DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 12

fatbelly · 5 November 2017 at 9:05AM

44% ish is still a very good deal. Well done.

Suseka97 · 5 November 2017 at 9:32AM

Danny008 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. Because my payment date is Monday would you send them a £1 Monday then send the letter?

As sourcrates said - all payments cost to process, but folks do send £1 simply as a gesture - others up to £10 and quite a few just don't pay anything. Whatever you choose, certainly do stop making your usual payments and send off your letters. Quite a few creditors put accounts on a 30 day hold and stop interest and charges, others (like you've found with HSBC) won't, but at the moment your not in any sort of plan so they'll just treat you as a 'non payer' and add late payment fees etc. Eventually all that stops- once the DMP is up and running. Just be prepared for a glut of letters (depending on how many debts you have) with various 'pay up or else' threats and warnings about defaults and its impact on your credit file. Blah...blah. Don't get overly concerned about them, they are usually standard computer generated letters that non payments trigger. If your situation is such that your going to have to set up a DMP, then you are going to have to accept that your credit file will be trashed anyway.

So grab yourself a coffee, gather all your paperwork together and use either the NEDCAB or SC Debt Remedy Tool to work out an I&E so you know where you stand. Then send off the 'holding' letters to all your creditors and start saving over the next few months so you have an nice little emergency fund to hand. Once in the DMP you won't have any avenue for credit should you find yourself with an unexpected bill along the way.

Ostrich_no_more · 5 November 2017 at 7:30PM

Hello everyone
First post but a long term reader.
First of all , without exaggeration, this message board has changed my life.
I have been one of the many who has steadily built up debt over many years, switching between 0% deals , convincing myself that I was paying it off and making a small dent but always going on the right direction. I must be OK I thought because the CC companies kept raising my limits!!!
With hindsight I can now see I was only fooling myself.
When my credit card debt hit £30k, to match my gross salary I realised I was in over my head.
FEAR kept me in denial , afraid of what the mighty financial industry had in store for me if I could no longer pay.
Thanks to Google, I ended up on this board, read through quite a few comments and threads and experienced the Light bulb moment I should have had 4 years ago.
I realised I was not alone . Many others are in my position and there is a way out which will not ruin the rest of my life.
Went to Stepchange, filled in the debt remedy, read through the small print and feel confident that this is my time to face up to the fact that I will realistically NEVER be able to pay back £30k to my creditors, if they continue to charge me 27% APR.
I have never missed a payment and want to pay it all back .
I am going to send off my Stepchange pack next week and a whole new era begins.

motivated · 5 November 2017 at 7:37PM

Good luck Ostrich no more. Great username too

Stick around and ask any questions you need to. Many of us on here hadn’t missed payments either but there comes a time where you have to bite the bullet.

Welcome aboard and good luck on your debt busting journey
M

Ostrich_no_more · 5 November 2017 at 8:19PM

Thanks
One question I have is around an overdraft.
All of my other debts are credit cards and are on my name only. My only joint liability is my current account which I share with my wife.
When talking to StepChange they recommend that I include the overdraft, which is £2000 and costs me £20 per month fees, in my list of unsecured debts.
My query though, if I state I can no longer afford this overdraft debt, will Santander pursue my wife for the money.
This would be a nightmare situation for me as I do not want to drag her into my financial predictament, potentially harming her credit score .

motivated · 5 November 2017 at 8:34PM

Ostrich_no_more wrote: »

Thanks
One question I have is around an overdraft.
All of my other debts are credit cards and are on my name only. My only joint liability is my current account which I share with my wife.
When talking to StepChange they recommend that I include the overdraft, which is £2000 and costs me £20 per month fees, in my list of unsecured debts.
My query though, if I state I can no longer afford this overdraft debt, will Santander pursue my wife for the money.
This would be a nightmare situation for me as I do not want to drag her into my financial predictament, potentially harming her credit score .

I haven’t got an overdraft so will not be able to advise sorry. Someone will be along soon to steer you in the right direction though.
M

StopIt · 6 November 2017 at 9:29AM

Ostrich_no_more wrote: »

Thanks
One question I have is around an overdraft.
All of my other debts are credit cards and are on my name only. My only joint liability is my current account which I share with my wife.
When talking to StepChange they recommend that I include the overdraft, which is £2000 and costs me £20 per month fees, in my list of unsecured debts.
My query though, if I state I can no longer afford this overdraft debt, will Santander pursue my wife for the money.
This would be a nightmare situation for me as I do not want to drag her into my financial predictament, potentially harming her credit score .

It's your call, and you can always self manage with the NEDCAB calculator.

However: A DMP of any form will trash your credit history. If you have joint financial products like an Overdraft, this can affect both of you.

The danger is that if you enter even a self managed DMP, your bank will notice a marked deterioration in your credit risk, and call in the overdraft anyway.

Get specific advice from Stepchange about this, as all banks are different and they may have a better idea on how to tackle this one. If it is possible to remove your name from the Overdraft, and your partner can manage this debt, without it being called in, that may be an option.

Ostrich_no_more · 6 November 2017 at 1:36PM

I think I will try and have my partner removed from the account first. She doesn’t use it anyhow, she uses a separate bank account , and I am the only one using it.
I will post the outcome on th forum to share in case anyone else is in the same boat 🚣

Suseka97 · 7 November 2017 at 10:01PM

Forgive me if I go a bit quiet on the forum... have had some bad news today (family related) and so I need to focus on that for a while.

So - for any newbies joining recently, do take the advice given from many of us who have 'been there'.. 'done that'. Its scary at the start, but don't let the creditors dictate terms. Give yourself time to adjust to your new situation - don't rush in to an DMP too quickly and build up that emergency fund. Don't fret over threatening (computer generated) letters - there are so many of us folks, and more joining by the day, who are battling with crippling debt. Look on the positive, they can't take us all to court

Just keep in touch with them but do so on your terms.

Jon81 · 9 November 2017 at 7:13AM

Ostrich_no_more wrote: »

Thanks
One question I have is around an overdraft.
All of my other debts are credit cards and are on my name only. My only joint liability is my current account which I share with my wife.
When talking to StepChange they recommend that I include the overdraft, which is £2000 and costs me £20 per month fees, in my list of unsecured debts.
My query though, if I state I can no longer afford this overdraft debt, will Santander pursue my wife for the money.
This would be a nightmare situation for me as I do not want to drag her into my financial predictament, potentially harming her credit score .

Liability for joint accounts is joint and several that means if one party cannot pay the other has to.

Is your partner aware of your current circumstances?

A joint account and the conduct of said account will be reported to the credit agencies as such - it’s inclusion on your debt management plan will likely be marked as such

You may have been advised to open a basic bank account, or facilities without an overdraft elsewhere? Have you done this

DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 12

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