DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 11

henrryyyy · 11 March 2017 at 5:07PM

carbootcrazy wrote: »

Sorry, henrrryyyy, had horrendous internet connection issues so haven't been on here much recently. I would have responded to your worries straightaway if I'd seen them before:o

Firstly, please don't lose any sleep about anyone else knowing about your debts etc. Not a single person knows anything about mine (apart from people I owe money to and the lovely folk on here). Even my OH doesn't have the faintest suspicion. Just so long as they are your debts and not joint in any way you'll be fine. No one else at your address will know a thing about them (unless they open your letters or have access to your email account).

You will also find once your DMP is up and running that the horrible avalanche of phone calls from creditors will stop:j. My worry initially was that OH would answer the landline phone to one of these people but luckily he never did.

Please don't worry about debt collectors. Those TV programmes where bailiffs come round to seize goods are a very far cry from most of our situations. It is usually when the debtor has failed to comply after court action has been taken. I doubt anyone will knock on your door asking for money.

I see that sourcrates has given you some reassurance :T. He always give very wise advice:j

Good luck:beer:

Thanks for the reply

I am currently waiting for stepchange to send me details and something to sign through the post(i have no printer). I opened a new bank account and have received the card and pin.
Just constantly checking the for post before anyone else does in case they suss something is up.
Next step is to call my creditors which im not looking forward to, but i'll wait til i receive the paperwork to do that.

DancingUnicorn · 11 March 2017 at 6:00PM

Hi,
I'm not sure if I'm doing this right but I finally got some of my debts sorted today and wanted to find somewhere for some advice/support/encouragement/general chat about things.

I had a token payment plan with stepchange which I have been doing for around 6 months. My finances changed slightly and I'm now going to be entering a DMP with them to pay a little more towards my debts. I was in touch with them about this in December but due to my anxiety have only just managed to send my documents off to them.

My Natwest overdraft and loan were transferred to a company called Wescot who have been trying to ring me to ask why it wasn't set up yet. Having spoken to them today and explained about my anxiety, they have removed my phone number from their system and will only contact me via post to minimise any anxiety caused to me - I never knew a debt collection company could be so nice!

Hopefully, my DMP will be set up in the next few weeks and I'll finally see some movement in some of my debts (£1 a month doesn't move them very far!).

Like I say, I'm new here and just wanted to get involved. I've read the first couple of posts and a couple of the most recent ones, so I hope I've not broken any rules about posting. I'll be going through and looking at some of the older posts later today when I have some more free time.

Looking forward to some support and hopefully one day I can help others too.

motivated · 11 March 2017 at 7:00PM

Hi dancingunicorn

Get involved as much as you need to. I do

. I too am a DMP newbie and still ask lots of questions. Everyone on here is amazingly supportive and more knowledgeable than me.

Good luck on your DMP journey
M

motivated · 11 March 2017 at 7:02PM

carbootcrazy wrote: »

No such thing as a stupid question, motivated.

I can't understand the end date of your DMP either, it's certainly not you being 'thick'. Why not phone SC, if that's your DMP company, and ask them ? They don't like DMPs to go on for too long and if they told you at the outset that it would take you about 7 years
Good Luck:beer:

I hope it's not 107 years :rotfl:

henrryyyy · 12 March 2017 at 11:49AM

is the earliest start time of my DMP likely to be 1st april or 1st may?
Ive done the debt remedy tool and applied for the pack last week.
Normally i'd be getting a pdl off another lender to be able to make my payments on the 28th of this month, but obviously thats not really an option now.
Will my lenders be understanding of my scenario until the dmp is in place? would it be best to say to a couple of lenders I cant pay, or just short change all of them?
I want to start arranging whats going to happen at the end of the month sooner rather than later as im just constantly worrying about it.
Im guessing stepchange dont reject dmp applications?

motivated · 12 March 2017 at 12:16PM

henrryyyy wrote: »

is the earliest start time of my DMP likely to be 1st april or 1st may?
Ive done the debt remedy tool and applied for the pack last week.
Normally i'd be getting a pdl off another lender to be able to make my payments on the 28th of this month, but obviously thats not really an option now.
Will my lenders be understanding of my scenario until the dmp is in place? would it be best to say to a couple of lenders I cant pay, or just short change all of them?
I want to start arranging whats going to happen at the end of the month sooner rather than later as im just constantly worrying about it.
Im guessing stepchange dont reject dmp applications?

Hi I have my new DMP in place now and I told SC when I wanted the payments to start. I told them I had car insurance and car tax coming up which is true but if you have anything you need to pay then tell them that too.

The advice from the members on here is delay the 1st payment usually for a few months in order to build up an emergency fund and get some money behind you.

I contacted my creditors through the online secure messaging service. So far they have replied and been fine saying they put our accounts on hold and will give me 30 days to sort things out with SC.
2 CCs have already written to us saying they will stop all charges and interest from now on and accept our payment offer. Still waiting to here from the others.

