DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 11

sourcrates · 16 March 2017 at 8:07PM

muppetscotland wrote: »

I have been managing on our DMP for a year and had been managing to keep up payments on the "priority" bills of mortgage, utilities, secured loan x 1 and council tax.

Unfortunately I was in hospital and missed work for 2 weeks in February. As I am self employed that meant no cash and I missed the February and now March contractual payments to Central Trust secured loan for £30,000.

I called them to explain and they have been so incredibly nice and said that they would suspend chasing me till mid April for me to send them an income and expenditure form and details of my medical condition (which is chronic but has flare ups). While I am more than happy to comply, I do wonder why they're not being more "nasty" considering it's a secured loan. I am currently 2 months in arrears (around £800) and don't expect to be able to return to full payments till May.

When I do return to payments, will I also have to repay all the missed payments? Does our account remain in arrears till that's repaid?

I just was expecting the roof to cave in and am now worried because it hasn't :rotfl: I thought I was cool about my DMP but now I'm worried anew that this latest set back will risk our home.

I'm only paying a small amount to my other debts so there's no point cancelling them and rechanneling to the secured debt as it wouldn't cover the monthly payments. (But which otherwise would have been a good idea I know).

Any experience of Central Trust specifically or the general idea of falling behind on secured loan most appreciated.
Thanks

All I can tell you is the under the last FSA crackdown creditors have to be more diligent in the way they treat people in arrears, affordability is the key word at the moment, they have also been told to attempt every other avenue before resorting to court action or repossession.

It is not that your creditors have suddenly developed a conscience, it's because they are under threat of tighter regulation, the potential loss of there operating licence, and the possibility of large fines if they don't comply with FSA rules.

Creditors have never before been so "nice" to people in debt, as they are now.

BeingDebtFreeStartsHere · 16 March 2017 at 9:10PM

MrsSammyB wrote: »

You guys are clearly better at this than me and I may pinch this for when creditors won't entertain my complaints! Mine was around 10 lines long and told them my complaint and how I wanted it resolved. Best of luck xx

Thank you Mrs B

I will let you know if I get a response x

heavenlyharry01 · 17 March 2017 at 11:01AM

January2015 wrote: »

Do what you feel comfortable with. If you feel up to calling them or answering their calls, advise them you are in a DMP and that you did notify the original creditor that all correspondence should be in writing and you will deal with them on the same basis. Tell them to put their enquiry to you in a letter and you will respond in a timely manner. You don't have to get into any further discussion about your account or your situation - just be firm and tell them to write.

If you don't feel comfortable speaking to them on the phone then put the same information in a letter. You could wait for them to write, but either answering their calls or writing to them will stop the unwanted phone calls.

Thanks
They called again, my mobile and landline at exactly the same time. Annoyingly, its a recorded message, leaving a number for me to call them.

sourcrates · 17 March 2017 at 12:04PM

heavenlyharry01 wrote: »

Thanks
They called again, my mobile and landline at exactly the same time. Annoyingly, its a recorded message, leaving a number for me to call them.

They use an automated dialing system (computer to you and I).

If you haven't already written and asked for contact in writing only, do so again, specifically ask to be taken off there call list.

Sherrera · 17 March 2017 at 1:51PM

Are defaults on a secured loan the same as for unsecured credit?
I have missed 2, soon to be 3, payments on my secured loan and although I have been in touch and explained it's he to ill health I am very worried that the process to take our house will somehow be triggered.

StopIt · 17 March 2017 at 1:55PM

Sherrera wrote: »

Are defaults on a secured loan the same as for unsecured credit?
I have missed 2, soon to be 3, payments on my secured loan and although I have been in touch and explained it's he to ill health I am very worried that the process to take our house will somehow be triggered.

Get in touch with a debt charity as well ASAP.

Yes, that's the point of a secured loan. your home will be at risk if you default. It's not an instant process but you need to take action now to protect yourself.

