Debt Management Plan Experiences please?

homersimpson_3

cccs stands for consumer credit counselling service

tasha38

a bit like the CAB then....

thanks

ffs

tasha38 wrote:

a bit like the CAB then....

thanks

Not really, the CCCS is dedicated solely to dealing with debt problems and is financed by the major financial institutions that sell consumer credit.

riker71

CCCS DMP (debt management plan) is there to help you pay an affordable amount to your creditors/debt without skinting yourself and that is accepted by the creditors. It has to be realistic and workable for you and the creditors and this is acheived by going through a detailed income/expenditure and seeing whats left over, this is then paid as a lump sum to the CCCS and they distribute the money fairly between the creditors, they have a guide as to whats generally acceptable in areas such as food/entertainment/hobbies etc based on family size/any special needs as do all similar organisations, anything over the guideline can be justified eg food,someone may be a diabetic and needs to spend more. Certainly worth a look for anyone who feels the debt is getting too much and when creditors start getting nasty/threatening action which is often just scare mongering they help+advise with all aspects of debt. their website is

www.cccs.co.uk

jenevieve

!!!!!! wrote:

I delayed for two years. I'd never missed a payment, therefore I thought I was in control - a huge mistake.

!!!!!! - I would be really grateful if you would tell me a bit more about your situation and experience both before and after contacting the cccs.
If you prefer to keep it private however, that is fine.
Thanks for your response anyway.

ffs

I was being "clever" using every low interest deal I could find in order to minimise the cost of my borrowing. Over time this simply allowed my total amount of borrowing to creep up as each unforeseen event (culminating in divorce and relocation) led to my addiction to credit absorbing every spare penny, and then even more.

My total monthly payments to creditors ended up being about 80% of my income. I thought I had a way out because I had a series of share options that would eventually mature allowing me to pay off my debts. Of course the market crashed before I was able to sell all but the first tranche.

I was still able to ensure I never missed a payment though, convinced that a "good credit rating" was something worth having, rather than precisely what was allowing my situation to deteriorate even further.

Looking back, my biggest mistake was not defaulting very early. This would have promptly curtailed my ability to obtain credit long before the amount I owed became nearly twice my annual income.

The CCCS allowed me to acknowledge that I had failed, and deal with the individual creditors on my behalf. Since my marriage had also failed it was big step for me to admit failure in another part of my life.

My monthly payment to CCCS which is distributed to my creditors by them is approximately 20% of my monthly income. For years I'd not been able to spend a penny on anything of than food, fuel & rent/mortgage, because all my income was being used to meet my credit commitments. I've actually been able to treat myself at last even though it's within the budget prepared with the help of the CCCS.

Good luck dealing with your credit issues. The problem is it is an addiction, the idea of being without access to credit is a scary as the idea of being unable to buy cigarettes if you're a smoker. Trying to reduce your dependency on credit is like trying to give up smoking through will power. Eventually something will go wrong and you will turn to the thing that you believe will get you through the crisis.

I can't tell you how it's going to work out because my DMP has only been running for a year, but I can tell you that last year was the first year for nearly twenty that my debts reduced.

keith_lard

When I 'hit the brakes' with my Debt (I no longer call them Credit cards, Debt cards now)
I went with Chiltern Debt Management (Mistake!)
Just wish I and heard about CCCS in the first place, they will never take any money of me for their services and will never ask.
CCCS have sorted out everything for me, I have even put some poeple who I work with on to them and they have thanked me for telling them about CCCS.
They too can regain control of there money!

I have nothing bad to say at all about CCCS, and I dont think I ever will.

My Debt free date is 2008 I dont know what it would have been without the help of CCCS.

gnome_3

I've read the above with interest, but I have a couple of questions please.

If you are following a DMP with such as the CCCS what can't you do /have? Can you still use a debit card? can you apply for a mortgage? what happens to your credit rating, is it totally shot to pieces? and for how long?
I assume that your credit card interest is frozen or what? do you pay every penny you owe, but at a lower rate or is a reduction negociated?

Sorry, lots of questions!....

keith_lard

If you have a good credit rating open up a current account with a bank you owe nothing to!
This is before you go into a DMP.
You can apply for a mortgage but you may be seen as high risk, so dont expect a low rate, but ask CCCS who could you go to.
You lose your credit rating for 6 years, but You can repair it if you become more finacial sound.
In my DMP all interest has been frozen. But if I wanted to get Credit (which I dont) it would have to be secured on my house.

gnome_3

Thank you - just to clarify, you said that your interest is frozen, so that means that from the day you start your DMP every penny you pay through CCCS is off the total debt and no more interest will be added? have I got this right?

Apologies to Jenevieve for butting in on the thread but I have another question - you all say that CCCS will make your budget reasonable and allow you some spare cash for hobbies, entertainment etc - we don't have hobbies or need to be entertained, we are happy to live fairly frugally but we have two kids at Uni, this is costing quite a bit to maintain them, even though they earn a little we don't want them to have to be fully responsible for their own money - they are supposed to be studying after all - so what would the CCCS view on this, would they expect us to pay less out to the kids, or accept that this is our hobby/entertainment money in another form?