The Debt Free Roll Of Honour

In August 2014 whilst on holiday I could not draw cash . I later found that two DD repayments to two credit cards had bounced before that i always paid. I put that right as soon as I could. In September I realised I could not be sure of any more 0% balance transfers to help survival and I had found that valuation of a property I rented out would not leave enough to clear the mortgage and unsecured debts. if I sold it income would reduce and I would be left with debts i could not repay. Things looked pretty bleak. I contacted StepChange and DebtHelpPlan. I prepared budgets and submitted them . My unsecured debts were £49,000 including personal loans and overdrafts. A shock! Repayment was impossible in my lifetime and I was concerned I would leave debts as an inheritance to my children. Debt Resolution(?) or Settlement companies required a monthly payment and the first would pay off debts in 5 years with no fee, the second in 3 years with a 15% fee. Both would destroy my credit rating but as the aim was to be debt free and not borrow again then a credit rating would be of no value. I reasoned that somebody must fund Stepchange and I guessed it must be the banks. also they did not guarantee the result. I chose DHP because they said their agreements had legal backing. Someone suggested the Stepchange was paid a fee by the creditors. My lightbulb moment would be October 9th 2014 when I decided i had to do this as the risks to my own wellbeing and financial status outweighed the risk of doing it. On one day I transferred all income to one account and cancelled all Direct Debits for repayment to credit cards and loans and set up DD payments for essentials from another account but stopped using the one with a large overdraft. That bank reinstated direct debits to itself and charged penalty fees. The first small personal loan settled first at about 33% and others followed. some appointed Debt Collectors or sold the debts on .I sent any letters or referred phone calls to DHP. They were tough and I followed suit . When I sold the rented house in March 2016 I was able to pay a lump sum into the DHP account and by June 2016 I was debt free. I retained two credit cards, always pay them off and neither want nor need credit from anyone. I am now over 75 and so I could do this. I would not recommend what i have done to younger people people but anyone as desperate as I was who can say I will never get into debt again. Go for it.
DHP were very good , not least in their confidence,
My one pearl of wisdom is recognise that you're not dealing with individuals, the Money Machine must lend to you to make more money.
That is its weakness, yours is to be fool enough to borrow .
MSE helped by outlining the different approaches to dealing with
debt and the wannabe forum was helpful to show I was not alone though I saw negative postings about DHP that discouraged me from any DFW debt diary.