provident agents [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM]

teamspirit

wannatelluastory wrote: »

Am the same wouldnt know where to start. Someone on here a week ago said they were organising one but dont know if it got off the ground.

just had a look, one has been started PROVIDENT AGENTS TOGETHER

Marvin-the-Martian_2

just ask yourselves this question
what has provident ever done for us?
actually i am being Pythonesque

bradfordhq

Hard to collect from people when u cant call at the door because they have gone to Debt
management ,not the agents fault ,the companies fault for not carrying out proper credit checks
before issueing loans ,or the company agrees to a reduced payment rate ,not the Agent .
but the Agent is still penalised ..
THE AGENTS ARE THE COMPANY WITHOUT THEM THIS COMPANY WOULD BE NOTHING
its about time Theses wallers of the Higher Authority Department Realised this ..
And also in my opinion its nots the best Idea in the world to upset thousands of people who are dealing with
hundreds of millions of pounds of your money

AgentStig

I have been ferreting around trying to find my agreement with Provident ( no mean feat when you have done 11 years as an Agent !) The most recent update I can find from 2002 states under section 2 - Self employed Status,and I quote
"We have introduced a few changes in the agreement to reinforce your self employed status.
We have also clarified our authority to make deductions from your commission payments in specified circumstances,such as errors in money collected."
I can find no mention of Pot Deduction specified anywhere,so therefore I must conclude that Provident are in breach of the agreement.
The second paragraph is just as interesting,and I quote
"We are not making any changes to the commission arrangements but we have included a provision,for the avoidance of doubt,that your commission includes a payment in respect of any statutory period of annual leave to which you are or may become entitled.", I wonder if Chris Gillespie has read this,as I am led to believe that the 'Pot' system was his brainwave !
I am currently researching our entitlement to holiday pay via The European Working Time Directive but for now I must urge all agents to write to Board of Directors expressing your dismay at the treatment of us long serving and very loyal agents.Even if it is only a short note to register that we are working under duress in this situation please, please do it quickly.The higher the volume of letters that they receive the quicker they will review this appalling,cynical attempt to improve the Companies profit margins by penalising the Agents.

jenny5969

AgentStig wrote: »

I have been ferreting around trying to find my agreement with Provident ( no mean feat when you have done 11 years as an Agent !) The most recent update I can find from 2002 states under section 2 - Self employed Status,and I quote
"We have introduced a few changes in the agreement to reinforce your self employed status.
We have also clarified our authority to make deductions from your commission payments in specified circumstances,such as errors in money collected."
I can find no mention of Pot Deduction specified anywhere,so therefore I must conclude that Provident are in breach of the agreement.
The second paragraph is just as interesting,and I quote
"We are not making any changes to the commission arrangements but we have included a provision,for the avoidance of doubt,that your commission includes a payment in respect of any statutory period of annual leave to which you are or may become entitled.",

:T Well done Stig I have looked high and low for mine to no avail.


Did you read your "Agents Manual" ?? go to the "Development" section, F9 - F30 Arrears Recovery/UTR's/Support Visits .....
pay particular attention to F25 SUPPORT VISIT's
There will be occassions where you feel that you have done everything possible to try and sort out the problems of an arrears customer and have failed.
Maybe you feel you cant handle a particular customer - they've given you promises and not kept to them or they refuse to answer the door to you or they might be un co-operative,rude or aggressive.
Whatever the reason,if you have done all that you can do, inform the Manager and ask them to visit and help sort it out.
They may want to visit the customer with you,either on your NORMAL round or at some other time. This is called a "Dual Visit" and is useful because it allows you to be there when any agreement is made.
It also stops the customer using the normal excuse given to Manager's - "My agent does'nt call" - which is not always easy to encounter when you're not there.

Manager's sign customer payment card's as proof of calling on them, this can be easily varified,which arrears clients have or have not been called upon?? I feel this should be taken into consideration before POT deductions can be applied to us!:money:

This is not a Personal attack on DM's/AM's etc just my opinion as a tired Agent .... I would'nt do their job for all the Tea in China

CovAgent

Having read all of the posts, I am of the opinion that not producing in week 20 will be fruitless. Nor will it help in week 21, 22, 23 or 24. Provi are a big organisation and people will hold out for an additional week or two for a new loan. Maybe they will go somewhere else, but that will hurt us also. I am also of the belief that although people will post on here that they will not issue, they will as we all need the money and will issue, just to pay the bills.

