Avoid if you can! I entered debt agreement in 2010, discharged in 5 years after. But the mark stays on some of your records. And individual banks may keep as long as they need to. It took 10 years and finally I was allowed a credit card. I knew I would need to show to lender for home loan application. It’s now 2020 and I’m hoping I will be able to get a home loan and I’m on 6-figures. Try to make deal with your banks first before debt agreement. Not worth it!!!! I know it’s hard but face up to your finances, seek real help. Do not make my mista...

Close to $10k in administration fees which is added to your debt.
Beware to read ALL fine print as not all debt will be included, which they will happily tell you once you've completed their terms.
Will push into a bankruptcy or part IX rather than a debt consolidation loan
Extremely poor customer service

We had our morgage with Fox Symes underwritten by there arm Perpetal Trustee Company Pty Ltd / Home loans for 12 years we didnt have any bad debits (we were looking to move after our credit union was demutualised). They recently put the interest rate up for no reason. Wifey rang for a pay out figure as we are going to change to a bank Thats when $3600 + in Hidden Fees were revealed. In total Fox Symes will walk away with a $5K golden hand shake in fees.We have always paid our morgage and yes they will receive "FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS" As there ...

The whole of Australia sympathises with the people affected by the severe weather but [name removed], collections manager at Foxsymes has no compassion or consideration at all. I called up asking for a part refund of a payment I had made. [name removed] point blank refused. He did not care about the dire circumstances I am in. He was sarcastic and ridiculed my situation. All he cared about what was grabbing my money and meeting his targets for this month. I had to beg and plead and apologise and stroke this man's ego to obtain a refund. Disdainful!

Do not be fooled they are slimy predators who prey on vulnerable people, a debt agreement is a act of bankruptcy but they tell you its a debt solution then they charge you $7500 in fees,they have already been prosecuted by the ACCC for lying and misleading people...stay away from them at all costs they ruined me!!!

My Experience has been horrible!
We were in a really bad position, financially, emotionally and mentally. Fox Symes took advantage of that situation and had us agreeing to a wonderful agreement that looked amazing at the start with payments of $20 per week.... Turns out it cost us over $10,000 for the privilege so we would have been better off trying to sort something out ourselves. My husband suffers with depression, Fox Symes were told to contact me only as he was in no state to make decisions and they still continuously called him and not me to get the recording of him agreeing to payments.
Worst experience of our lives!
Pay your bills and keep in contact with your creditors, they will help you more than Fox Symes ever could.

They told me I was gettin a debt consolidation loan but it was actually bankruptcy. I cannot get loans anywhere now. They have honestly ruined my life. Rather negotiate with your lenders.

Avoid at all cost. Debt agreement is far worse than holding out and paying a debt off one by one. They will take your money and run.

I took out a Part 9 Debt Agreement in January 2011 and all was going well until August 2015 when I found myself only working on a casual basis so income was erratic. I contacted Fox Symes to discuss my situation and was advised that the repayments could be reduced for a short time which was only a temporary solution. Since then I was in constant contact with my case manager advising that I was in dire straits trying to pay this debt (it was to be completed at the end of March 2016 so there was minimal left on this debt to pay off) and was told ...

I used fox symes to organize a part 9 debt agreement to consolidate credit card debts a few years ago.
Do thorough research before you do anything!
It would have been better to go bankrupt and save 20k in repayments, the consequences are much the same.
The worst part was that they added 7k! That's right, 7k to my original debt.
Part of the debt agreement is that the banks accept less than the full amount you owe them.
But Fox Symes adds their own amount on, in my case 7000 dollars and your just as bad off.
Use a charitable organization instead or a company that doesn't bleed people dry!!

Once I signed, I have recieved nothing. No calls, three times I've contacted [name removed] by email no reply. Phoned at least ten times and I'm still being hammered by creditors. WTH, not impressed at all.

The fact is if your thinking of going to go down the path of a debt agreement ... DONT! Fox Symes will tell you it's an alternative to bankruptancy when in fact IT IS bankruptancy!
They take fees a plenty and continually haraas you for payment.
Best decision I made was to terminate debt agreement, go bankrupt and now 3 years later .... I am free from debt without having to a further cent.
Both debt agreement and bankruptancy gave me the same result besides debt agreement = more debt v bankruptancy = clean slate! You choose
Good luck!

We mistakenly thought a Debt Agreement would help us handle all our loans but instead it has ruined us! If you are genuinely insolvent or bankrupt then fine but for people who are managing to keep up with payments STAY AWAY!

Despite having no defaults before this DA we now have ruined credit and cannot buy a house for 7 years. This was not the right choice for us but instead of saying so they took $5,000 in fees and have ruined our future.

So glad to be rid of these leaches. When I refinanced my home loan they charged me $595 as an "admin fee" then $1800 as a "Management fee". This is after I put up with years of having my interest rate as high as 11%. When I called to question this blatant rip off the girl on the phone could not even tell me what the management fee was for. Good riddance!

At first contact these guys appear to be saviours, they are friendly and compassionate and look like they are helping you out. They gain you trust then enter Andrew Aravanis. Within 24hrs of speaking to him you will be bankruptcy but still happy as its only for 3 years. Once they have you its game on, they will bleed you dry. They are so bad they have forced my wife to attempt suicide twice they are that low. They extend your bankruptcy based on letters they claim to have sent but can't provide proof they have ever sent them. All so Andrew Arav...

After getting into financial trouble a few years back I spoke with the "advisers" from foxsymes. I was put into a debt agreement which at 1st seemed a big relief. I have now paid the debt off and banks will not consider lending to me despite never missing a payment. (As well as extra payments and paying debt off early). I would have been much better declaring myself bankrupt. I would be in a much better position today if I had done that.

Annon - I am almost into 5 yrs with Foxsymes and I cannot wait to be rid of them. I refinanced my mortgage with them in 2009, and at the time the interest rate was very competitive. Not any more. With all the reserve bank decreases in interest rates over the last 18 months or so, only two cuts have been passed on. The have previously increased the rate at their discretion, and I am now paying over %8. On top of that I am getting charged $32.50 P/month acc keeping fees. They only send out two statements per year!. I received a letter a couple o...

I recently paid out my part 9 bankruptcy which is great.
I turned to Fox Symes for assistance in purchasing a new car and they were great to begin with, quickly approving a $25k loan (in principle).
What started as a smooth process soon turned into an absolute nightmare due to the incompetence of their car loan manager, a gentleman by name of [name removed], a real amateur!
In order to obtain the full loan amount he asked that I pay out the debt agreement held with Fox Symes so I sold my car and paid it out with the understanding that I w...

I called Fox Symes hoping for a debt agreement. For almost two weeks we were dragged along thinking it would all be fine - no worries. At the last second we get a call "You need to go bankrupt instead you cannot afford a debt agreement" .... What a load of garbage. The repayments were only 300 a week, and we comfortably could afford 400! Needless to say, we called another debt agreement administrator that same day, got an AMAZING person who knew what they were doing..gave them the same set of numbers and our forms already submitted to AFSA for ...

My partner consolidated his debts with fox symes for over 40'000K, 3 years after payments were completed, he was informed to be part 9 bankrupt. He had signed nothing or applied for bankruptcy and now for us our life is on hold for 5 years because Fox Symes put him on down as bankrupt without consent and there was nothing we could do about it, Do not use this company. They are very deceiving and this isn't the first time to happen to a Fox Symes customer

Decieving, doesnt outline the fine print.