SC have been great and I can now stop worrying. You will too

Good luck on your journey
M

sourcrates · 12 March 2017 at 1:09PM

henrryyyy wrote: »

is the earliest start time of my DMP likely to be 1st april or 1st may?
Ive done the debt remedy tool and applied for the pack last week.
Normally i'd be getting a pdl off another lender to be able to make my payments on the 28th of this month, but obviously thats not really an option now.
Will my lenders be understanding of my scenario until the dmp is in place? would it be best to say to a couple of lenders I cant pay, or just short change all of them?
I want to start arranging whats going to happen at the end of the month sooner rather than later as im just constantly worrying about it.
Im guessing stepchange dont reject dmp applications?

Hi,

You need to change the way you look at things from now on, you have become the decision maker, not stepchange, not your creditors, you.

You can start your plan whenever you choose to do so, the best advice on here says wait a few months until you have a good contingency fund established, this also allows creditors to default you, which is something you should actively encourage (you dont want arrangement to pay markers for 6 years after the fact).

Currently creditors allow 30 days to take advice before resuming collection activity, what do we mean by collection activity ?

well they will call you, and write to you, and..........and well thats it, thats collection activity, so in essence, nothing will happen expect calls and letters, for a good 6-9 months or so.

You simply decide on a date to start, put it in writing to all your creditors, and tell them if anything changes, you will be in touch.

Thats it, the rules have been re-written now so you need to get with the program.

henrryyyy · 12 March 2017 at 2:37PM

motivated wrote: »

Hi I have my new DMP in place now and I told SC when I wanted the payments to start. I told them I had car insurance and car tax coming up which is true but if you have anything you need to pay then tell them that too.

The advice from the members on here is delay the 1st payment usually for a few months in order to build up an emergency fund and get some money behind you.

I contacted my creditors through the online secure messaging service. So far they have replied and been fine saying they put our accounts on hold and will give me 30 days to sort things out with SC.
2 CCs have already written to us saying they will stop all charges and interest from now on and accept our payment offer. Still waiting to here from the others.

SC have been great and I can now stop worrying. You will too

Good luck on your journey
M

Thanks for the advice, i didnt realise it was flexible in terms of choosing start date etc. I've always been fearful of creditors which is partly the reason im in such a mess being too scared to miss a payment or ask for help.
Did you make token payments on the lead up to your dmp? or just didnt pay at all?
Its great that yours has started, i bet you feel like a new person now you are on your way, i'll be following your progress and hope you successfully complete your plan

henrryyyy · 12 March 2017 at 2:50PM

sourcrates wrote: »

Hi,

You need to change the way you look at things from now on, you have become the decision maker, not stepchange, not your creditors, you.

You can start your plan whenever you choose to do so, the best advice on here says wait a few months until you have a good contingency fund established, this also allows creditors to default you, which is something you should actively encourage (you dont want arrangement to pay markers for 6 years after the fact).

Currently creditors allow 30 days to take advice before resuming collection activity, what do we mean by collection activity ?

well they will call you, and write to you, and..........and well thats it, thats collection activity, so in essence, nothing will happen expect calls and letters, for a good 6-9 months or so.

You simply decide on a date to start, put it in writing to all your creditors, and tell them if anything changes, you will be in touch.

Thats it, the rules have been re-written now so you need to get with the program.

Hey,
Thanks again for the advice, I know you are right and I need to change my mindset, ive just imagined my creditors as being these people to be feared. Im just going to talk to them all tomorrow and tell them im in financial diffiulty amd getting advice from stepchange.

Is it wise to make a token payment? I read in stepchanges booklet they emailed me says I should, would that still register as a default because full payment wasnt received or should i just make no payment? I've switched bank accounts now so it would mean giving my new account details, im thinking that might not be wise, but then i guess they cant attempt payment without my permission.

BeingDebtFreeStartsHere · 12 March 2017 at 3:27PM

henrryyyy wrote: »

Hey,
Thanks again for the advice, I know you are right and I need to change my mindset, ive just imagined my creditors as being these people to be feared. Im just going to talk to them all tomorrow and tell them im in financial diffiulty amd getting advice from stepchange.

Is it wise to make a token payment? I read in stepchanges booklet they emailed me says I should, would that still register as a default because full payment wasnt received or should i just make no payment? I've switched bank accounts now so it would mean giving my new account details, im thinking that might not be wise, but then i guess they cant attempt payment without my permission.

Hi,

Token payments are not necessary. When you contact your creditors, just tell them that you are currently in the processing of setting up your debt management plan and that SC will be in touch with them shortly with your income and expenditure details together with a payment amount. You could say that you expect the first payment to be made in May/June or whenever you are thinking of starting it

Make sure that you cancel all direct debits relating to loan/CCs etc now and start building up that emergency fund.

It is scary initially I know, but when you can start to realise that the people on the end of the phone are just normal people doing a job and no-one to be afraid of then you will feel much better. I was the same as you at the beginning of my DMP but now I am more than happy to speak to creditors if I need to. Remember, you are in control now

Take care,

BDFSH x

DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 11

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