Fresh Start Financial UK (aka Harrington Brooks) - Thoughts? :(

Baileycat

Hi there,

We very much wish to be debt free this year. I was in touch with a company who called themselves "ThinkMoney" and "Debt Advisory Centre" who seemed to take the matter pretty seriously, but after a few phonecalls back & forward I didn't hear anything back.

I received a phonecall today whilst at work which I was unable to answer (mobile) - upon calling it back I was directed to a call centre for a debt management company who already had all my details on screen (and of course my new-ish mobile number). They called themselves Fresh Start Financial and, given the different names the previous company had gone by (they used Think Money when speaking to my partner on home phone, as if to not give the game away that they were a debt management company :rotfl:) I thought nothing of it.

I wonder if anyone has experience of this company, who are in cahoots with Harrington Brooks Accountants, as my suspicion was aroused more and more by the second towards the end of the call, when I was finally asked to cancel my bank card to stop further payments being made from it ("what should I tell the bank?" "use your imagination - lost, stolen, whatever.." "isn't that technically fraud?" *advisor quickly changed subject*).

I got this whole slimy, salesperson feeling from the gentleman, with the whole emphasis on how he was on our side, he can see why we'd be struggling, they'd do everything for me as our knight in shining armour, and every choice I was making on the recording was just that - MY CHOICE. I picked up on the sales patter and didn't like it one bit but, as I'm so silly and naive, went ahead and agreed to their "debt management plan" with their whopping £300 fee :eek:

I am scared. I am stupid and just don't know when to call it quits, so went along despite my strong suspicion I was being duped. I can't see anything nice about them online, but a lot of unhappy clients on another popular budgeting forum. I now suspect these are the same people who have been ringing and texting me 5 times a day - every day - trying to sell me payday loans, and decided to use a mobile number to ring me as they know I just ignore the office number now.

I understand I have a 7 day cooling off period, but just feel so stupid has anyone else ever been in this situation? Sad to think there are people out there preying on our misfortune

Tixy

Hi and welcome

Well done for reading up on them now. You are right they prey on people being scared and stressed about debts and promise far more than they ever deliver.

Regarding the cooling off period - what have you done so far? you've given them your card details? presumably you haven't signed anything yet? Have they sent you anything yet? emails etc?

I would write a letter to them send it recorded delivery to state that you do not wish for them to act for you, you wish to cancel the verbal agreement you made on the phone and will not be signing any contract/agreement with them.

I would then contact one of the debt advice charities for some help and advise on your debt situation.
See this for the recommended chaps to use - IMPORTANT - Where to seek professional impartial advice about your debts.

Baileycat

Hi Tixy, and thanks for the welcome - forgot to say this is my first post and obviously apologise if I posted in wrong place, but think I maybe got that right after all haha!

I literally spoke to them around 8pm and spent the next wee while researching them before making my decision, but I did get the impression they were dodgy so I'm glad I looked into it before signing anything. I haven't received any emails but they do have my card details which concerns me.

That's some really great advice regarding the recorded delivery to ensure they get it and can't blame Royal Mail as most companies do haha, and thank you for the link to the good guys I tend to just panic and can't believe I was so silly! But I'm going to work on a letter now to let them know I've changed my mind and won't be taking them up on their offer.

Unreal as it did cross my mind - the regulated ones don't charge any sort of fees for the service!

Thank you so much for your advice x

[Deleted User]

Please don't waste your time or money that is what you would be doing whilst getting into further stook, and don't worry you wern't the only one I nearly feel for it to once upon a time after my number was given to them by a payday loan co - know now the only person you can trust with your debts - is yourself x

Nothing on here or google you cannot teach yourself
I really do believe knowledge is power and being persistant when dealing with creditors, keep strong and repost up if there is anything you need to know x

Baileycat

Thank you for your advice it's great to see so much support. And I'm glad I'm not the only one nearly tricked, they can be very persuasive I guess! It can be hard to keep focussed when you're stressing so much about it, but you're right, perseverance and determination is the way forward

I've composed my letter now and will be sending it Recorded Delivery tomorrow, to ensure they receive it inside the 7-day cooling off period. Then, towards the weekend, I'll get some proper debt advice from the link provided - had a quick skim through but working ridiculous hours and not had the patience yet to go through the whole lot lol.

Thank you again to you both & I'll be sure to post in future for advice !

kyledmu

Hello,

I signed up to Fresh Start effort Xmas to cover some payday loans that I had taken and subsequently lost control of. I've already paid £100 to them and sent them my paperwork, but I've only just read the reviews online and on this forum. What should I do? I'm living hand to mouth as it is. I can't afford to be scammed as I feel like I have now.

samsies

i have just signed up to these today firstly wanting a loan for consolidation (gopher money) with my poor credit rating i was unable to do so so they put me through to another department who deal with debt managment plans for harrington brooks.. they got my monthly payment to a gr8 figure and i signed up straight away.. now looking at this i dont no if its a good idea or not...who is the best one to go with?? please help!!!

Tixy

A free charity is the best one to go with - they will offer you free impartial advice, and won't charge you fees so all your money goes towards paying your debts and you get out of debt quicker. (see the link in post #2).

If anyone has signed up very recently I would write to cancel the agreement with them and consult one of the charities for advice.
Anyone who already has a DMP with them, I would write to cancel the DMP and then consult one of the charities to run your DMP for you, or consider a self-managed DMP.

Baileycat

I would definitely agree with Tixy, who gave me some excellent advice when I posted about these cowboys - I fired off a recorded delivery letter to them straight away, to cancel within my 7/14 day cooling off period (pretty sure it was 7 but can't quite remember, sorry).

The advisor who had set the whole thing up for me was the one who rung me several days later, to clarify that he had received my letter, and question my reasons for cancelling. He proceeded to tell me that CCCS and Payplan were actually the cowboys, and obtain funds from us poor folk in different ways :rotfl: I wasn't really listening to his waffle, just apologised and advised I was looking into several different options at the moment, and wasn't prepared to go ahead with it any more.

It's at that point I realised that they are concerned purely about profits, not the person on the other end of the phone lying awake every night worrying about money. Once it was clear he wasn't going to get his commission, as I wasn't going to budge, he dismissed me rather rudely and I haven't heard from them since Glad they're not getting £300 of my hard-earned for nothing, they're vultures and don't deserve it. Probably would've been too scared to take that step without the lovely folk on these boards, so thank you for all the positive encouragement!

kyledmu and samsies, I really hope you've managed to cancel your agreements, as it really is just a waste of money - your first two payments are direct to them for their set-up fees, none of this reaches your creditors. Then from what I can see online, for the subsequent payments your creditors don't get a lot from your monthly allowance anyway.

Rachael, to be fair my advisor made it quite clear they were associated with Harrington Brookes, but I've seen a lot of info online where this was not made quite so clear - in fact sometimes avoided altogether and not realised until much later - so perhaps this is a new thing they have to mention? New guidelines perhaps? Certainly it worries me when you're dealing with two companies/two names, if something goes wrong they'll generally tend to blame the other & you get nowhere!

angelholyfire

Absolutely livid!!!

These characters have just called me via the switchboard at work. I have no knowledge of who they are or where they got my details from and as soon as the receptionist put me through whoever was on the other end of the line hung up!!!!

FUMING - get a life you con-merchants & LEAVE ME ALONE!!!

TimeforTea_4

OMG.... Do not sign up with them!!!! They told me that they would deal with everything and not to contact my creditros, then i get slamed with a CCJ because Fresh start aka Harrington Brookes were not quick enough to contact them.

Such a bad company!!!!:eek:

xx