its all too much

emma126

hi,
my name's emma. i have a fairly small amount of debt (well, i think so anyways lol) i owe money to some catalogues, i am so stupid cos its all a load of rubbish and i cant even remember what i bought!
anyway, i reckon i owe them about 1200. i cant be sure as i have moved house and dumped the debt. the thought of not paying them back makes me feel sick to my stomach and i lie awake at night with it on my mind, thinking how stupid ive been and what a rubbish mum i am to put myself and my baby in a situation where i owe silly money and cant pay it back.
i have contacted someone about a dmp - lewis alexander. i only wanted to use them to pay back the 1200, but i mistakenly told them that i had a bank loan. the fella replied that unless i put the bank loan in with the dmp they wouldnt take me on.
now this doesnt make any sense to me, my bank loan will be paid off in 14 months, but if i go through them they will add it all together and pay it off over 20 months. i am fine paying my bank loan so why do i have to add it all together?? i also cant really be bothered to change banks (although maybe i should? am with hsbc and their charges are mental!)
should i just put the bank loan with the others into the dmp? or should i go elsewhere and just not tell them about it. but some companies wont take on such a small amount of debt.
god, i feel like throwing up just writing about it, but i really want to get started on paying this money back.
oh yeah, also the man on the phone told me that a dmp doesnt go on your credit file, is this right/
if youve managed to read that essay then thanks, any advice appreciated!
emma

elsie52

Hi,

Do Not go with a DMP company who charge you.....Use a company like Payplan or CCCS. Does the company you have spoken to charge for their services?

misspoppy

Hi
i would forget you ever called that company, the main reason being that they will charge you for administering the DMP and there are charities out there that will do it for free for you.

You could get a copy of your credit report which will show who now owns the debts that you have and you can contact them and make arrangements to pay them what you can, the issue with this is that they will always want more than you can afford so you will need support from this site to help you deal with them.

You also mention bank charges which suggested you haven't got your budgeting right so have a think about putting a statement of affairs up listing all your income and outgoings so we can help you make cut backs or offer sugggestions on how to get smarter with money so you don't keep getting bank charges.

emma126

thanks. does the cccs have a minimum debt that they will take on, do you know?
misspoppy, the charges i have been incurring have been from when i was out of work for 2 months and couldnt meet the payments on any of my direct debits or my bank loan - £150 in charges for a month!!
im back at work now, thankfully!

CCCS_Matthew

Hi Emma,

There is no minimum amount of debt needed for us to help, although a DMP will only be offered if the counsellor feels it's the best option for you into repaying your debts. You would always need to include all your creditors when looking at your situation, as it's unfair to offer some of your creditors reduced payments whilst maintaining full payments to others.

If you would like us to look at your situation, our helpline can be contacted on 0800 138 1111. All advice is completely free and impartial.

Regards,
Matthew.

emma126

oh right, thanks a lot for that, i feel better hearing from someone else that i would have to include my bank loan!
will give the cccs a ring tomorrow morning.