self negotiation plan

homealone_2

has anyone had any of the debt help agencies suggest try self negotiation and if so what have your experiences have been? have any of you had any success with this method?

Leixlip1

If you mean doinf a self-managed dmp then yes I'm doing one and it hasn't been too bad. Some were helpful e.g. Cap' One, Citi,M&S and others I had a bit of a battle with e.g. MBNA but for the past 2 years things have been generally been running fine.
I keep them updated of my circs, revise pro-rata payments as necessary etc and use National Debtline for support and always quote my client ref' with them on correspondence to creditors.

lxpeanut

I tried doing my DMP this way at first and Halifax who all my debts were with weren't helpful at all. I then went through CCCS and it was all set up and running within a couple of months. I'm now doing it myself though as I'm now confident in it and it puts me more in control of my finances.

SerenaGoode

I'm doing it this way. It has been OK, I'd rather deal with it myself, and National Debtline have been a great help when needed. The only problem at this stage is that while most of the creditors are behaving after a couple of months of hassle, MBNA are continuing to be a complete pain. I've had to resort to trying the CCA letter to see if that moves things along.

But overall I think this is a pretty good way of doing it so long as you are reasonably calm and patient. Bear in mind they all pester you on the phone and many of them won't make any progress until you talk to them and tell them exactly the same things that are on your letters. But in the end you get to a point where you don't get the calls and don't have too much hassle apart from making sure you keep an eye on them.

homealone_2

thanks everyone, have been poring over the budget plan they have just sent me, a lot of figures were wrong and even when i called them and they made alterations my figures didnt match her. will have to see where i have gone wrong when i have looked at amended shee when it arrives. i must admit though the fact sheet they sent on full and final settlements has had me thinking. my ittle nest egg is certainly not earning a fortune in interest and even if creditors do accept smaller monthly payments it is still likely to go o forever whereas if i were to offer pro rata my savings the whole thing could be behind me in a matter of weeks. ah bliss,that woud feel so much better than the knowlege of having that little bit of finacial cushioning!! yep am going to ring national debt line now and see what they think? will keep you posted

SerenaGoode

tic-tac-toe wrote: »

These companies get money out of people by using nasty scaring tactics - stand firm, you're the one in control as long as you pay them something each month.

Bang on. It's a bit of a pain getting them to stop interest and charges but it can be done. And all that a court would enforce is that you should pay them what you can afford per month anyway - the companies know that, even if they mess you around a bit along the way.

SerenaGoode

homealone wrote: »

thanks everyone, have been poring over the budget plan they have just sent me, a lot of figures were wrong and even when i called them and they made alterations my figures didnt match her. will have to see where i have gone wrong when i have looked at amended shee when it arrives. i must admit though the fact sheet they sent on full and final settlements has had me thinking. my ittle nest egg is certainly not earning a fortune in interest and even if creditors do accept smaller monthly payments it is still likely to go o forever whereas if i were to offer pro rata my savings the whole thing could be behind me in a matter of weeks. ah bliss,that woud feel so much better than the knowlege of having that little bit of finacial cushioning!! yep am going to ring national debt line now and see what they think? will keep you posted

See what the adviser says. I know that some companies will only accept full and final offers once you have already had a period of reduced payments. One company I know of will automatically accept 60% offers once you are six months behind on the required payments.

But National Debtline will know better than me what the best plan is here.

homealone_2

well i am back.how is it that every adviser has a different way of looking at it? anyway after going through all my figures a full and final settlement was going to be unlikely. apparently because i am still receiving a salary of sorts from my old company even after beingoff sick for 5 years i am receiving £386 a month on a payment protection plan and as long as i fulfill the criteria of the application they send me annually they are happy to continue paying. but as they do that gives me the money they give me as disosable income and with that amount floating about no company will accept an offer of 33% of total outstanding. plus you cant offer a f & f to tax credits so will still have that hanging over me. so back to drawing board now of offering reduced monthly payments. it just looks like even if they accept these payments its going to go on forever. i have been number crunching now or about 9 weeks and he has been gone 12 weeks. in many ways the worry and stress of the financial side of it has given me something to focus on besides the constant "why" screaming around my head. my bedroom is strewn with paperwork,forms, factsheets you name it so desperately want to put it all behind me and move on. how i envy his ability to just walk away from it all

xnatalie81x

oooooooooo who accepts 60% lol. I have had great success with f&f's but i have been on DMP for over a year now. MBNA will generally accept 45% - they offerred me that only 2mths into reduced payments but wasn't in a position to pay. they passed to DCA now paying them the 45% (ish)

homealone_2

i guess i will have to havea few months under my belt before anyone will do anything. tax credits people doing another review of me in april at the moment they dont want anything off me as they dont want to make my financial situation worse than it is so writing to them to offer reduced monthly payments is going to be fun!! they are going to think i am mad offering them money when they have said they dont want any!