DMP acceptance help

bottom_of_the_class

We have clicked on the button with CCCS to initiate a DMP - what happens next - will we be automatically accepted and what happens if you're not?

Emotions are way more extreme than any roller coaster at the mo :-(

Rabbit-in-headlights

Hi BOTC,and welcome to DFW! It gets easier from here on in, baby steps will get you there

The CCCS DMP start-up goes something like this:

Once you've clicked on the button, CCCS will send you a contract to sign and also a template letter which you will need to copy and send to each of your creditors, to inform them that you intend to enter into a DMP agreement via CCCS,and to confirm that CCCS can negotiate on your behalf. You will also need to send latest statements from each creditor, together with the signed contract, to CCCS. Once CCCS receive that, they will contact your creditors and get the ball rolling.

Important - cancel all creditor DD's or SO's etc immediately - make no more contractual payments to any creditor once you have signed up for a DMP - you will need to put aside some cash to get started on your new budget, and CCCS warn against making preferential payments to a creditor and not the others. (and it goes without saying, cut up any CC's):D

You determine the start date of the DMP, it's worth noting that CCCS will collect your payment on the 1st of the month and will pass it on to your creditors on 25th (that's part of how CCCS is funded, from the interest earned during that time). Be realistic, don't say you want to start in October if you're not ready - you may want to make token payments for the first month or so before your DMP starts, to help set up an emergency fund (eg if you've budgeted £10/mth for car tax but your car tax is due in November, have you got the backup funds to meet the bill?).

The key thing is, if you have any queries at all about your proposed DMP, call or email CCCS immediately so that they can amend your plan if necessary. I've done everything by the online remedy and email, others on here prefer to call and speak to one of the CCCS counsellors, it's up to you whichever you prefer. Either way, you can be sure CCCS will give you good, clear, honest advice

Hope this helps, keep posting and let us know how you are getting on - best of luck!


Rabbit

bottom_of_the_class

Thanks Rabbit ... We are in a mess financially and things are going to be very tight for approximately 2 years ... We thought we had £68k of unsecured debts, but after reading the forums last night we now realise that the unsecured part of our mortgage would also be messed around with under a dmp (making it closer to £95k) and we would probably have to return our sofa because it is on HP.

These are the two things that I couldn't cope with (the humiliation of having our sofa repossesed would be horrendous and I don't want my mortgage messed with at all) as we are not in arrears with anything we have decided not to go ahead with a dmp via cccs, although we have relinquished our debit cards and we have been granted payment breaks today via NR and Egg which will clear 2 of our overdrafts - we are hoping that Barclays will do the same so we can clear the other one, but the lady we have been dealing with the last few days in barclays is not very helpful - she simply keeps saying debt recovery even though we have never missed a payment on anything (we phoned debt recovery yesterday who told me I must have come through to the wrong department as they had never heard of us!)

We have also decided to sell a few things to clear some of our smaller debts and when these sell we should have cleared £11k - through the repayment holdiays as well.

We are lucky in that we can earn extra cash through tutoring privately and are now on the lookout for some pupils and my mum is saving this money for us for Christmas etc - so the day of reckoning has arrived and whilst it was horrendous I am also grateful that we became aware before it was too late - no holidays for at least 2 years and we have to be extremely careful from now on, but as we have moved to operating in cash only I think this will be easier - credit/debit cards are dangerous - you never really know how much you've used them!

I'm just praying that the branch manager will be a little easier to deal with as a payment break will sort out the immediate problem of the overdrafts and put us back on an even keel even though we are down to extremely basic living for the foreseeable future!

We're not daft we knew when we spent it it had to be paid back - so here goes! - Thanks for listening I will keep posting and let you know how we get on

Rabbit-in-headlights

Hi BOTC,

Well done - it sounds like you're taking control! :A

I've seen a lot of posts recommending a "snowball calculator" which helps to work out the best way to attack CC debts (e.g. in reducing order of interest rate), if this appeals to you try it here:

http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx

Best of luck, I hope the next 2 years pass swiftly for you, do post again if you need any more support or advice, or just to rant - it's a great community on here!:o

All the best,

Rabbit

GeorgeUK

Might also be worthwhile posting up a statement of affairs. CCCS will need a breakdown of your expenditure, income and debts so this tool makes it nice and easy.
http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html