Thoughts please.....

panicsetin

Hi all,

After years of juggling payments and robbing Peter to pay Paul I am finally going to set up my own DMP. I am VERY scared about what is to come and mainly the hassle that I can expect from my creditors (I am keen to keep what I am doing from my family as I am so ashamed and worried about losing them). Here is my plan of action which I intend to take next pay day:

1. Next pay day write to all creditors enclosing £5 token payment explaining that I am seeking advice about my situation and ask them to give me 28 days without taking action.

2. The second pay day send them a further letter enclosing my SOA and advising them how much i can afford to pay (calculated pro-rata in accordance with the information I found on the National Debtline website).

3. Sign up for BT's choose to refuse service

I am taking step 1 in the hope that I can put what I would have paid my creditors that month aside into an emergency fund for any unexpected bills that arise e.g. car repair. Does this sound reasonable/sensible?

How many phone calls a day can I expect? (I guess I imagine that the phone will be ringing constantly - will it?)

I would really appreciate your thoughts and opinions....

Thank you,
PSI

panicsetin

PS Do many of the calls come from withheld numbers? Would BT's Anonymous Call Reject plan be worth considering to?

Leixlip1

I've been doing my own dmp for 2+ years now as I like to be in control of my own destiny. At first it was stressful but there's good advice and support here and also from National Debtline.
I changed my phone number so had no stressful calls and deal with everything by recorded delivery mail and with one or two exceptions (Lloyds & Barclaycard) my creditors have been okay and some even helpful!
Good luck

Honeybee_2

My advice would be to look out parts of the law that are relevent (this forum's a gold mine of it), then drop them into any conversations if the creditors begin to get bolshy, the nicer ones back down, the bolshier ones put the phone down onn you, lol.

Best thing to do though would be to put everything in writing, then change your phone number(s). Remember though, if you do contact them by phone, to withold your number or they'll keep it logged on the system and pester you.

I've been on a self administered dmp for a couple of years now. It's evolved over time but it's getting the job done - on the home straight now.

Good luck.