My Experience With Financial Help…
My Experience With Financial Help Canada – Consumer Proposal
I am sharing my experience so anyone considering Financial Help Canada for a Consumer Proposal knows who they are dealing with, what they are getting into and what questions to ask before paying.
Initially, I dealt with Zoya and was told not to engage with my creditors because they would handle communication, none of which happened. Creditors kept calling me and even took payments from my account under a “right of offset” policy/law, which I did not know about.
Later, I dealt with Abdul, who told me the Consumer Proposal process was underway and that the 45-day period would end around August 17, after which things should be finalized.
I relied on this information and still did not engage with the creditors.
They quoted me payments of $380 disguised as my monthly payments for the entire consumer proposal. Which, upon receiving the letter of agreement, was vaguely worded; even A.I. could not fully piece together what the payments were for. Payments which I later found out were just their own service fees.
I made the first payment of $380, expecting everything to be all set; the application had gone through, which is what I was explicitly told by Abdul. I.e. after repeated calls and promises of a call back from them, and nothing.
After 45 days and paying $760, the explanation then changed. I was told I still needed to speak with the Licensed Insolvency Trustee and that the 45-day period would actually begin after speaking with the Trustee, also a lie because that actually begins once an application has been done. Needless to say, I had to start the entire process with the LIT again, saying the same things I have told Financial Help (Clear Start) and being quoted a different amount to pay for the consumer proposal. There is so much more I can say that went down dealing with these guys.
My biggest concerns with my experience were poor communication, lack of transparency, outright lying about what has been done and what will be done, difficulty getting timely responses, and conflicting information about whether my Consumer Proposal had actually been filed and when the 45-day period began.
My advice to anyone considering this service: before paying, ask for the name and direct contact information of the Licensed Insolvency Trustee, understand exactly what the intermediary's fee is for, and once you're told your proposal has been filed, ask for your filing date, estate number and proof of filing.
And to the management and team at Financial Help, if you ever see this. This is such a cruel way to treat people who have debt issues in disguise; you are going to help them. I'm not sure why this is the way you choose to operate, but things can be done much better.