The alternatives are:-

1) Speak to HMRC. This will not cost us a bean today, but will cost Provi millions. They will recoup it long term by either reducing our commission (but we will seek alternative employment and they will have dead heads collecting money that costs them dearly) or increasing APR's (which will drive customers elsewhere). A friend of mine is a self employed builder, but all of his work is done for one company and HMRC say that this is the employer (ie Provi) just avoiding their NI contributions (over 12% of gross income). They will crack down hard on this in the current economic climate as HMRC are trying to collect every penny they can.

2) Bring a "class action" law suit against Provi for breach of contract. This would cost us all just a few pounds if we stick together. I have spoken to my lawyer (who I have worked with for over 20 years and trust) and he says that some of the later contracts protect Provi well, but my contract, which is a very old one, will allow me to bring this action against them, as they are definitely in breach of contract. They will lose and this (if they challenge it) will cost them hundreds of thousands of pounds and potentially over a million, just in legal fees.

If you are interested in taking "class action", please contact me and I shall create a website that we can all join and contribute to and ensure that we all get our money back that, in some cases, we have wrongly lost.

AgentStig

According to freely available information on the Internet Chris Gillespie made £404,000 last year including bonuses,thats the equivelent of 80,800 £5 Pot deductions.I 'm sure he wouldn't be happy lose that much out of his wages !!
This cruel system that Provident has introduced is crucifying the smaller agencies , the Agents that can least afford to lose money . I am also wondering as the vast majority of Agents are women is there a Sexism element to this.
The board seem to be under the misapprehension that we are all part-time housewives out to make a bit of pin money .........and that we won't fight back.
We must stick together,men and women,full-time and part-time and make them understand that without us Agents- Provident does not exist.Start writing your letters now !!!

AgentStig

CovAgent wrote: »

Having read all of the posts, I am of the opinion that not producing in week 20 will be fruitless. Nor will it help in week 21, 22, 23 or 24. Provi are a big organisation and people will hold out for an additional week or two for a new loan. Maybe they will go somewhere else, but that will hurt us also. I am also of the belief that although people will post on here that they will not issue, they will as we all need the money and will issue, just to pay the bills.

The alternatives are:-

1) Speak to HMRC. This will not cost us a bean today, but will cost Provi millions. They will recoup it long term by either reducing our commission (but we will seek alternative employment and they will have dead heads collecting money that costs them dearly) or increasing APR's (which will drive customers elsewhere). A friend of mine is a self employed builder, but all of his work is done for one company and HMRC say that this is the employer (ie Provi) just avoiding their NI contributions (over 12% of gross income). They will crack down hard on this in the current economic climate as HMRC are trying to collect every penny they can.

2) Bring a "class action" law suit against Provi for breach of contract. This would cost us all just a few pounds if we stick together. I have spoken to my lawyer (who I have worked with for over 20 years and trust) and he says that some of the later contracts protect Provi well, but my contract, which is a very old one, will allow me to bring this action against them, as they are definitely in breach of contract. They will lose and this (if they challenge it) will cost them hundreds of thousands of pounds and potentially over a million, just in legal fees.

If you are interested in taking "class action", please contact me and I shall create a website that we can all join and contribute to and ensure that we all get our money back that, in some cases, we have wrongly lost.

Count me in ,I will also canvass support in the office in the morning ,How do we contact you ?

CovAgent

AgentStig wrote: »

Count me in ,I will also canvass support in the office in the morning ,How do we contact you ?

I will create an anonymous email tomorrow which will allow you to contact me. I don't want to get hung by the office before I can gather all of my information.

Sammyantha

Scoobyagent wrote: »

As agents we do nothing wrong.We work to earn a living,its not the easiest job in the world, give it ago before you have a go at us

Nope, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if i were scaring the living daylights out of the elderly, the unemployed, and all others desperately living on the edge, borrowing money just to survive from scum companies which exist only to squeeze every last drop out of them. They should be categorized with car clamping firms, and shut down for good for the damage they do. You are not an "agent" but a debt collector/ bully boy.