Anyone organising their own DMP?

debt_obsessed

I've been lurking for a long time but now is the time to post!
I had my first LBM back in 2007 and stupidly went with a fee charging DMP, after 2 years of not really seeing any difference in the balance, i've taken the first steps to run my DMP myself.

Have had conversations with my creditors and all have accepted my proposal (they'll be getting more money as the fee that I used to pay can also go toward repayment).

Just wanted to thank everyone on this forum, i've been lurking for quite a few months now, and then burying my head in the sand again!

Now, i'm ebaying what seems to be my entire life possesions lol!! Every little helps and all that, wish I'd done my own DMP to start with!

tessy_t

Hi, I am just about at the start of researching setting up and managing my own DMP and would really like to find some letter templates which can be sent to creditors. What I really would like in particular is the very first letter to be sent to creditors to make them aware of my intentions and also what should I ask of them in the first letter. I want to make sure I star off on the right note with all this and intend to keep on top of it!

debt_obsessed

I got all my templates etc from the payplan website, they have everything on there to help you, an income/expenditure sheet to fill in as well as how to work out your pro rata payments.

Good luck x

SueP19

Hi tessy_t

I used the National debtline templates, I think they are probably all very similar.

I made the mistake of sending my first pro rata'd payment with my first letter instead of a £1 and one of my card companies wrote back to tell me that they would accept it, after I had paid 2 installments......................I then wrote to them to ask them to consider my first payment as one I had already sent..................I am yet to discover if they will

katchambers

Hi everyone,

I would like to join this thread as I am about to embark on my on self-admin DMP. I have 4 debts totalling just over £10k. I have so far, opened a new bank account, as one of my debts is an overdraft on my account, I have cancelled my direct debits for all payments and have just filled out the template letters on national debtline website - very helpful!

Just need to check, I have made the full payments already this month, so I assume the reduced payments will start from August, so do I just send a £1 token payment along with my letter this week and then pay the smaller amount (pro-rater payment) next month. The letter from national debt line doesn't allow you to mention a token payment in the standard pro-rater payment letter so I assume I just write that at the bottom is pen.

Who else is starting this month or recently? How is it going?
Thanks
Kat x

gargrave50

You can cancel the d/d with your bank as long as its at least 3 business days before the next payment is due out. You should then write to them (enclosing the first payment if poss), explaining situation and reduced payment offer. You can either continue to send them cheques or set up a standing order payment which is great because YOU control the amount and frequency!

tessy_t

Hi, Thanks for the responses to my previous post. I will be managing my own DMP very soon, I need to ste up a new bank account but don't know who to go to. I have two overdrafts which will be included in the DMP, one with HSBC and one with Abbey. I did consider opening a cahoot current account but then realised they are linked to Abbey. I am now thinking I should open a basic account with the post office as suggested on the debtline website?

Any ideas?

tessy_t

I have been hogging this thread the last couple of day's, I've been trying to figure out what a step by step plan would be for setting up a self admin DMP. I wanted to find out:

1. At what point do I cancel my current direct debits with my creditors after sending the letter to ask them to accept pro rata payments?
2. Can I aslo mention in this lettert that I facing financial difficulties and ask them to stop all action, or should that be a seperate letter?
3. When I do cancel my direct debits, will I also face a penalty for a missed payment? or should the request to stop all action forbid this..in theory!?

Thanks for all the advice on this thread and others, this has been a real lightbuulb moment!

JWM

Just bumping as I would also be interested in the answers to tessy_t's questions above.

SueP19

tessy_t wrote: »

I have been hogging this thread the last couple of day's, I've been trying to figure out what a step by step plan would be for setting up a self admin DMP. I wanted to find out:

1. At what point do I cancel my current direct debits with my creditors after sending the letter to ask them to accept pro rata payments? I would say immediately, I am sure you have struggled to find the money each month and it only gets harder. The relief that I felt, having sent my letters was enormous, knowing I had a plan and a budget made me feel very calm.

2. Can I aslo mention in this lettert that I facing financial difficulties and ask them to stop all action, or should that be a seperate letter?
I explained it all in my initial letter, why this had happened and the fact that I had been strugging for the past 6 months to meet my minimums and then went on to request a stop on all charges and interest, it won't happen overnight I am afraid.
3. When I do cancel my direct debits, will I also face a penalty for a missed payment? or should the request to stop all action forbid this..in theory!? Yes they will probably charge you a late fee, over limit fee etc until you have it sorted. Creditors are not obliged to stop interest but it is in their interest to help you. Some may stop the charges for a limited time, most allow a year to see if your situation has changed. You will recieve a default notice for non payment but as soon as you do not pay the minimum they will mark your credit file anyway. Don't get suckered into believing them when they say ........"if you just pay this, then we will not default you"...............they lie
Thanks for all the advice on this thread and others, this has been a real lightbuulb moment!

Thanks for bumping

Sorry didn't realise someone hadn't answered you, been a very busy few days, hope this helps

I can only express my own experience, I think I have had a quite smooth ride with mine, even though one of my creditors is currently contradicting itself

If you are experiencing difficulties then just go for it, the sooner you get started the faster you will learn to stick to a budget and live will become less stressful

It has taken the best part of 6 weeks to get used to my budget and putting money away for yearly bills, something is always happening:mad: