Spencer Hayes Anyone

[madcow_57]

Before I rattle on has anyone used this company please?

[SOD'EM]

Hi mc,

 

I know someone who has used them in the past and the report I got was not so good. She said they do the job, but take too much of a percentage for themselves. Most debt matters can be dealt with by yourself (although sometimes long winded) with the help of people on a site like this.

 

Have a browse around the debt forums and get to know people who may have a similar situation to yourself, or someone you may know.

[madcow_57]

I am using them. They quoted us £2700 for completion. Yes they are good but everytime I ask for a balance they go up and up. We have now paid them £3073. They are saying we have another £314 to end. I did go off on one at them but got no real answer back! Another compaint was that they never answer my questions in a letter I send them. I always end up having to ring them.

The reason we are using this kind of person is. They sort it out for you without the little men coming to the door + any letters I forward to them and they deal with it. Also my hubby suffers from accute stress. No other reason.

[SOD'EM]

Write to them demanding how they come to the figures they have. Tell them you want a complete breakdown of charges.

 

You could also send them a Subject Access Request and they will be obliged to send you (by law), everything they hold about you (including charges) on your account.

 

The down side to this is that you have to send them a cheque/postal order for £10 for this information. Sometimes it's well worth it though.

Edited May 13, 2010 by SOD'EM
typo

[MARTIN3030]

I echo Sod em-CAG does not support nor encourage using companies which charge fees and commission for things you could do yourself.

[BankFodder]

I'll move this thread to the debt self-help forum.

 

Why don't you try doing it yourself. We've found iMoneyManager and haven't heard anything bad about it so far

[loopinlouie]

Goodness I cant understand why people feel the need to pay thousands to companies when it can be done for a few subject access requests and some stamps.

[madcow_57]

Well Lou we did. Hubby mental health bad. Would have sent him over the edge to have people calling for money, taking no notice of your letters you reply + we have not got £1200 straight off to pay the court fee's. They saved it for us and dealt with our creditors!

[sarahbishop]

Morning. My sister has gone with this company. I’m now very worried about her, she got in touch with them in November 2012. Started her monthly payments in Dec 12. To date one of her debts has gone from 400.00 to 1200 and she is still getting letters not just from this creditor but all of them. And others have doubled.

They call her mobile and house line all hours of the night and day, sends her emails. She has even had men at the door telling her to pay up.

She is still paying SP Hayes in the hope that it will all stop. She basically went to them because she was on the verge of a breakdown. Since then She lost her job in January and is currently living on £50 per week.

I just hope they can hurry up and get this debt plan running smoothly as I thought the whole idea of these companies were to stop all the stress and help.

[madcow57]

Your sister should be sending all these bills to to Spencer Hayes for them to deal with. Once they have all these letters they will get in touch with your sisters creditors and stop the calls.

This is what we had to do.

[sarahbishop]

Yes she is doing that daily. And has been for months. However Im here now for a few days helping her as she does not want to deal anymore. She has had enough poor thing. I am just sorry I cant pay her debts off for her.

[brokebutnotbeatn]

It takes quite a few months for things to quieten down when you use a DM company. As for post #7 different people do thiings differently. As for me I had 8 creditors, 3 children, a nasty ex and a mega full on job so I chose this route. Yes you can do it yourself and this site is great for that, but it isn't everyone's preferred method. We are not here to judge but to help. Your sister needs to call these people and find out exactly what's going on on the account. Have they now written to all of her creditors? With calls she should tell the caller that she has engaged the services of SH and as her authorised 3rd party representative they should contact them then put the phone down. Tell her to write the statement down and keep it by the phone to read off. She should NOT answer any security questions. Tell her to get/keep a copy of the income and expenditure that she did with them as they will want to do another in a year's time and she'll find it helpful to have to hand. When things a settled and she feels more in control she should then start the process of contacting all her creditors with a CCA request and go from there. She should also consider handling things herself perhaps with your help when she is in a better place?

[Bazooka Boo]

Any DMP that charges a fee should be avoided, they don't do anything for the money they fleece off you.

 

As for random strangers calling at peoples private property demanding money, they have NO LEGAL powers to do this, and can be sent packing or face arrest if they fail to leave.

[brokebutnotbeatn]

Hi Boo, this is not necessarily true. Yes, they have to be managed tightly; but in my case it was managing one person as opposed to 8 or 9. Yes they charge a fee that could be going to your creditors - hence MUCH better to use the free providers if you can. BUT these providers do not work in every situation. This is a self help site. You should read as many threads that reflect your circumstances and make decisions as to how to handle things that suit your circumstances. Knowledge is power, this site gives you power. One size does not fit all!

As for me a renegotiated the fee I was paying substantially down after a few years. I have now conducted F&Fs with all bar one of my creditors that I did myself not via the DMP. One remains outstanding and will no doubt rear its head eventually and I will use the knowledge gained from people's experiences to handle it when it does. Its a huge relief to be through the worst of this - whatever it takes and however the journey.