# Home Payments Ltd....



## Tonash (24 May 2005)

.........


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## oysterman (24 May 2005)

Oh for god's sake.....

Most of us are lousy at paying bills on time - that's why they invented direct debits. All of the bills you mention (and just about any others I can think of) are payable by dd.

Even if you bank with a fee-paying current account I'll bet the fees of this _Home Payments_ mob would be far bigger than any fees you might pay on the debits.

But it should be possible to avoid paying any fees.

I have an EBS account which only pays household bills, some by dd and standing order, most by online payment. Everything's easily viewable on their easy to navigate online service and I pay no fees whatsoever. I'm sure that a similar service is available through PTSB and elsewhere.

I'm all for paying people to make my life easier but how exactly will this Rathgar outfit do that?


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## Tonash (24 May 2005)

............


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## ClubMan (24 May 2005)

Other than:



> *What does it actually cost to run my Home Budget Account?*
> 
> Naturally we have to make a small charge for our services but you will find this insignificant compared with the                         trouble and worry you are saved. Our fixed quarterly fee is less per week than the cost of one nights video rental.                         Our representative will run through all the details with you.



their website doesn't state what they charge for this service and does not state that they are regulated/authorised by _IFSRA_.

I would agree with the gist of the post above that DIY budgeting and direct debits would be the way to go rather than engaging the services of a third party.


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## tonka (24 May 2005)

AND

If Home Payments can make a living out of this proxying scheme 

AND 

If they are reputable, seeing as they will have your bank details  and CC number probably 

then 

fair play to them for spotting this niche in the market !!!!


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## ubiquitous (24 May 2005)

MABS http://www.mabs.ie/ offers a free, confidential and independent service to help people cope take control of their own finances. I can't see much merit in paying a private company for a similar service.


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## oysterman (24 May 2005)

Tonash said:
			
		

> and wouldnt have to be concerned about the bills being paid on time,


 


> Im paying bills all my life and use DD for everything!


 
Not quite sure how these two statements can be reconciled....but then I am





> rude and arrogant


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## ClubMan (24 May 2005)

tonka said:
			
		

> AND
> 
> If Home Payments can make a living out of this proxying scheme
> 
> ...



Yes - but I personally wouldn't use their services nor do I see any obvious reason why anybody else should given the cheaper and more pragmatic alternatives available.


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## gnashers (26 May 2005)

I think I've heard that some Credit unions will provide a similar service. 
They sit down with you and work out all your bills over the year and average it out so that you just pay a set amount each month
That might be what your looking for......


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## jhegarty (26 May 2005)

tonka said:
			
		

> fair play to them for spotting this niche in the market !!!!



they claim "*Some of our clients are with us for 40 years and their children now use our Service. Of course 						they are not children anymore!"

*something fishy going on here


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## jhegarty (26 May 2005)

jhegarty said:
			
		

> they claim "*Some of our clients are with us for 40 years and their children now use our Service. Of course they are not children anymore!"
> 
> *something fishy going on here



or maybe not.. the company was registed on :  08/10/1963


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## Popsy (26 May 2005)

My parents have been  using the above company since they got married 35 years ago!!! Nothing fishy about them at all, everything above board with them.....my parents suggested I use them too, havent yet but wouldnt rule it out. Not sure how much their fees are but afaik its nothing crazy.


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## ClubMan (26 May 2005)

Popsy said:
			
		

> my parents suggested I use them too, havent yet but wouldnt rule it out. Not sure how much their fees are but afaik its nothing crazy.



What services that this company provides did your parents suggest that you use?


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## ClubMan (26 May 2005)

Please note - there is strong evidence available to the administrators to suggest that _Tonash _and _Popsy _are registered names used by the same person when posting to this thread. No harm in that per se, but it seems a little odd for somebody to engage in a discussion using multiple identities...


