DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part 5)

Fullhouse

dlb wrote: »

The one thing i have learnt not to worry about is my credit limit.
Yes some day i would like to buy my home, but what is most importnat to me here and now is getting debt free, so what if my credit rating is rubbish for the next 10 yrs, i wont owe anyone any money!

My hubby and me have be talkin alot today about the dmp what with moving away from the company im with now, and this is something we spoke about, neither of us are worried about the credit rating, but plan to `use` credit as a way to up our status once we are debt free, as one of our creditors still issue us cards as they say the account is in good order, we have always cut up the cards when they have come, but intend after clearing our debts in full to use this card. arhhhhhhhhhhhhh no i hear you cry...i will be using Martin MSE technique of using a credit card for one regular bill eg-petrol,council tax, but still treat it as cash...eg i phone up and pay council tax over phone on credit card, then straight after transfer the money to my credit card...meaning i have still paid cash on the same day but helped me back on my way up the credit rating ladder.

I agree. I was really worried about my credit rating. I have that credit expert thing where you can check it online and I used to feel really smug seeing all the little green 0s meaning "Paid on time". When I thought about it though a credit rating is only important if you're looking to get credit (which as I realise, is what got me in this mess) I'm determined that from now on I'm going to save up for stuff I want not just whip out the plastic!!

rcpbiggles

Toffee_Penny wrote: »

it doesn't matter how we got here what matters is what we do about it now and everyone will be familiar with this story;

got offered a credit card
paid credit card off a few times the limit increased
offered a loan - promised self to pay off credit card balance
paid off credt card balance. limit increased but ran up to limit again
now have loan and credit card debt
offered a new loan to consolidate the card and loan
still kept the card and ran up to the limit
offered a new card, ran that up to
offered a new loan or card
ran them up too
payments get too much
struggling to meet basic minimum payments
get behind with rent, bills, food shopping money goes down
feel alone and worried
join Martin Lewis site
find out about CCCS or Payplan
chat most nights to total strangers with funny nicknames about things you wouldn't even dream of telling your work colleagues or family
discover being in debt makes you stronger and that there are still weird people in the world but they tend to hang around on the internet

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Thank you so much for that Toffee Penny! (I know it's a way back on the thread but I'm reading through!)
You have totally hit the nail on the head with our situation (can also add in 3 extra mouths to feed along the way). The last 2 sentences I am hoping to discover more about, being a newbie here!

harvey180

Hi all!

I have hovered around on this thread for a while now since December.

I have to say CCCS are brilliant and both me and my wife feel relieved to be addressing everything. It's also good to get a good nights sleep now we are getting valuable help.

CCCS advised me to send of notification letters to creditors and I'm currently working through the list. Our main reason for the DMP is maternity pay and loss of household income.

I will be senting token payments at the end of the month, come pay day and will send these recorded delivery.

Do you guys recommend sending the Notification letters recorded delivery?

I'm worried about people claiming they haven't received letters etc. but didn't want to send everything recorded unnecessarily.

Many thanks for your help.

J

debt_daisy

Fullhouse wrote: »

I agree. I was really worried about my credit rating. I have that credit expert thing where you can check it online and I used to feel really smug seeing all the little green 0s meaning "Paid on time". When I thought about it though a credit rating is only important if you're looking to get credit (which as I realise, is what got me in this mess) I'm determined that from now on I'm going to save up for stuff I want not just whip out the plastic!!

Hi Fulhouse,

I just went on credit expert out of curiosity as have heard of these things but never used one and the information is so interesting! Nothing that I wasn't expecting- well apart from the fact that all creditors are showing as satisfactory- no defaults even though they sent me default letters, only one company egg is showing as a default which I found interesting. Do you use credit expert all the time and pay the monthly fee or did you just use for the 30 days? I'd like to keep a check on this from now on as i think will be useful for future reference but don't know if I want to pay the fee.

dlb i totally see what you were saying with your earlier post. I am hoping in the future that my partner and i will have a chance of buying our own property but i would also rather sort all my debts out first and even if that means we are going to rent for a really long time i will be happy to know that i don't have any debts hanging over me when we do eventually get to buy a place (year 3000? )

Just a quick update on creditors, all seem to be ticking along nicely. I was reading earlier posts and I have actually been one of the few to find that Natwest are ok with me (student account and cc). Sainsburys bank are now contacting me through Eversheds- Eversheds were akward at first and when i received the paperwork on xmas eve from them demanding all the money i owed i wanted to cry but I have contacted them again recently as they kept phoning my mum (old address) and told them not to do this. The gentleman who i spoke to this time was very friendly and said that they will accept my payment for three months and then contact me for any updates which I guess means I don't have to worry about them hassling me for a while now. Abbey Credit Card (Santander) also accepted my payment which is a small £5 per month at the moment but is all I can afford. The lady was very nice. Hope this may be of use to some of you but again as mentioned we all seem to have different experiences.

x DD

Fullhouse

Yes I do unfortunatley pay the £6.99 fee. For this you get "credit alerts" e-mailed to you every time something changes. Now that I'm going on a dmp though I might cancel this and just have "one-off" checks periodically (say every 3-6 mnths).

Can anyone tell me on a dmp approx what % of the original contracted monthly payments they are paying to each creditor?

Fullhouse

Just wanted to tell everyone that I just got BG to agree a reasonable payment towards gas arrears (£20 pcm towards £500 arrears). I feel so much better as this is the first time I've tackled a creditor instead of ignoring and hiding from the problem. Also it means I've sorted one of my "priority debts" before my consultaion with cccs on Wednesday. I definatley feel empowered (sad I know - but still true)

dlb

Fullhouse wrote: »

Just wanted to tell everyone that I just got BG to agree a reasonable payment towards gas arrears (£20 pcm towards £500 arrears). I feel so much better as this is the first time I've tackled a creditor instead of ignoring and hiding from the problem. Also it means I've sorted one of my "priority debts" before my consultaion with cccs on Wednesday. I definatley feel empowered (sad I know - but still true)

Feels good doesnt it!!:D
It all about taking control and getting your life back.
Belive me the feeling just gets better and better as the creditors come onside, and the feeling continues as you watch that debt fall!:j
Good Luck
Donna
xx

One of my memorable coversations was to a catalog company i had at the onset of my dmp, whos debt was only just over a £100 pounds, i decided not to add this to the dmp and pay it off from my shopping allowance.
I phoned them myself to tell them i would have to reduce my payments and spend the cost over 6 monhts instead of keeping up the min payments which would have cleared it in 3.
The lady at the end of the phone agreed to this but then went into a big song and dance about this will mean your credit score will show that you have gone on a payment arrangment and this will make it hard to get credit in future are you happy with that if not you can just pay what your are ment to!
Apart from finding it very hard not to blow my top at the way she spoke..i carmly answered
` no the reduced payments are fantastic, as im on a dmp that you can be added to if you are not happy and i already have a really rubbish credit rating anyway, so another bad mark wont make any difference!`

She didnt know what to say, just said oh and thank you for contacting us!

Fullhouse

Thanks for that Donna, this forum is so great. It's nice to feel you're not alone!!

Quillion

LBM 19/1/2009
This occurred due to going onto reduced hours and not being able to pay the bills.
Will be having an afternoon sorting out a dmp then hopefully i will get rid of the headache that is now costing me a fortune in paracetamol to get rid of.
Just sorting out income and expenditure and as always is worse than we thought but no more just paying the bills then worrying in case anything goes wrong before payday.
Can you add me to the board please i will no doubt be a regular visitor.:o
x

dlb

Welcome Quillion .
Well done on making the first steps to a better debt free life.
D
x