DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part 5)

suziepoor

Hi sunshine

Thanks for your post.
my bank is alliance and leicester, who i also have a loan with. As well i have a £300 overdraft which will be going into the dmp. my loan payment (£211) isnt due till the 27th, but i have only just sent off debt remedy to cccs, plus the figures for soa were estimated as i have recently split with my bf, so will be moving to a houseshare or own flat in mid-feb, as agreed to paying jans rent etc. for where i live now, so cant move till then, therefore i dont know exactly how much my dmp payment will be, it could vary according to where im going to live and how much rent is etc, therefore im thinking i wont be making my first payment on dmp till 1st March. So have jan and febs payments to creditors to make - really cant afford to pay all of jan's, can just about manage the loan and barclaycard. So will send token payments of £20 to Sainsburys credit card and Abbey national, hope they are ok with me!
In February i will do token payments to all, and put any money saved into emergency fund.
Really unsure what to do about loan and bank account, as was planning on getting new one sorted for feb wages, then can just cancel rent s/o to old account etc. and set up new ones.
Not sure what is going to happen with old bank account but my wage for feb is definately going in new one. That means the loan payment due for 27 feb will not go through as there will be no money in account, and all the £300 overdraft has been used. Shall i cancel the direct debit for the loan after the january payment? And if so how should i make a token payment? by cheque?
Bit concerned at having my bank account overdraft in the dmp and the loan as worried bank will extend the o/d and take the loan payment, but cant see a way round it, even if i borrow money to pay the o/d, then they would just take it from that? Unless i borrow £300 pay the overdraft, cancel all s/o's and dd's then close the account down?

Any ideas? What do you think is best?

Suzie
xx

charliedavis

suziepoor wrote: »

Hi sunshine

Thanks for your post.
my bank is alliance and leicester, who i also have a loan with. As well i have a £300 overdraft which will be going into the dmp. my loan payment (£211) isnt due till the 27th, but i have only just sent off debt remedy to cccs, plus the figures for soa were estimated as i have recently split with my bf, so will be moving to a houseshare or own flat in mid-feb, as agreed to paying jans rent etc. for where i live now, so cant move till then, therefore i dont know exactly how much my dmp payment will be, it could vary according to where im going to live and how much rent is etc, therefore im thinking i wont be making my first payment on dmp till 1st March. So have jan and febs payments to creditors to make - really cant afford to pay all of jan's, can just about manage the loan and barclaycard. So will send token payments of £20 to Sainsburys credit card and Abbey national, hope they are ok with me!
In February i will do token payments to all, and put any money saved into emergency fund.
Really unsure what to do about loan and bank account, as was planning on getting new one sorted for feb wages, then can just cancel rent s/o to old account etc. and set up new ones.
Not sure what is going to happen with old bank account but my wage for feb is definately going in new one. That means the loan payment due for 27 feb will not go through as there will be no money in account, and all the £300 overdraft has been used. Shall i cancel the direct debit for the loan after the january payment? And if so how should i make a token payment? by cheque?
Bit concerned at having my bank account overdraft in the dmp and the loan as worried bank will extend the o/d and take the loan payment, but cant see a way round it, even if i borrow money to pay the o/d, then they would just take it from that? Unless i borrow £300 pay the overdraft, cancel all s/o's and dd's then close the account down?

Any ideas? What do you think is best?

Suzie
xx

Hi Suzie

Currently lurking about to join up to this having signed up with CCCS on a DMP (can I have a number please?) I believe from having read pages and pages of threads that the advice would be to send smaller token payments than £20 as if CCCS offer less than this in future they will not accept.

Also you definitely need to cancel all SOs and DDs as fast as possible, and use a month to build up a savings fund in case of dire emergencies (which in the past most of it would have turned to CCs for!)

I hope this is all correct - I am sure current members of this thread will be able to update if not.

Bigdi

Hi Gemmzie, yes I have had the same and will be emailing PP tomorrow so they can deal with it. I too am a cynic........................

Rabbit-in-headlights

Hi suziepoor,

I agree with charliedavis, you only need to make £1 token payments until your DMP starts. If you stop all DD's / SO's from your old account immediately and make token payments in Jan & Feb, you could to use the savings to clear your overdraft and close the A&L current account completely. It's the only way to make sure they can't take money out of your account (or extend your overdraft!).

If you can't get new DD's and SO's set up in time for your January payments to your priority bills, phone the companies up and arrange to send in a cheque or postal order.