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## Kobie (26 May 2005)

Well I'm definitely not Popsy or Tonash but my parents & a few of their neighbours have been using home payments ever since I can remember.  Never saw the point in it myself, but if it's the same company (my folks live on the north side) then they have been on the go for a long time & I've never heard any complaints.


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## ClubMan (26 May 2005)

Just to clarify on my own earlier comments - I am not insinuating that there is anything dodgy about this company but 

it seems strange that there is no mention of _IFSRA _authorisation/regulation on their website which (as far as I know) is required of registered/authorised financial intermediaries and   
I believe that there are much more cost effective/prudent ways for people to ensure that they budget properly and pay bills on time than to pay a third party to manage this for them - the personal finance equivalent of _"give a person a fish and feed him for a day, teach a person to fish and feed him for a lifetime" _I suppose.


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## tonka (26 May 2005)

ClubMan said:
			
		

> is required of registered/authorised financial intermediaries


I concur !


> "give a person a fish and feed him for a day, teach a person to fish and feed him for a lifetime"



it could be a registered company from 1963 but one that engaged in selling burgers n chips until 2004 , ya never know


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## DrMoriarty (26 May 2005)

Well, they obviously underwent some sort of expansion a few years ago...



> Area Area 1 - South East Application Number 0215/02 Application *...*
> [size=-1]*...* Registration Date 13-Nov-2002 Area Area 3 - Central Application Number
> 3949/02 Application Type Permission Applicant *Home* *Payments* *Ltd*. *...*
> www.dublincity.ie/planning/commerc/year02/week46.txt - 52k - Supplemental Result - Cached - Similar pages[/size]


 (from Google - the links are no longer active)

Looks like a money-for-old-rope operation, imho - but isn't that what makes this such a great little country/"part of the goodness we're rich in", etc.?


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## harvey (29 May 2005)

I know the place you are talking about. They have been there for years but i never was sure what they did as a trade. Do they not also let houses ?


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## gar123 (30 May 2005)

Hi there Tonash

if this helps this is what i do, in work i use email and you get this calendar on it, i use the pop ups on that to remind me to pay bills

if you write down all the different bils you have you should notice there are not that many so if you try a little routine it's easy after a while, and sure the money you save paying someone for it can get you a curry or something!


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## olddog (31 May 2005)

http://homepayments.com/

These people do provide a useful service

It may not be a service that is required by cosy, well of, middle class people who are both literate and numerate but I dont see that as any reason for it to be run down on AAM.


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## ClubMan (31 May 2005)

Who ran it down? Some people merely pointed out that there are more cost effective ways to deal with these issues that would save even more money for the punters involved. I also queried the lack of any _IFSRA _regulatory/authorisation notice on the site since checking for this is a standard prudent approach when choosing a financial intermediary. What feedback in particular did you think was not merited?


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## olddog (31 May 2005)

"Who ran it down?"

I guess Oysterman was the first. Read the thread & you decide who else



"Some people merely pointed out that there are more cost effective ways to deal with these issues that would save even more money for the punters involved."

What are the unbanked non literate and / or numerate to do ?



"What feedback in particular did you think was not merited"

How about

"something fishy going on here"

and

"it could be a registered company from 1963 but one that engaged in selling burgers n chips until 2004"



for starters ?


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## ClubMan (31 May 2005)

olddog said:
			
		

> "Who ran it down?"
> 
> I guess Oysterman was the first. Read the thread & you decide who else



Fair enough - I see what you mean when I reviewed the thread. However I'm not sure that many people would take some of the more flippant comments that seriously but I could be wrong.



> What are the unbanked non literate and / or numerate to do ?



Follow some of the simple guidelines here and elsewhere to help them gain control of their finances. Contact MABS. Use _An Post's _free Household Budget Scheme (for _Social Welfare_ recipients). There are several alternatives to paying a third party to manage one's finances/budgets and doing it for free might be particularly advisable and prudent for anybody who is already under financial pressure.



