written by trStuart182 on 09/05/2014
I am at the moment not very happy with the service im receiving from Gregory pennington because nobody is keeping me informed with regards to my orange account and also I would like to know why has brighthouse not yet been paid off. The one person at Gregory Pennington who has been helpful is Alan.
written by romanbog on 01/03/2013
When I started I as told this a a 5 year deal. It's now been 3 years and apperantly I still have 3.5 years to go. I thought that 1.5 years from now it will be over but, now I'm not even halfway. One of my debts were for 5k. I have paid the amount of 3.5k over the last 3 years and still owe 4k? Why did I notice this and not them. I haven't even looked into the other accounts yet! I seriously getting worried as it seems they want to keep me paying my creditors as it will make them more money! I don't feel like doing this anymore. I know I made the mess and when I signed up for this I admitted it and started the program but, am still in a mess. I would have been better off ignoring the letters, going to court and go bank rupt. That would have cost me 6 years of my credit life with nothing to pay every month. This program is costing me 500 a month and 6.5 YEARS so far!
Written on: 14/03/2013
Please take my advice - contact your creditors directly and explain your situation, explain that you no longer want a third party looking after your finances, they will be very accomodating and will help you make agreements directly with them the bonus is that you get to pay more to your creditors with out some incompetant company taking fees for mis managing your debt! Cancel your plan with GP like I did and seek advice from the FOS!
written by on 09/06/2012
We contacted GP in April 2011 as our debt repayments started to get unmanageable. To start with they were very helpful and friendly and did manage to set up reduced or interest free arrangements with our creditors, and the numerous phone calls and letters stopped. As we regained control of our money, we realised the £85.00 monthly fee could be better spent actually paying our creditors so in April 2012 we cancelled with GP and set up a new DMP with payplan. We are paying more to payplan as we no longer have a fee to pay, so our debts will be paid of approx 2 years earlier that if we stayed with GP. The process of changing was very smooth, just rang and cancelled with GP although they were quite persuasive in trying to get us to change our mind. Send details of our creditors to payplan and they have done the rest. Access to payplanplus lets you track your debts, all payments made and see where your debts will be cleared.Don't hesitate to move - it really is very staright forward. So in a nutshell, GP were OK, but why pay for a service when you can get an equally as good (if not better service) for free.
written by funny_name on 18/04/2012
I went to GP 2 years ago, I was a silly spender and got to the point where my minimum payments (never mind outgoings) were more than my income. What made matters worse is I went down to part time shortly after and could not meet my creditors minimum payments. I buried my head for a short time, missing a few payments here and there before signing up to GP. In the short run they were actually helpful, they took the stress of the situation away and allowed me to focus on my work which I later went full time again with. GP froze my interest on most of my accounts and for 2 years this was great, I was paying off debt and the fee they charge was less than the interest I saved. It got to a tipping point where the saved interest was less than the 15% fee they charged. If I had stayed with them I would have become progressively worse off, however I left their services. Luckily after seeing my change of habits over the 2 years my family agreed to pay off my debt which allowed me to leave GP. Despite now being debt free I am suddenly faced with some unforseen consequences of my time with GP. The debt management plan had some of my monthly payments less than the contractual obligations which means I was getting default notices. I never thought much about them until now. I can't get a normal bank account and I've got to wait another 6 years to be truely free, that's how long the defaults take to fall off. GP served its purpose for the short term, but it came at a price. I wouldn't advise staying with them past that tipping point of interest vs GP fee and think at that point resuming the contractual obligations is better. My case can't be too dissimilar to some others so hopefully this advice will help someone.
Written on: 26/04/2012
Can I please ask how you got out of Gregory pennington I have been with them for a year now and mixed reviews online are slightly worrying many thanks
Written on: 15/05/2012
Hi we have had dealings with gp defaults not paying e debt and we have paid 34grand back plus they want another 15grand which my husband was only in debt by 32grand now we r going to financial ombudsman and gp are panicking now and get rid of think banking too they can't tell us were our money has gone plus my husband is black listed now but we are taking em all the way
Written on: 26/04/2012
Hi could you please advise me on how you got out of gp as I have read mixed reviews and have been with them for a year and am now slightly worried after one creditor called me this evening saying they hadn't received payment for march thanks
written by trishwilks1970 on 27/10/2011
I have been with GP since feb 2009 i was told my debt would be clear in 37 mths which SHOULD be march 2012. SUPRISE SUPRISE i rang them to query outstanding balances on my statement and they now tell me it was not an exact time for debt to be cleared this is outrageous. They are telling me that my debt won't be cleared until december 2012 thats 10mths more at £260.00 per month so they are trying to get another £2600.00 out of me well it won't be happening i will take them to the trading standards. People go to this company for the simple reason that they have got in a mess financially and sometimes its out of there control but to find that you have put your life in there hands and they are feeding off your misfortune by adding extra time on to your debt is not acceptable. Please Please Please don't use this company if you want to be debt free in a few years because GP will bleed you dry.
