Anyone organising their own DMP?

Tixy

Hi

Might be worth looking here Letter to creditors when setting up DMP and perhaps sending a PM to saltnvinegar, who is doing her own DMP. (I think SnV is a her).

inamess_man

thanks tixy

i really appreciate all help im getting

inamess_man

a further question if i may

does anybody have the best addresses for companies? is it just best sent fao of somebody in particular or just the general address?

thanks

saltnvinegar

Hi Inamess Man

Got your PM but will post my response here in case it can benefit others.

What do I mean by sign digitally?

When you type out your letter, also type your signature (in other words a digital signature). You can use a different font to make it stand out if you like.

The reason for this is that some debt collecting agents have been known to copy signatures from letters in an effort to forge documents such as credit agreements. Its incredibly rare (not to mention stupid and illegal) but its best not to give them any opportunity.

An alternative is to sign your letters over some sort of watermark or similar to make copying your signature almost impossible, for example:

7/11/2010 7/11/2010 7/11/2010
7/11/2010 7/11/2010 7/11/2010
7/11/2010 7/11/2010 7/11/2010
7/11/2010 7/11/2010 7/11/2010
7/11/2010 7/11/2010 7/11/2010

Starting your own DMP is a little daunting to start, but once you start taking control of things you will start to feel so much better and wonder why you didn't do it a long time ago.

The toughest thing is being able to deal with the letters and threats that your creditors will make and so you need (or will develop!) a thick skin.

The important thing to remember is that most of the time it is all bluster and threats - nothing more. If you are being reasonable in terms of what you can afford, and are treating all of your creditors fairly then they know there will be little else they can do.

Yes worst case scenario is that they may take you to court but this is very rare, because if you can demonstrate that you have been making every effort to come to a payment arrangement that you can afford a judge is highly unlikely to make you pay any more than this. And in many cases I have seen in this scenario, the judge has actually awarded less than the original offer made in the first place!

In regards to addresses of creditors? Theres 1,000's! Which ones do you want?!

In terms of who you should send it to, you should send it to the department rather than an individual unless you have a specific contact. In my experience collections departments have very high turnovers of staff (wonder why?!) so writing to an individual may delay getting a response.

Have a look on their websites, look on the letters they send you, a return address should be on there (especially for collections departments).

The most important thing to remember is to never call your creditors on the telephone. They will bully, harrass and coerce you into paying more than you can afford. Don't open yourself up to the hassle.

Good luck with getting things started and keep posting, especially on the DMP mutual support thread and the long haul thread as there are lots of people on here doing exactly the same who can advise and support you along the way.

SnV

saltnvinegar

Tixy wrote: »

Hi

Might be worth looking here Letter to creditors when setting up DMP and perhaps sending a PM to saltnvinegar, who is doing her own DMP. (I think SnV is a her).

LOL Tixy - just noticed your comments in brackets.

I'm a him

Tixy

Oops - called you a her somewhere else since that post - apologies. Noted for future (as I'm bound to be recommending your threads to someone else soon!)

scruffypet

boo80 wrote: »

Does anyone have any advice on getting a debt moved to collections? Lloyds have moved my (I think) loan to their collection department which has stopped the interest and they've been a pleasure to deal with and offered really reasonable repayments. I'd love to get my Lloyds CC moved there too as they are horrible and pushy and won't accept my offers so I've stuck my head in the sand a bit If it went to the collections department it would make life easier. Any advice?? TY, Boo.x

I have had trouble with Lloyds too. Started my own DMP 2 years ago and they have only just passed it over to thier collections agency, despite me requesting this continually. They were my only creditor who continued to charge interest even though they accepted reduced payments. I written and complained but they refuse to give back anything. Wish I had never had an account with them

boo80

Me too - Lloyds suck the most! I phoned last week and was told my overdraft is finally going to recoveries, so no more interest and charges - hurrah! Now if I could just get my credit card debt moved it would be 3/3. Do Lloyds debts always go to BLC? Those guys are always so helpful.

workingatit

Hi all,

Been with a cccs dmp for over 6 years now, paid off over half our debts, we are thinking of going it alone for a few reasons, some of the smaller debts are now over the min payments and so I have 3-4 companys now reinstated the interest (fair enough as we are now in effect running as a normal card) but this in turn means the the debts are now hardly coming down at all each month, only by about £1 so we are losing most of the monthly payments on them, also we have had in the last few months letters from creditors saying they have not received payment in time, even although we have paid by direct debit and on time.

If we start to do it ourselves I could possibly pay that wee bit extra each month into the ones that are charging interest and possibly clear them off quicker or offer a F&F to them.

Has anyone been with cccs and then took over themselves? what do you say to cccs why your leaving? and would they still support us if we needed them?

Any advise would be appreiated.

jim99_2

I've been lurking on this thread for a while now and have finally gathered the courage to post my dilemma!

I currently have approximately £14,000 of unsecured debt with 3 creditors. The debts are at time of writing as follows:

Natwest OD: 2000
Natwest Card: 2048
Barclaycard: 2048
Halifax Card: 1046
Natwest Personal Loan: 5963 (originally 6000)

All the cards are at cash advance fee interest levels (approx 29%).

There are multiple reasons for my debt, from a cut in working hours leading to a reliance on cards to some stupid financial mistakes. I have also had a really tough time at home recently with a collapse of the family business leading to depression. However, after burying my head in the sand for the past year I have finally plucked up the courage to face this problem head on.

I have an appointment at the CAB on wednesday (I have already been with my parents as they are currently in the process of an IVA... so i know the drill). Thing is, I'm not sure what the best option is to consider. I think I may qualify for a DRO (as my disposable income is often below the £50 threshold) but I can't find much in the way of 'experiences' on the forum.

I have yet to write to my creditors (i'm going to wait until the appointment at the CAB before I do this). I have an appointment at the bank to open a new separate account for my wages. The wheels are in motion I just still feel a little bit lost and helpless .

I know the debt is my fault, regardless of the reasons behind it and I want to make a concious effort to get the slate cleaned no matter how long it takes.

I would appreciate any help or advice from anyone willing

Thanks