DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part 6)

mcrfan

I am having problems with my Look Again catalogue account on my DMP. The DMP has been going since April and LA have been receiving payments since then. They have been constantly chasing me for payment on the statements and calls and letters so I have written to them advising of the DMP and duh you are receiving cheques from them.

Yesterday I had a call from LA again and she said I need to speak to their financial whatever dept as they will keep chasing me for payment and adding charges. I did not know they were adding charges but got a statement through today and yes they are and because of how they break down your account into separate accounts I have had a £12 charges on each account so 3 altgoether!! My payment to them is £30 so the charges are totally cancelling out my payment!
Yesterday they tried to put me through to the dept but couldn't because they were busy so she said I need to ring them. Tried today and surprise surprise I was on hold. I stayed on hold for 3 mins then thought hang on why should I run up my phone bill and sit on hold for yonks because of their incompetence!!! :mad:

Strange how they have received CCCS cheques but they don't seem to have received their letter re the DMP or my own letters advising of the DMP. Am so annoyed what can I do!!!!
Should I write to them? I think it is v cheeky to expect me to sit on hold to them to get through what does everyone else think??

Should I do a letter explaing this situ and that I am not happy about the £36 charges and that they should call me. I can post it and try emailing it to customer services. But they don't seem to receive letters only cheques? Strange that isn't it!

mcrfan

I was in a similar position with barclaycard and similar amount of debt. They were a massive pain when I made a reduced payment before the DMP starting I was getting calls from their indian call centre hourly and they even called my work - reception had to put them through to me which I was FUMING about and sent them a snotty letter. :mad:

They accepted the DMP though it took them a while to decide what they were doing - for about 3 months charged 0 interest while they decided and now they are charging 6.5% interest which not exactly thrilled about but it's better than the 26.9% it was before!

I have a Next account too they have been fine frozen interest but you have to be careful with them as it takes them 2-3 weeks to process cheques from CCCS so I have been having problems with them adding interest and charges because they say it was late. Am still trying to sort this issue out.

Natwest are a bit dodgy with DMPs, a lot of people on here have said that they somehow don't receive the DMP paperwork. I had the same problem and ended up with charges but have sorted it now - had to pay some of the charges off which really annoyed me but the account fingers crossed should now be ok.

dannynixon wrote: »

Hi all,



I have finally decided to sort out my (and my wife's) debt and contacted CCCS on 29th July and listed my priority stuff (rent etc) and all of my debts. They gave me a date to speak to the counsellor to go through SOA but it wasn't until 26th August!!!

Anyways, got back yesterday from a week away and rang them for a sooner appointment and they are ringing me at 12 today, yipee!! I also opened a new bank account yesterday.

I have been reading this thread and it seems like a lot of creditors are 'awkward' mainly because it will take too long to pay them off.

I'm just going to list my debts and if I get on a DMP, wonder if anyone could identify any of my creditors who will not like my DMP offer.

Barclaycard CC - 9,300, min pay is 200
Halifax CC - 1843, min pay 25
Vanquis CC - 480, min pay 21
Vanquis CC - 250, min pay 10
Capital One - 167, min pay 10
Argos, 581, min pay 25
Simply Be - 96, min pay 10
Next - 200, min pay 20
Halifax loan 2726 left, payment is 115
Natwest student OD, 1700
Halifax OD, 1700

I think I am mainly worries about Barclaycard saying tough !!!! because it will take forever. I am being charged £150per month interest for this card!


One more thing, CCCS also asked if I owe money to family on the first call and I said yes, my dad took out a loan which runs till Aug 2010 and costs 135 per month and my nana lent me 450 (on her visa) for a nightmare MOT which I am going to pay back at 50 a month. Havent started yet.

I said that I dont want family to know about this, she said that's fine but did ask about how much I am paying these per month. Will they take this into account do you think?


And hello again all!!!

aggcardiff

Hi! I finished my DMP with CCCS a few months ago - they were brilliant and I promise you that the time will fly by. In my experience, Barclaycard stopped pestering me when CCCS took over. They reduced my interest and the indian phone calls stopped (cheap labour anyone?!). They also contacted me at school, which was a little embarrassing! When the time came to settle, unlike companies such as the Co-op, they were unwilling to give a reduced settlement figure. They also charged my 4pence interest for the intervening time and sent me a demand letter for it!! Capital1 were fine - but how could they not be, considering their lending criteria! Tell them the DMP will be reviewed annually and that you will ultimately be looking to repay the debts as soon as possible. CCCS seem to carry some clout, so I honestly think you will be fine. And yes, your family debt will also be considered. Best of luck.

mozzyc

mozzyc wrote: »

