Reputable firms offering personal insolvency services do not charge upfront fees to clients for initial consultation and advice.
Although such firms incur costs during the initial period, good practice dictates that the client be made thoroughly aware from the beginning of the firm’s policy and practice in regard to charging fees.
Typically a debtor will approach the firm seeking a solution to financial difficulties. The reputable firm establishes as quickly and efficiently as possible whether the debtor is insolvent or not. It compiles a statement of the debtor’s income and expenditure, establishes the values of the debtor’s assets and quantifies the debtor’s liabilities or debts. This in a nutshell is the debtor’s Statement of Affairs. Although the figures may be only good approximations, the information is usually sufficient to provide a ‘rough-cut’ picture of the debtor’s financial circumstances.
The next step is to determine what options are available for the debtor. Again the experienced and reputable firm will be able to outline these for the debtor, making it clear that no fees are being incurred and that the debtor can walk away at any time. Typically, options include proposing an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) to creditors, entering into a Debt Management Plan with creditors, petitioning for Bankruptcy, obtaining a consolidation loan, selling assets, obtaining a Debt Relief Order and so on. The solution might even be to seek financial help from a family member. The debtor decides which option to pursue or may decide to opt for an alternative solution. The debtor can walk away at any point and feel no obligation towards the insolvency firm.
It is best to avoid doing business with any firm which charges upfront fees for IVA services. You should pay nothing until after your IVA is approved and then all contributions made cover both the repayments to creditors on your unsecured debts and any professional IVA fees and costs.
Let us assume that the debtor proves to be insolvent and, having considered the advice on all the options provided, decides to propose an IVA to creditors. The insolvency firm proceeds to prepare the IVA proposal and the nominee will carry out all the preparatory work for no charge. If the IVA proposal is rejected at the meeting of creditors, then the debtor has nothing to pay and the reputable insolvency firm will receive no fees. Not only are there no upfront fees but the firm will have incurred a considerable amount of cost up to this point, with no means of recovering those costs from any source, including the debtor.
If however the IVA is approved, the debtor begins to make the agreed contributions, often on a monthly basis. The supervisor lodges these funds into a bank account on behalf of the debtor and it is from this account that dividends are paid to the creditors. It is only at this point that the insolvency practitioner can begin to recover fees for work done in relation to the IVA. These fees are clearly spelt out in the IVA proposal and already agreed by the creditors. This means that the only payment made into an IVA is the monthly payment and this covers everything.