DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part 5)

msc1977

marfan_not_martian wrote: »

Hi thanks MSC for your reply - I have actually managed to get into my DMP - I just went online and entered my reference number and requested new password - I put in my email address that I used when setting up the DMP and it worked. I received an email very quickly with new password. So when I logged in it asked me to change password to something more memorable which I did and I now have access to my DMP - its really interesting too and there is loads of info when you log in.

Hope this helps someone starting out on a DMP with CCCS.

MNM
xx

How strange i just tried this and it says my client reference number and email address dont match .....

marfan_not_martian

MSC1977 have you had your welcome pack yet from CCCS - I received mine this morning and logged onto my account this afternoon.

Are you using the same email account that you entered when setting up the debt remedy and opting for a DMP

MNM

msc1977

mmmm maybe not! I've had the first letter and notification form to copy but i guess the welcome pack come after i've sent back all my statements etc?

jaapie

Hello - deep breath I have just looked into setting up a debt management plan really badly in debt and just need to be able to focus on getting rid of it and the credit cards are killing me. I would love some advice. I have 5 creditors to pay Northern Rock, Barclaycard, MBNA x 2, Abbey Santandar and Barclays overdraft. We owe around 45,000 (gulp). I am "managing" to make the payments but it is getting harder and harder as DH overtime has been stopped with a loss of 80.00 a week.
The debtline said I would have 600.00 a month to pay off the creditors I would be debt free in 7 years and I could either do it myself or go through an agency. I do not know what to do my loans are finished in 4 years but the credit cards I cannot see ever ending.

I am nervous of the phone calls etc if I go down DMP but I really do not know what to do I have 2 small children and just want to live without having to pay every day for the stupid mess we have got ourselves in. Please can someone point me in the right direction.

Toffee_Penny

Welcome Jaapie :beer: First of all - DON'T PANIC!!

I just wanted to say that we owe 50k and have been on a DMP for over 6 months now, it's early days still but I no longer go to bed worrying about debt or thinking of how we are going to make that massive payment due before we get paid and how big my overdraft is etc. That feeling is gone and we are now looking forward to being debt free.

Please don't worry about your debt free date just yet the first thing you need to do is get set up on a plan using one of the debt free charities that have helped so many of us on this forum and especially on this thread.

It is very scary at first especially if you have always tried to maintain a good account with all your creditors but enough is enough if you are slowly sinking in debt and getting yourself down and depressed thinking about it.

CCCS or Payplan are the two main debt free charities I have heard of that will help set up the DMP on your behalf. It is relatively straight forward and nice to know that someone is there as back up on your behalf in the early stages of contacting creditors, setting up payments etc.

The only thing I would advise is as desperate as you are to be debt free, whatever you do make sure you do not skint yourself with your budget just so you can pay xx amount of pounds to the creditors each month. It is very hard at first to adjust to day to day life without credit, so please make sure you leave enough so you can comfortably survive the month until next payday.

Please stick around, this site is invaluable and it is very reassuring to see the sheer volume of people who have all been a bit daft with money helping each other with advice or with kind words annd encouragement. You are definitely not alone so please don't feel silly at all!

jaapie

Thank you I think I needed that this evening. Can I ask do you find it easier to budget and manage now? Also did you get many "nasty" phone calls or knocks at the door?

Toffee_Penny

Forgot to add Jaapie this is how it usually works when setting up a DMP -

step 1 - get a list of all your creditors and start writing letters to tell them you are no longer able to make minimum payments, send them a £1 as a token gesture of goodwill MAKE NO MORE BIG PAYMENTS TO THEM (CCCS and Payplan will get you to contact all creditors do this anyway once your DMP paperwork comes through)

step 2 - need to set up a new bank account and transfer all income (child benefit, tax credits, wages) in to it as your overdraft will be included in the DMP too

step 3 - cancel all direct debits and transfer only the relevant ones to your new account e.g gas, tv licence etc MAKE sure priority debts are still paid - council tax, rent/mortgage

step 4 - if you can change your house phone number do it, as the creditors will start to call you as soon as you start to miss payments, you don't have to do this but constant phone calls can be a nightmare at first and you could feel pressurised

take care and good luck

ianmak

Personally I found it incredibly difficult to budget at first, simply because I hadn't done that before. And I'm not proud of that. However, it does get easier, and it's always nice if you have any money left over to put towards savings. Have a look around the boards and there is a wealth of information regarding money saving (hence MSE... )

Good luck Jaapie and welcome!

Toffee_Penny

jaapie wrote: »

Thank you I think I needed that this evening. Can I ask do you find it easier to budget and manage now? Also did you get many "nasty" phone calls or knocks at the door?

To be honest I feel more richer now than I ever did when I had credit! It was hard at first to adjust to things like going food shopping, no longer did I have the credit card to whip out if it went over a certain limit, now I have a certain amount and have to stick to it. OK so we might not have takeaways every night but we are not starving and we can afford the nice brands still. In fact we probably eat better now than what we did before because we have to, I make soups, pies etc alot more healthy than McDonalds every weekend just because we had money to go out and do that. You soon realise that what you had with credit was just material things and you do start to appreciate money alot more, a fiver is no longer a fiver it's worth something now, every penny counts.

When you miss a few minimum payments creditors do think 'eh up are they taking the pee?' and will send letters demanding you call them immediately in big bold letters and will use words such as court action, baliffs etc Don't believe a word! I used to think I was going to get ccj's as soon as I defaulted, it doesn't happen like that. Many people on here will tell you that. It is all scare tactics and everyone gets the standard letters from the creditors as they just want their money back as soon as possible. You start to realise as much as you think you have been a good customer paying them on time, you are just a number to them, they don't care about you and they don't care whether you are skinting yourself every month to pay them back either.

We all say on here that setting up a DMP is the best thing we ever did. It's the first step to getting your life back without credit.

jaapie

At the moment I have an interest only mortgage that we could afford if either of us lost our jobs. One suggestion was to up the payments and then go on a repayment mortgage now and make that part of the dmp however this would mean our mortgage would increase 3 times. I am not sure what to do about that as I realise if I go down DMP route it will be hard to get credit in the future.