DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part 6)

twoflower169

Hi not sure if anyone can help with this, as part of my DMP I need to change our mortgage payment with Northern Rock from direct debit to standing order, I dont know what details I need, does anyone know where I might find them? Are they the same as direct debit details? I'm just avoiding phoning NR!

Happiness6500

Can i ask , see if i make token payments before my DMP is in place to keep them happy... whats best way to pay them , i dont want them having my bank card no or dd etc , ?

Triggles

I'm looking at trying to convince DH that a DMP is the best way to go with our finances. We have numerous creditors, and we owe quite a bit. The minimum payments are crippling us, and in a few months our incoming money will be less than it is now, so I'm concerned. DH seems convinced we will be able to continue struggling through, but I don't agree. The debt is mostly in his name, however, it is OUR debt, IFSWIM, and obviously he needs to be on board with this in order to proceed. I am concerned that by continuing to struggle, we are throwing good money after bad (so to speak) by paying all the extra interest and such, when we could go into the DMP and actually be starting to pay off the balances (if possible). So.. a few questions so I can discuss this with him with info I know he will ask...

- is it best to change our phone number right away(so they don't have it and call incessantly?)
- do you cancel DD's and change bank accounts PRIOR to contacting the creditors?
- can I have the account in my name only so they can't just help themselves? or can DH & I both be on the account and still keep it safe?
- i understand we need to have his paycheck put into this new account, but how do we make regular payments to these creditors without setting up new DD's to avoid them taking more? I understand cheques are not the way to go either and aren't money orders costly?
- if I cancel a DD through our bank, can the creditor still take money from our bank account without our permission? or does that stop it cold?
- how do we know where to get a bank account that isn't related to our creditors? seems like all the companies are in bed together (we have debt with halifax, abbey, mbna, barclay, virgin (mbna I believe), tesco loans)
- big concern regarding bailiffs coming into home and taking stuff, especially our car, which DH doesn't use to get to work, however, I use to get our 2 littles around - although if push came to shove, I could drive him to work sometimes and then claim it's used to transport him to work so it couldn't be taken, if that makes sense

Sorry for all the questions - I would expect the first few months to be awful (phone calls and such), but at this point, I'm almost looking forward to it, as it would be a change from the constant worrying... which I know doesn't make a lot of sense, but there it is.

suze72

twoflower169 wrote: »

Hi not sure if anyone can help with this, as part of my DMP I need to change our mortgage payment with Northern Rock from direct debit to standing order, I dont know what details I need, does anyone know where I might find them? Are they the same as direct debit details? I'm just avoiding phoning NR!

I'm not sure if it works the same way with a mortgage account, but the last time I set up a SO to pay a creditor I just needed the account number.

suze72

Happiness6500 wrote: »

Can i ask , see if i make token payments before my DMP is in place to keep them happy... whats best way to pay them , i dont want them having my bank card no or dd etc , ?

We paid all our token payments with postal orders - its a bit of a pain but should only have to do it once.

Triggles

Okay, I've spoken to DH again. He's reluctant, but will go along with doing the DMP if we do it ourselves. He's not thrilled, obviously, and kept saying "I don't want to be in a position where we can't pay rent or provide for the kids" so I carefully explained that doing this will make sure that we CAN! Rather than having creditors taking out the money from the account before we can get rent paid or groceries purchased. He's also quite frustrated that we have a bank loan that would be done next autumn (£160/month), and this would postpone that. But I tried to explain to him that £160 per month is a huge sum right now, and as much as I would like to continue with it to get rid of it, it would throw everything off. I'm hoping we can save money a bit and then after 6 months of paying a reduced amount, look at offering them a final amount to close it out, if that's possible.

I am worried that we have very little to start paying off with after normal expenses each month. I am currently receiving maternity allowance for a couple more months, and I want to put this money aside as our "emergency fund" so the sooner we get this started, the better. I'm going to spend the weekend organising and then go open a new bank account on Monday, get the phone switched to a new number (calling them today), and cancel direct debits. That's the scary one! And then I have to have income (DHs) and benefits (also in DHs name) switched over to the new account. Hopefully it won't take long to get this done. I don't know what a realistic time frame will be for this - but I want to get the direct debits cancelled and incomings switched over to another account ASAP. But this has to work, as DH is adamant that bankruptcy is out of the question, and I feel unable to push on this one, as all the bills are in his name (even though they are OURS), so HE would be the one going bankrupt.

ETA: Alright. I'm wading in now. I'm going to change our phone number. We were thinking about it anyway, as it used to be a business number and that business is still listed in a number of places on the internet. We contacted the business owner and asked them to pull or update their info (as the business is no longer trading) but they refuse, basically said "tough, deal with it" and that was that. Charming. So at least we won't be getting calls constantly (as we are now) for that business! A positive result already....

sandalwood_2

Havent been on here for a while so would thought I would give an update on my DMP that was started in July

Well.....have 11 creditors of which 8 have accepted the DMP on an even more reduced figure that we started on due to my partner going onto maternity leave,which is good news(one of them said that we could pay an extra £1 ourselves so they would accept,so we did-this is next)
The 3 that are not playing ball is Natwest accounts-3 bank accounts with overdrafts,one each for myself and partner and the other a joint one
I have checked the justabank website as my DMP is with payplan and it says that the debt is going to be passed onto Retail Recoveries-have anyone had any dealings with this company at all? I have googled the name and nothing comes up on the search-think that they maybe Natwest in-house collection mob....?

Any help and advice would be appreciated

thank you

SILLY_SARAH

Hi everyone,

Started my DMP in September & capital one have defaulted me already (I hadn't missed any payments previously). Is this normal? Is this good? What happens now?

Also, had a letter from Halifax yesterday about their new charges on overdrafts from December - £5 per day for unauthorised overdraft. Mine is only unauthorised because they won't stop charging interest! I'm never gonna get it paid off if they apply charges of £150pm

SILLY_SARAH

LittleMissSkint wrote: »

Hello all!

I was hoping our DMP welcome pack would arrive today before the worst of the strikes, but the postie came and went and all I got was a Pizza Hut menu! I called up CCCS who said our paperwork has been received and processed and our Welcome Pack has been requested, so we should receive it (postal strikes allowing) within the next few days! :T I'll be so glad to see it all confirmed in writing!!!! :beer:

Here's hoping the start date is the 1st of Nov, not Dec! Will it be too late to start on 1st Nov now?

Even if the pack is delayed because of the postal strikes, I think you should be able to start 1st Nov - you'll just need to make sure CCCS receive the payment in time. Give them a call to arrange it if the pack doesn't arrive soon.

twoflower169

Hi,

Went online last night to check my token payments has been received by creditors and alliance & leciester have made our current account and linked savings account unavailabe! Good thing we changed accounts! But they have left our ISA account (no money in it of course except £1) whats that all about?

Also Natwest have sent us letters asking us to send a signed authority to cccs as we notified them that we in contact with cccs, can we ignore this letter as we know that we have signed one?

Also MBNA told cccs that they wouldn't except DMP for both me and DH but I received a letter telling me that they had put my account on to a severe hardship programme and they will suspend all fees and charges.
What do I do, I told cccs they were surprised, do I just keep quiet with mbna as I'm concerned they will change their mind if I fetch it to their attention?