Written on: 30/11/2011
I feel i must comment just to try and help, you can request information on your account to see where you money has gone, in fact you can even do this off your own back, if you seriously believe this company is bleeding you dry you can request statements of your accounts and see if the payments you have been making have been going to your creditors or not. This type of company cannot just inflate debts to extend your stay, these debts are real they belong to you and the creditor, the only way they can change is if you have used the account, which i presume you havent or the creditor has added charges to the account in line with the agreement you signed when you opened the account/loan/CC. Your anger should not be against the debt management company but the rate of interest or charges these companies get away with and you signed up to. At the initial stage when you signed up and based on your disposable income your debt would be cleared within the time stated, and would be correct as long as your payments dont reduce or creditors dont apply ridiculous charges. speak to your advisor and request this information i mentioned at the start and work out why you are paying an extra £2600, once you start working with the guy on the other end of the phone you'll find that the answers are there and quite straightforward. Your creditors. As for the final comment about if people want to be debt free within a few years if you can afford to clear all your debt within a few years debt management is not your answer= just pay the contractual payments, if you cant, be prepared to have to go through short term hardship for long term gain, whether you go through a debt management company or not.
written by on 06/09/2010
People just like myself get into debt very easily and most times without realising, its incredibly hard to get out of so we look for a solution .debt management being one of them. My advice having gone through it is DON'T do it. Gregory Pennington is effectively just another creditor and it wont necessarily help you. Yes you will pay one payment and they after taking a FEE will split it between you creditors but in my case not one of the creditors froze the interest, 3 debt went to a credit management company who constantly called and turned up at my house and finally court. Gregory Pennington is supposed to prevent this from happening,
If you are in debt and cant take the payments then please, please do not run to companies like this. You can call your creditors and explain the situation 9/10 times they will help you, set up a program themselves for you and have more respect that you have gone to them. They do not like dealing with debt management companies.
If that fails then apply for either an IVA or an administration order: http://www.insolvencyhelpline.co.uk. This is a court ruling of how your debt is paid back and an administration order works in the same way as debt management!!!! It give people a fighting chance or actually paying the debt back without being stressed, frightened or feeling like there is no way out. Creditors cannot be on your back 25/7 as they have to come up with a very very good excuse why they wont agree to the courts judgement and how can they? You at the end of the day are asking for help to pay these debts back.
I hope this helps - good luck
written by on 25/02/2010
Still early days with Gregory Pennington but I feel completely and utterley harrassed by them! Persistant telephone calls for no apparent reason and almost bullied into getting a think banking account. They are literally driving me insane i just hope it's worth it in the end. The harrassment is so bad they also change there number each time they call so there's not way of telling who it is! Don't think they understnad people work and have busy lives and cannot be going over the same mundane questions at anytime of day. I'd look around for someone else personally, really starting to regret this.
Written on: 08/04/2010
Obviously every situation is different but, I have used this company and one by one I have seen accounts show up as settled on my credit report. now all have been cleared after 4 years such a relief. They may seem a little pushy at beginning but it does stop, I would recommend this company.
written by on 05/08/2009
I have just recently arranged help for debt consolidation with Gregory Pennington. I have not signed anything yet, but the help I need has been promised. Sounds too good to be true, BUT I am so scared to go ahead and take the help incase it goes wrong? I have read many reviews, some of which are good and some bad. Can anyone help me to make up my mind?
written by Rupertpower on 10/08/2007
I have now finished with them (10yrs) - There are lots of other companies now.
Watch because Gregory Pennington charged me £30.00 each month for a job I could have done.
Most creditors are fine if you speak to them otherwise give the others a ring like Debt free direct.
I had to pay over 10yrs now it's only 5yrs !
All the best.
written by Rupertpower on 24/02/2007
I have been with Gregory Pennington for 10 years, and I am getting fed-up now (should be paid off in December 2007).
They advised me to change my name, so I would not get hassle, but of course this shows on your credit file and you still get letters.
They also ring you every 6 months to check to see if you can pay more! You have the same information to give them, and they tell the credit firms and you pay the same amount.
Sometimes the payment goes out late, and the credit firms are on your back, but try and keep calm and say you will contact Gregory Pennington (I have had to do a lot of that).
They will call you at work and leave no number (withheld).
But Gregory Pennington helped me out when I was £23,400 in debt. I now only have £2000 left to pay.
Written on: 18/04/2007
My husband and I are now getting several letters a week from creditors asking for payment. It appears that Gregory Pennington are not making any payments, even though we are paying them. What concerns us is the fact that we cannot contact anyone at GP. It also worries us that they control our bank account.
Written on: 09/08/2007
I've been with them a year and I don't get any threatening letters any more, I only got them in the beginning
Written on: 18/04/2007
I have been with them since 1997!!
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<br/>Gregory pennington are bad for paying bills at the start. I even had to pay extra to my creditors and explain to G.P why I had to do this - *You are too slow* But sorted out now *Touch wood*
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<br/>They take your money on time, but they don't pay on time, and when I wanted to move my payment day by one day, they had a good moan at me. I hope not to use them again...
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Gregorypennington's Comment
Written on: 09/05/2014
Hi,
I am sorry that you are experiencing problems, we'd like to get this resolved for you.
If you can get in touch with us via email or phone and ask to speak to my colleague Allan Mole we will look into this. You can find all of our contact details in the contact us section of the website.
I hope this helps
Sarah