I know it feels weird to suddenly just stop paying loan and credit card bills and only pay £1, but you will need as much money put aside as possible as an emergency fund before you start your DMP. My DMP only started in October and last night my car wouldn't start, looks like a new starter motor is needed - my emergency fund has already evaporated so I'm going to have to go cap in hand to cccs to reduce one month's DMP payment get it fixed:mad: .
From now on, you must look after no.1:o


rabbit

ianmak

Suzie,

It's taken me 3/4 months of being on the DMP just to get used to budgeting, so if you don't save, you will be using the cash to get used to not having any! Also, as has been said above, if you pay tokens of £20 and then end up paying say £5 to each, they're going to wonder why, if you were paying £20 before. So pay the token £1. Yes, it will feel weird, but it makes sense!

newlywed

Hi all,

Just wanted to give everyone a little tip - I posted on here that I missed shopping sprees where you blow loads of money on clothes etc in one day....

Well my sister and I arranged a day shopping - but only in charity shops We went to another town (for a change) that has several close together and I bought:

two pairs of shoes (probably only worn once by the looks)
a jacket
two jumpers
an evening skirt - debenhams debut
a smart wallis top

And spent a total of.... £18

We're planning to do it again in the summer


It adds to my per una, wallis, monsoon bargains from charity shops and the only problem now is I've kinda got the shopping bug again but for charity shops...

suziepoor

To charlie and rabbit (and anyone else who can help)

Thanks for your posts they have helped me see sense, i am now going to do the following:-

Transfer all direct debits; car insurance/mobile phone/tv licence to new bank account - natwest step account which is already set up.
Pay rent for remaining months from new bank account by standing order.
Have wages from 15 January onwards paid into new bank account to allow for the above.

Cancel all standing orders/direct debits on old account including loan before 27th (loan payment day) and pay in £300 overdraft then close the account.

Pay all creditors token payments of £1 for January, February and until the DMP is set up - now could you advise how to pay them as I dont want to give them my new debit card details? Sorry if it seems a bit thick of me but i dont quite understand how postal orders work and what you need to do?
Also who do i make my loan token payment out to - the name of the bank then put my loan ref. no?
Also when i send the token payment i need to send a letter explaining why etc - could anyone direct me to a template for a letter please?

Lastly I think i am finally starting to understand and agree with your point 'that you have to look after yourself' and i have also realised that regardless of my living arrangements and how much i am paying in outgoings (as currently paying double, on behalf of ex-bf's, until i move out), it is still better to get the dmp up and running as soon as possible, as i can always increase the amount once ive moved and have more money to spare.

The £1 token payments will definately help me build up an emergency fund and it will also give me peace of mind if i can get my old account closed and know that alliance and leicester wont be trying to increase the overdraft and take the loan amount etc.

Thanks again for all help so far. ive had a really stressful time lately worrying about this, but i think im finally starting to toughen up a bit. I keep repeating the mantra 'you can only pay what you can afford' everytime i get a bit worried, i think it makes me feel stronger! Yes i have run up large debts and been foolish and had a depression-related gambling problem, but i think i have seen the light, and am doing all i can to get it sorted and repay all debts and hopefully be a lot happier!

right im off to post on my diary now....

Look forward to reading replies regarding my queries above

thanks,
Suzie
xx

MummyOnAMission_2

Hi Suzie with regards to the token payments. Quite a few people on here recommended postal orders to me as the safest bet and thats what I did. So you just get them from the post office. How ever creditors you have to pay a token payment to ask for that many £1 postal orders then you can either fill them in there or do it your self at home if you dont want all the post office knowing your private stuff. They do charge you for each one, im sorry I cant remember how much it was though but around the 50p mark somewhere but Im sure someone will know the definite amount they charge and let you know.

Yes I think you send the loan one to what ever address is on your statement with your ref number. You will be sending it with the letter anyway so will have your ref number on there.

hope that helps, your doing great with it all seem very organised!!

Jvic28

newlywed wrote: »

Hi all,

Just wanted to give everyone a little tip - I posted on here that I missed shopping sprees where you blow loads of money on clothes etc in one day....

Well my sister and I arranged a day shopping - but only in charity shops We went to another town (for a change) that has several close together and I bought:

two pairs of shoes (probably only worn once by the looks)
a jacket
two jumpers
an evening skirt - debenhams debut
a smart wallis top

And spent a total of.... £18

We're planning to do it again in the summer


It adds to my per una, wallis, monsoon bargains from charity shops and the only problem now is I've kinda got the shopping bug again but for charity shops...

Thats a pretty good idea. I'll definately be trying that. I need to start making more use of charity shops.

Happy New Year to everyone by the way. I haven't been on here for a while. Hope everyones DMP's are going Ok.

xxx

suziepoor

Thanks for all help so far re: postal orders.

Any help with template letters or examples, to be sent with token payments, is there a standard letter? Dont reckon cccs will be in touch with me before the first token payment goes out, so really need to find something to put.....

xx