> "something fishy going on here"
> 
> and
> 
> "it could be a registered company from 1963 but one that engaged in selling burgers n chips until 2004"



I personally didn't understand these comments and more or less ignored them. I would agree that they certainly don't add anything to the sunstantive discussion.


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## Brendan Burgess (31 May 2005)

I don't like the sound of these guys at all. It is not clear what rates they are charging for this service.

There was a very similar incident on Askaboutmoney around a year ago, where someone came in criticizing MABS and wondered if X Ltd was the answer. Someone else posted very quickly that they had used X Ltd and that they were great. The two posters had the same IP address which suggests, but does't prove, that it is simply spam. 

I can't find the post and I don't know if it was Home Payments Ltd, but it was  a similar sounding company with a similar means of operation. 

Brendan


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## DrMoriarty (31 May 2005)

_Tonash _and _Popsy_ fall strangely silent...


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## daltonr (1 Jun 2005)

I think it's pretty clear that Tonash is promoting this company and got very pissed off when someone questioned the validity.   Then did the old "Oh Yes,  I've heard of that company"  through a different persona Popsy.

Oldest trick in the book.

Virtually every bank provides this service.   It's also something that can be done by simply using DD's.   

-Rd


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## olddog (1 Jun 2005)

ClubMan said:
			
		

> Follow some of the simple guidelines here and elsewhere to help them gain control of their finances. Contact MABS. Use _An Post's _free Household Budget Scheme (for _Social Welfare_ recipients). There are several alternatives to paying a third party to manage one's finances/budgets and doing it for free might be particularly advisable and prudent for anybody who is already under financial pressure.




Clubie, just two points

1. I believe Homepayments were providing their service long before any of the above were invented so they probably have people sticking to them

2. If you cant read but can hold down a job ( there are still some people in this situation ) then sorting out money is a real problem unless you can do it by talking to people face to face. Certainly such people are not going to have any use for services available through the web.

.....

Bit O/T but I just happen to come across

[broken link removed]

......

I guess Brendans post sort of sums it up in that most of us understand that some people have a need for such a service but we dont like the idea that there might be a charge for it. Therefore its wrong !

Fine except that ( as Brendan says ) we dont know what fees these dudes charge.

Anyone care to phone them & ask ?


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## ClubMan (1 Jun 2005)

olddog said:
			
		

> 2. If you cant read but can hold down a job ( there are still some people in this situation ) then sorting out money is a real problem unless you can do it by talking to people face to face. Certainly such people are not going to have any use for services available through the web.



But then such people are hardly going to me misled by something that they can't read in the first place unless they use screen reading software or something like that? Anyway, _MABS _and the _Household Budget Scheme _and other similar schemes are not services that are tied only to the web so I don't understand that reference.



> I guess Brendans post sort of sums it up in that most of us understand that some people have a need for such a service but we dont like the idea that there might be a charge for it. Therefore its wrong !



I don't think that that was the thrust of _Brendan's _criticism.



> Fine except that ( as Brendan says ) we dont know what fees these dudes charge.



That was though.



> Anyone care to phone them & ask ?



Feel free to do so and post the details here. I would not use such a service myself so I would not be bothered calling them. If you do call ask them why they don't display any _IFSRA _authorisation/regulation notice on their website as required by _IFSRA _authorised/regulated intermediaries.


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## daltonr (1 Jun 2005)

I just called.   I'm told it costs approx €232 Per year.
This is on top of the money you send to pay the bills. The fee to them is built into your weekly or monthly payments it's not a separate lump sum payment.

They had no idea who IFSRA are.

I just re-read their explaination of their cost from their website.  It's very cleverly written.



> Our fixed quarterly fee is less per week than the cost of one nights video rental.                         Our representative will run through all the details with you.



It sounds on quick reading that you pay less per quarter than a Video Rental But in fact the service actually costs slightly less than renting a Video EVERY WEEK. I.e. They charge about €4.46 a week.