Hi Guys

Wanted to copy my post here to get ideas from any of you on it -

Hi

After being on our dmp now since 2005, we are still struggling to get Lloyds TSB to freeze interest, after many attempts by ourselves and payplan. We received a statement recently showing that the loan figure owed has actually gone up from what it was in 2005, and hasn't gone done at all, even after paying £202 every month. In 6 months, they've added £1000 interest. They know we'll never pay it back at this rate, and right now, our dmp seems like it could go on for many more years.
So after being advised by people on here, i've written them an official complaint letter.
Could you guys read it over before i send it and give me some advice on things to add or delete from it before i send it.
I really need this to work. I don't want this debt for the rest of my life.
Thanks

LETTER OF COMPLAINT

Dear Sir/Madam


We’ve written to you now a few times explaining about our financial difficulties. We’ve done what was advised on your website, and contacted Payplan to help with our debts. In 2005 we started up a debt management plan to help pay back our creditors and reduce the amount owed.

Since starting the dmp in 2005, we have managed to reduce most of the debts we owe, with the help of most creditors stopping interest, enabling us to pay it off.
But after many requests from ourselves and Payplan, you have refused to help us pay off what we owe by adding interest to the loan every month, and over the past 4 years, after paying £202 per month, we have actually seen our balance go up, if not, remain the same.

Right now, by not being able to clear this debt in any possible way, it is putting our debt management plan at risk, with yourselves and our other creditors.

According to the consumer credit act - an example of unfair practice is

2.10 d. applying unreasonable charges, for example, charges not based on actual
and necessary costs

2.10 e. applying charges which are disproportionate to the main debt.


In order to help us pay off our debt to you, I request that you freeze the interest, and all charges and interest added to the account be paid back from the time we first informed you of our financial difficulties in 2005.

If you refuse to help us by doing this, we request that the debt please be passed onto your Consumer Debt Recovery Department, so that the interest is stopped and that we may receive a figure that we can work towards clearing.

If you are unable to help us with our financial difficulties by not working with us and Payplan with the debt management plan (even though it is advised on your website to contact them to deal with debt management), by freezing the interest on our loan, and paying back charges since 2005 and we have not heard from you in 8 weeks, we will do what is advised by yourselves and will be writing to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

We hope that you work with us to help clear our debt and pay back the original loan amount and look forward to hearing from you shortly.

Has anyone had a chance to read this and give me some pointers? Would really appreciate it

Daffykjs

Sorry, mozzy, just replied on the other thread! i think it's good and says everything it needs to and once you sort out all the suggestions given on the other thread i think it's good to go! oh and make sure the 'letter of complaint' bit is obvious so they can't ignore it! and get it delivered recorded (is that the right one?).

mozzyc

Thanks - yes i've changed the punctuation on the original. And am going to send it recorded delivery. I know a few people have already sent this letter, so am hoping that i haven't left anything out.

Cheers

JillyOJolly

mozzyc wrote: »

Hi Guys

Wanted to copy my post here to get ideas from any of you on it -

Hi

After being on our dmp now since 2005, we are still struggling to get Lloyds TSB to freeze interest, after many attempts by ourselves and payplan. We received a statement recently showing that the loan figure owed has actually gone up from what it was in 2005, and hasn't gone done at all, even after paying £202 every month. In 6 months, they've added £1000 interest. They know we'll never pay it back at this rate, and right now, our dmp seems like it could go on for many more years.
So after being advised by people on here, i've written them an official complaint letter.
Could you guys read it over before i send it and give me some advice on things to add or delete from it before i send it.
I really need this to work. I don't want this debt for the rest of my life.
Thanks

LETTER OF COMPLAINT

Dear Sir/Madam


We’ve written to you now a few times explaining about our financial difficulties. We’ve done what was advised on your website, and contacted Payplan to help with our debts. In 2005 we started up a debt management plan to help pay back our creditors and reduce the amount owed.

Since starting the dmp in 2005, we have managed to reduce most of the debts we owe, with the help of most creditors stopping interest, enabling us to pay it off.
But after many requests from ourselves and Payplan, you have refused to help us pay off what we owe by adding interest to the loan every month, and over the past 4 years, after paying £202 per month, we have actually seen our balance go up, if not, remain the same.

Right now, by not being able to clear this debt in any possible way, it is putting our debt management plan at risk, with yourselves and our other creditors.

According to the consumer credit act - an example of unfair practice is

2.10 d. applying unreasonable charges, for example, charges not based on actual
and necessary costs

2.10 e. applying charges which are disproportionate to the main debt.