January2015 · 17 March 2017 at 1:56PM

Sherrera wrote: »

Are defaults on a secured loan the same as for unsecured credit?
I have missed 2, soon to be 3, payments on my secured loan and although I have been in touch and explained it's he to ill health I am very worried that the process to take our house will somehow be triggered.

Your home is at risk if you miss payments on secured loans. You need to try and catch up with the missed payments if you can - try and come to an agreement with the secured loan company on how long they will give you to catch up the missed payments.

A secured loan is a priority debt. Therefore if you are on a DMP you should stop paying your non-priority debts until your priority debt (the secured loan) has caught up the missed payments and is not in arrears.

Don't panic about not paying non-priority debts - they will understand that you need to sort out your secured loan first.

sourcrates · 17 March 2017 at 3:20PM

Sherrera wrote: »

Are defaults on a secured loan the same as for unsecured credit?
I have missed 2, soon to be 3, payments on my secured loan and although I have been in touch and explained it's he to ill health I am very worried that the process to take our house will somehow be triggered.

As i said in a previous post above, creditors will look at every other option before pursuing court action and repossession of a secured debt, but you must engage with them and sort out a repayment plan, because if you dont, they will automatically assume you are being uncooperative, and they will not wait forever before repossession proceedings start.

Talk to them, they will help you, unsecured debts MUST wait, until the priority debts are back up to date.

That is standard industry practice.

motivated · 17 March 2017 at 8:11PM

Hi all

Update on our DMP journey so far.

Have kept in contact with creditors and SC have also contacted them to arrange monthly payments etc.

However I logged onto my BC account to see they have added interest and a late payment charge :mad:

Contacted them straight away and requested they remove interest and charges as I made them fully aware of our situation even before we missed any payments. I stole so much info from here

and I told them about treating me fairly and how this will have a continued negative impact on my credit file so I even had the cheek to request they default said account and how they are making my debt worse. etc etc Obviously it was much more formally written.

They replied with all interest and charges refunded and interest and charges stopped from now on :j. They also accept our monthly SC payment. It also says that my credit file will reflect missed payments and a default will be sent to you ( hopefully they will do this)

I would never have known what to do if it wasn't for you lovely people on here :A

I feel so pleased with myself so thank you everyone.
See January2015 you were right again :T

Waiting to see what the other BC account says. This one went to missed payment today.

So far 2 MBNA cards have stopped all interest and charges
1 BC has stopped all interest and charges
1 BC to go
Then on to 2 Halifax loans
Here's hoping
M

January2015 · 17 March 2017 at 9:19PM

motivated wrote: »

Hi all

Update on our DMP journey so far.

Have kept in contact with creditors and SC have also contacted them to arrange monthly payments etc.

However I logged onto my BC account to see they have added interest and a late payment charge :mad:

Contacted them straight away and requested they remove interest and charges as I made them fully aware of our situation even before we missed any payments. I stole so much info from here and I told them about treating me fairly and how this will have a continued negative impact on my credit file so I even had the cheek to request they default said account and how they are making my debt worse. etc etc Obviously it was much more formally written.

They replied with all interest and charges refunded and interest and charges stopped from now on :j. They also accept our monthly SC payment. It also says that my credit file will reflect missed payments and a default will be sent to you ( hopefully they will do this)

I would never have known what to do if it wasn't for you lovely people on here :A

I feel so pleased with myself so thank you everyone.
See January2015 you were right again :T

Waiting to see what the other BC account says. This one went to missed payment today.

So far 2 MBNA cards have stopped all interest and charges
1 BC has stopped all interest and charges
1 BC to go
Then on to 2 Halifax loans
Here's hoping
M

A*

Well done - it really is lovely to see you growing in confidence and your mood changing to be much happier with your life and outlook.

Some people would have looked on the BC interest and charges as a setback - you looked on it as challenged. You knew they were wrong and you sorted them out. :j

DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 11

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