DMP Help Required

redkev76

Hi

Just a bit of background, current situation is that I am married with 2 small children under 2. Have debts (2 credit cards, Egg and Halifax, 1 store card with GE Money and an overdraft with Barclays) totalling around 18k. Have been thinking about a DMP for a while and have decided to go ahead with it as the CC companies keep upping their APR and now I'm being crippled. Have done the CCCS debt remedy calculator and it suggests that the monthly payment should be £250 and debt will hopefully be clear in just over 6 years, subject to the firms accepting.

I have just moved house (rent only £15 per month more so nothing elaborate, but needed somwhere more suitable for the children) and as a result have left myself really short this month with needing extra deposit, some basic furniture etc and so have not paid any of my card payments this month so keep getting calls from them which i'm not answering. I have also applied for a new bank account but the only one I could see which looked decent was with Halifax.

Not really looking for help with the budgeting side of things as I have spent a lot of time going through the debt remedy and think I am ok on that so these are my questions, any help would be much appreciated:

Should I stick with Barclays as they will apparently let you open a basic account even though i'm going to put the OD on the DMP or should I go with Halifax?If I do go with Halifax, do they have the right to take anything from my bank account because I will be putting their CC on the DMP. Should I just apply for a different bank account altogether?

Should I just send the CC companies a letter saying that I am in the process of setting up a DMP with CCCS and that CCCS will be in touch with them shortly? Although I have done the CCCS remedy form, I haven't sent it to them for processing yet so I suppose this will still take a few weeks.

Finally, any suggestions/helpful experiences that anyone else can offer regarding DMPS would be of use as my brain is starting to melt with all this!!

Cheers

Kev

~Beanie~

redkev76 wrote: »

Should I stick with Barclays as they will apparently let you open a basic account even though i'm going to put the OD on the DMP or should I go with Halifax?If I do go with Halifax, do they have the right to take anything from my bank account because I will be putting their CC on the DMP. Should I just apply for a different bank account altogether?

You really need to open an account with someone that you don't have any debt with, so steer clear of Barclays and Halifax. Both NatWest and the Co-op do basic bank accounts that should be suitable.

redkev76

Cheers for that, that was what I thought, not sure why I applied to open the Halifax account to be honest, think it was a moment of bored at work madness!! Any idea on the situation re the credit card firms?

angelflower_2

yeah, I would drop them a note to at least keep them updated (shows a willingness to sort out your situation).

I wouldnt say you are in process of sorting out with CCCS until you have fully accepted process with them and they have agreed to act for you, just say something along the lines of you are having difficulty

here is a link into a cool pack which has some sample letters in it which may help

http://www.capuk.org/downloads/CAP_self_help_pack.pdf

redkev76

Thanks angelflower. I'm going to do them each a letter now and get it sent off this afternoon hopefully. Fingers crossed!

stredevil

redkev76 wrote: »

Should I stick with Barclays as they will apparently let you open a basic account even though i'm going to put the OD on the DMP or should I go with Halifax?

If you currently bank with Barclays, they will be happy to continue to offer you banking facilities as
long as you are a DMP client with CCCS.

You will need to visit your branch to cancel your connect card and replace it with an electron card.

Upon receipt of your instructions and as soon as they have received the offer(s) of payment from
CCCS, Barclays will then close down your existing facilities and open the new account. They will also
check the connect card has been cancelled. If it hasn't they will cancel it automatically on their
system.