In order to help us pay off our debt to you, I request that you freeze the interest, and all charges and interest added to the account be paid back from the time we first informed you of our financial difficulties in 2005.

If you refuse to help us by doing this, we request that the debt please be passed onto your Consumer Debt Recovery Department, so that the interest is stopped and that we may receive a figure that we can work towards clearing.

If you are unable to help us with our financial difficulties by not working with us and Payplan with the debt management plan (even though it is advised on your website to contact them to deal with debt management), by freezing the interest on our loan, and paying back charges since 2005 and we have not heard from you in 8 weeks, we will do what is advised by yourselves and will be writing to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

We hope that you work with us to help clear our debt and pay back the original loan amount and look forward to hearing from you shortly.

Hi, great letter in principle, but the portions you have quoted are for the charges added to your account and your main beef in the letter is about interest. I did not have any interest frozen, but i did claim back the charges through the usual routes on this site with 8% interest. It did take a bit of fighting, but then I had interest reduced. Unfortunately I think their terms and conditions of charging interest are in original agreements that you signed and agreed to. I would maybe suggest claiming any charges through the correct letters route to bring the debt down and then fighting to negotiate interest after that. Unfortunately payplan always told me there was nothing I could do with regard to interest, but I did get some reduced in the end to half its normal amount.

Sorry it doesnt sound positive, and someone else may come along and put a better spin on the interest lark, I hope.

JOJ

yellowpinky

Evening everyone, well, had some developments tonight - had a phone call from Payplan confirming things and taking a few details and I now have a reference number! Yay! For some reason the whole call made me terribly panicky and the lady was lovely and reassured me on everything I was afraid of, but can't get the panic to go away (having glass of wine now). She went through my options and I said I was still happy with the DMP which was fine, and some paperwork will come out for me to sign soon.

Then almost straight after I had Egg on the phone - eight thirty! (They called me at nine last night). I said I'd already spoken to someone (who had been very nice) but this was the heavier mob and I was able to give my Payplan reference and then he informed me I would be issued with a default notice (that was quick! I've only missed one payment!) and if that wasn't satisfied in 28 days my account would be passed to a DCA. I know this isn't supposed to be as bad as it sounds but it hasn't really made my evening . . *goes off to have some more wine*

smcshane

yellowpinky wrote: »

Evening everyone, well, had some developments tonight - had a phone call from Payplan confirming things and taking a few details and I now have a reference number! Yay! For some reason the whole call made me terribly panicky and the lady was lovely and reassured me on everything I was afraid of, but can't get the panic to go away (having glass of wine now). She went through my options and I said I was still happy with the DMP which was fine, and some paperwork will come out for me to sign soon.

Then almost straight after I had Egg on the phone - eight thirty! (They called me at nine last night). I said I'd already spoken to someone (who had been very nice) but this was the heavier mob and I was able to give my Payplan reference and then he informed me I would be issued with a default notice (that was quick! I've only missed one payment!) and if that wasn't satisfied in 28 days my account would be passed to a DCA. I know this isn't supposed to be as bad as it sounds but it hasn't really made my evening . . *goes off to have some more wine*

Just wanted to say that I have Egg as a creditor too and they defaulted me straight away. This was mid June, I then got a further letter a month later saying my account had been termindated and it would be passed to a DCA and I would hear from them in 10 days but no far nothing! (will probably get something tomorrow now). Egg continue to accept my payments from CCCS. I can still go online and see my overall balance but no longet get updated statement which is a bit of a pain so I would suggest you keep tabs on the overall balance to see what they do with interest.

Enjoy the wine.

Sx

dannynixon

Daffykjs wrote: »

the private loan could be difficult if it's a lot of money! the very first time i spoke to pp years ago i got turned down for a dmp coz i was paying £180 to a family member and they couldn't consider it but i didn't want to reduce it, and it made it look like i had £180 more than i had to live on and therefore i didn't fall into the 'not enough money to live on' catergory and got turned down. hopefully that won't bet the case for you and this was years ago so things may have changed now!

good luck, you are doing the right thing!!

Thanks for the advice, just a little update really. Anyways CCCS rang me and I am entering a DMP beginning of OCT and token payments till then.

The family loans have worked out a treat. I said I was paying the 430 to my nana in 50 pound installments and they have put it down to 25 and will tell creditors I have reduced this.

My loan to my dad has a year to run and costs me 135. He took it out because of a better rate than I could get and I bought a car with it. They have "fiddled" the SOA and put it down as HP Car finance which puts it into the same category as rent etc (priority debts) with it being secured, even though it's technically not. This is good news because the 135 has been included in my monthly budget and not my debt repayments. I think I was lucky getting such as lucky woman on the phone!