Super Hero Dad site

Fatsdom

Hi all, advice required. A good work friend of mine has got themselves into a lot of financial difficulties, with around £31k of unsecured debt.

After a few drinks at the weekend, they confessed that he has signed up with a debt charity called Super Hero Dads that he had seen on Facebook. He says they are specifically for single dads with debt problems and they have suggested an IVA is the best solution for him.

I am not convinced they are a charity but he is adamant they are. He says they have phoned him four or five times to check up on him while he was considered his options, and compared to his bank (who he approached for a loan) they couldn't be more helpful. I told him something didn't sound right, he ended up quite upset and hanging up. Although things are OK between us he has made it clear he doesn't want to discuss it any further with me (but he will on Saturday when he has a drink, I've no doubt). 

Does anyone here have experience of Super Hero Dads, are they a charity, and is my friend right to go with them? Are they really as helpful as my friend thinks or is it a scam? 

TheAble

Describe themselves as "providing marketing services to insolvency practitioners". Would appear to not be a charity.

RobM99

Registered charities have a number, do they not?

SnowTiger

Certainly not a charity.  To convince your friend, tell him to ask them for their (non-existent) charity registration number.  They don't have one.

From their website: 'Superherodad.co.uk is a trading name of Catch Media Ltd'.

Catch Media Ltd is a 'Digital Marketing Agency'.

According to Companies House: 

Nature of business (SIC)

• 73110 - Advertising agencies

My guess is that the marking business isn't doing too well, so they're branching out in to provided third party financial introduction services to desperate dads.  Odd.

sourcrates

Certainly not a charity, they are a lead generator for an IVA company.
We see this a lot on social media, they sell IVA’s basically, so guess what they are going to recommend ??

Best to avoid companies such as this, there are lots out there, all of whom want your business.

The mis-selling of IVA’s is rife, due to the large fee’s these companies can charge, which is why they chase up the clients to get them to sign up to something most people do not fully understand.
Avoid all companies like this, only take debt advice from a registered debt charity or National Debtline.

Jude57

Sticking my nose in here to heartily agree with all previous replies and to add, in case it might persuade your friend, that reputable debt advice charities will never chase you up in this way. Rather, they offer advice, even recommendations, but the decision always rests with the debtor and so does the timescale for any action. Also, think of it this way, if you were going to buy, say, a new kitchen (large financial commitment) would you just take the first one offered or would you do your research and perhaps even be put off by hard sell tactics? 
Your friend could have a look at StepChange's Debt Remedy online tool to see what they recommend. I'd pretty much guarantee it will be far more in depth than the process used by any IVA lead generator, and there's a good reason for that!  It may be that an IVA is right for your friend, but surely it's worth getting some independent advice before committing to a solution which will cost several thousand pounds?
Your friend is lucky to have you in his corner, I hope he knows that.

Fatsdom

Thanks for all the helpful comments, confirming what I thought about this company. 

I mentioned it to my friends at work today, and he went berserk, he says that Superhero Dads are the only ones who have taken him seriously, and they are always checking up on him.

Im honestly tempted to stage an intervention and drag him to a debt charity. 

ryanm8655

Fatsdom said:

Thanks for all the helpful comments, confirming what I thought about this company. 

I mentioned it to my friends at work today, and he went berserk, he says that Superhero Dads are the only ones who have taken him seriously, and they are always checking up on him.

Im honestly tempted to stage an intervention and drag him to a debt charity. 

I appreciate your frustration, and it’s horrible as essentially he’s been manipulated and taken advantage of. The trouble is people need to make their own mistakes. It’s like when your mate has a toxic partner and you try telling them but they don’t want to know (been there). Telling them the truth just makes them resent you and harms your relationship. It’s tough.

sourcrates

If he’s a homeowner, then with 31k of debt it may be the right choice.
If he has no assets to protect, then there are other ways to deal with it.
To be honest I would not dabble too deeply into this, folk can be very funny when it comes to personal finances.

fatbelly

They say they are Catch Media.
Yet the ICO reg number is that for 

Money Tree Media Ltd

Address:

Unit 3
Business Box
Client Stream
Leicester
LE3 1HR

Could they be related?

Fatsdom

We spoke again and he's done an IVA deal with Super Hero Dads. He's a homeowner and asked me if this means he'll be evicted. Does anyone know?