-Rd


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## daltonr (1 Jun 2005)

For the record I'll provide this service for €200 per year if anyone is interested.   And I do know who IFSRA are.

-Rd


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## ClubMan (1 Jun 2005)

daltonr said:
			
		

> They had no idea who IFSRA are.





Are they authorised to take money from people at all so?


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## Tonash (1 Jun 2005)

.....


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## daltonr (1 Jun 2005)

Tonash,

No problem.

Can I make a suggestion.   Explain to your parents that they are paying 232 a year for this service and that you can set it up for them so that they don't have to do anything additional to what they are doing right now, and they'll save 232 euro.

If they want thay can send their bills to you and you can provide the service for a nominal fee, although DD's might be the best approach.

-Rd


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## ClubMan (1 Jun 2005)

Tonash said:
			
		

> Hello there! I havent disappeared Ive just been away for the past few days! Yes I am also registered as Popsy and apologise for using the wrong User name....I had registered twice and had used 2 different names (long story!) but there was nothing malice meant by it!!! Sorry!!



Thanks for that clarification.


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## Tonash (1 Jun 2005)

..........


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## Tonash (1 Jun 2005)

Cheers Clubman!


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## daltonr (1 Jun 2005)

232 euro's would get them a nice weekend away at certain times of the year.

-Rd


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## oysterman (1 Jun 2005)

The outbreak of peace love and understanding on this thread makes me suspicious that the whacky baccy is being passed around.

If I offended Tonash (or Popsy or anybody else  ) with my original post then I'm sorry too.

That's just my nature I'm afraid.

Maybe I just need to chill (,man).


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## AdamWrent (3 Aug 2011)

I'm not a frequent user of this site and hope it isn't frowned upon to resurrect old threads, but I heard today from a colleague that this company went into liquidation today.
Not regulated at all either. People will lose money it appears.


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## Guest105 (3 Aug 2011)

AdamWrent said:


> I'm not a frequent user of this site and hope it isn't frowned upon to resurrect old threads, but I heard today from a colleague that this company went into liquidation today.
> Not regulated at all either. People will lose money it appears.



There is no announcement on their [broken link removed] though I guess these days there are so many companies going belly up they dont get a chance to do it before the 'grim reapers' arrive at their offices.


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## AdamWrent (3 Aug 2011)

cashier said:


> There is no announcement on their website though I guess these days there are so many companies going belly up they dont get a chance to do it before the 'grim reapers' arrive at their offices.


From what I was told the liquidators just turned up. Friends relative arrived at the door to colect a cheque and they wouldn't let him in. Refused to give out money.


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## Guest105 (3 Aug 2011)

Sounds like normal procedure these days. If it is true  I would feel very sorry for all those people who may be owed money by them, it is very tough.


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## Guest105 (3 Aug 2011)

Gosh they must be someone from the company reading this site as a notice has just gone up on [broken link removed] to say they are to cease operating with immediate effect.


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## Tintagel (4 Aug 2011)

I knew the directors and original founders of this company and they were decent and nice people. The children who were also involved in the company were also nice people. One branch of the family became involved in property here and abroad, separate to the company. It would appear that the company also became involved in property and this has led to it's current problems. Another long established company gone to the wall it seems.


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## Random Guy (4 Aug 2011)

Just heard about this & extremely worried now.  We don't know what bills have been paid & what haven't.  Also we had nearly €2.5k in "savings" with them.

Does anyone know how we stand ?  Is our money gone ?  

How come they weren't regulated ?  I thought all financial companies had to be ?


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## ClaireM (4 Aug 2011)

Apparently they were not covered by the legislation so did not fall under the financial regulator. Or at least I have been told that about a similar company.


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## Brendan Burgess (4 Aug 2011)

They have ceased trading but are not in liquidation according to this Irish Times [broken link removed].

You should make sure to stop any direct debits or standing orders on your bank account.


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