New DMP -loads of questions

mumofmad

Hi there

My husband and I have approached the CCCS re. a debt management plan, this course of action was recommended by our bank. The phone appointment is next Weds. However I have loads of questions in the meantime. I have lurked on here for ages and wondered if you would help?

How do they work out your payments?
How long does it take to sort out?
Should i continue making payments to my creditors?
Do they leave you any surplus money i.e living expenses etc?

I think i've been quite naive and thought this would be an easy (ish) solution and i'm now in a mild state of panic! Surely living with a DMP will be easier than living with no money at all.

Finally, will my work find out? I'd be so upset if anyone found out, I can't believe we have got into this situation, I feel so foolish.

Thanks

S

milliemonster

Hiya and welcome to the board, don't feel foolish, you are being incredibly responsible by taking action.

I can't answer all of your questions but generally, for a DMP they will initially want a complete run down of your income and outgoings (excluding unsecured debt) have a look at this to help you http://www.makesenseofcards.com/
and will look at what you have left over to service your unsecured debt, then they will divide that surplus up proportionally to all your creditors each month, I am not sure how long it takes to sort out and I guess if you can afford to keep up the payments to your creditors in the meantime then do so.

Of course you will have surplus money for living expenses, yes its not an easy solution as sometimes creditors can get a bit shirty and refuse the reduced payments (and not stop interest) but go by CCCS's advice as I am no expert on DMP's, they will work out a repayment plan for you that will be affordable for you, it will affect your credit rating though, but not having credit again is not such a bad thing is it?

HHH_2

I have a CCCS Dmp try looking at their website and filling in the debt remedy form as if it reccomends a dmp you will get the paperwork quicker as i know someone on here earlier was upset they had to wait for a while before they got sorted with a phone call as their oh was self employed so slightly more complicated. My dmp is brill I no longer live on credit I have enough for a resonable life which I pay out of MY money and not on a credit card. no luxurious holidays of course but one day....!your payments will be allocated fairly to all your creditors and initially although they will plague you with phone calls and letters once you have a CCCS number to quote at them you can put the phone down. I would if I were you, continue with payments if you can afford to or send token payments even £1 will do until your dmp is running. all my creditors stopped interest within 3 months and none have started it again although maybe they will. havent had a letter or phone call in 18 months! Lastly there is no reason why your work should find out, you will need a bank account which is not connected to any of your creditors but there is no reason why your work needs to know why ( co-op bank'sgood). Anyway to be honest you havent anything to be ashamed about you'd be surprised who's out there feeling like you! good luck with it after the first 2 months it was all smooth going for me.

GeorgeUK

Hi mom

Right, lets start at the beginning. Can you post up a statement of affairs so we can firstly see if you require a DMP or if you are elegible for one.
https://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

If you deduct your monthly household expenditure from your income, what would be left over to pay the ensecured debts? (loans, creditcards etc)

This amount would be split equally between all your creditors so that monthly payments are made, although they would be below the minimum payments. CCCS would try to get them to stop all interest (easier to do in Scotland) and then you would just continue to pay CCCS who would allocate payments to your creditors.

How long it takes to sort out can vary. Some creditors refuse the amounts they will be receiving, but other that going to court where they may end up with the same amount being allocated, there isn't much they can do about it.

You will have a budget to live off so you shouldn't be worrying about them taking all your money and not having anything to eat all month.

Continuing payments - that depends. If you are definately going to go an a DMP then CCCS will probably advise you to make a token payment of £1 to all creditors until the budget and payment allocation is sorted. I would continue to make payments until you are sure you are going on a DMP otherwise you may get in a bit of a mess.

mumofmad

Thanks its all becoming a bit clearer now. I will post a soa, but my computer at home is on the blink, we need a new power cable and they're £60!! So thats out of the question at the minute.

I'm sure i'll have loads more questions for you, so thanks again for your support