm, but wonder if a DMP would be better

Charco_2

It's rare for CCCS to recommend an IVA

Charco_2

so perhaps it is your best solution!

What part of Northern Ireland are you in?

If you want a second opinion, ring payplan, ring another IP firm, ring CAB ring a Debt Management Company... they'll all perhaps give you differing opinions but ask questions and when you feel you've got it right in your head think about it a wee bit more (post on here) and decide for yourself.

At the end of the day it's YOU who is going to be affected by the decision you take so dont let someone else make the choice for you. Get informed and make the choices yourself.

Any questions then the people on here are generally very helpful!

struggler

Thanks Charco, I am within 12 miles of Belfast, the CCCS people are a sub-contracted firm in the North West and after a long conversation decided that I should go to Grant Thornton for an IVA. I was a little surprised at the quick referral and she made an implication that all IVA's in N I go through this firm. Can this be correct?

Pay plan a year ago had suggested a DMP managed by me , not them, but I have managed for another year but need urgent advice now before I fail to make minimum payments

Charco_2

No, there are other IPs in Northern Ireland... why would CCCS indicate otherwise?

struggler

Perhaps because of some incentive ! (perish the thought)

Charco_2

How dare you, they're a charity! :rolleyes:

EDIT: Grant Thornton vote on IVAs on behalf of the creditors... they also draft proposals. One hand doesn't know what the other is doing so there is no conflict of interest :beer:... sorry i mean - i believe the term is Chinese walls! You're right though, there's no way CCCS hand over IVAs over to GT for free. No reason why this would adversely affect you getting an IVA done with them though so i wouldn't worry. If you wanted a second opinion though, you could always look up other "Norn Irn" IPs and find one or two who'll talk to you - even have a face to face meeting with you if you like - for free. Cant hurt!

The main thing however is not to pay anybody anything until they've actually done some work for you - plenty of companies will demand an up-front fee but there are enough out there who'll talk for free so make sure you fid one of those (this can't be stressed enough!)

creative70

Hi

I have recently embarked on the process of dealing with an IVA. CCCS also recommended Grant Thornton to me, so far so good, professional and organised at least and full of advice. No fees up front, they take the fees from the 'pot' if all is agreed with my creditors. Hope it helps

notenoughmoney

our IVA is with Grant Thornton, we have had it for 2 years, my only problems with them are when we ring we never seem to be able to talk to our IP only juniors, and I have realised setting up the iva was less about how much you need to live on and more about the final monthly figure they want to end up with, which is why our IVA is now failing. We too were passed on by CCCS.

Charco_2

Hi not enough money, have you spoken to GT about the fact that you seem to be struggling?

Force them to listen! Work out how much short you are every month and work out how much this will leave your IVA short by at the end. (ie You're paying £300 but can only really afford £260. You're £40 per month short with 30 months remaingin on your IVA - leaving your IVA short by £1200 overall) Then you might be allowed to pay for an extra 6 months at the end to make up the difference (6 x £260 = £1560) and even pay for the six months extra supervision fees!

I'm just making up figures as an example obviously!

If you're a home owner, there may already be plans to extend your IVA to allow you to make up a difference in Equity release but this shouldn't be a major problem. Your IP should have an interest in making sure your IVA is viable and ultimately successful... While also making sure they achieve as good an outcome for your creditors as they can.

notenoughmoney

yes I spoke to them, well at least to a junior.
When I told them we couldn't make our payment because husband has just had a heart attack and I then needed to put the car in to a garage for a job hubby was going to do, and costs involved with him being in hospital, they showed no understanding and only were interested in how we were going to make up the missing payment. His heart attack focussed us though, as hubby can no longer do overtime, as this was the only thing that kept our IVA going, we are letting the IVA fail and have offered a F+F, if that fails we will apply for bankrupcy as we have no assets.