DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part 6)

Toffee_Penny

Evening all, hope we're all doing ok hiding in the dark from the trick or treaters! :rotfl:

So good to see new names on here, a big warm welcome to all of you. As Twit Head said it is a bit sad for us oldies (OI!! not by age! ) to read of you woes on here but we know how you feel, we went through exactly the same. It does get better guys honestly and even though you feel like you are getting nowhere with the creditors at the moment or you can't seem to shift that horrible gut feeling in your tummy because of the realisation of being in debt; it does get better, much better.

There is no better feeling than being in control of your own money every month and breaking free from the reliance of credit. Starting out is hard on a DMP, god the thought of even trying to budget those first few months when you have always had that bit of plastic in your back pocket to fall back on to pay for petrol and food shopping is tough going. But you can do it, even if you have to cut back on things you have always bought like expensive brands and swap it for a cheaper version. It can be done without anyone noticing much although I did buy Tesco value loo roll once and the family complained of sore bums that week so watch what you swap! :rotfl:

We have been on our DMP for about a year and half now and have no regrets. We wish we had found this site earlier than what we did. Apart from the fact we cashed in insurance policies a few months before we contacted CCCS because we still had our heads in the sand that we could cope, I have never regretted starting a DMP.

This time last year I was crying into my pillow at night, the guilt of being in debt, the pressure of putting a brave face on at work pretending everything was hunky dory at home whilst facing debts of over 50k was tough. But a year on I am happier, not completely because we still owe alot but every payment is getting us closer to being debt free. Our debt total now stands at 39k and a bit. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, it might be years away but the end is there.

Try not to get yourself too stressed about debt, stay strong, there is a way out, chin up guys xxx

Toffee_Penny

the_tooth_fairy wrote: »

Hey Twit Head! Glad to hear the back is much better!
Like you, I'm sort of dreading Christmas, OH is due a back-dated payrise (about £300) which we were hoping to get end Nov. Now it looks like the New Year so I might have to borrow funds from my Dad. I really hate to ask him, and I pay back every penny he ever lent me, but with 13 neices and nephews, all wee kids, I can't see any other way. I'm just relieved that we entertained the in laws last year and it's not our turn! Isn't that bad?
I would love to hear if anyone has had any brainwaves re; Xmas, certainly can't jeopardise the DMP so early in!

Hiya Tooth

oohhh don't envy you with that many to buy for but I hate the way you feel pressurised to buy at Christmas 'just because'

Luckily OH's family agreed to stop all this buying for each other a long time ago cause there were just too many of them but I have always bought for my sister who has four children because there is just me and her. I have two children and always feel on the loser because she just buys for two but I have to buy for four!

I know, I know you don't give to receive but I have always felt under pressure to buy extra for them just say if she spent £20 on my two it would be a tenner each, I have always felt I couldn't spend just £20 on her four children because that would be a present for a fiver and wouldn't look as much as she gave mine if you know what I mean. You can sort of understand why I owed Capital One so much!

But being on a DMP you just can't overspend like you used to because you are using your own money and not Mr Barclays or Mr Lloyds anymore

Northstar68

Evening all,
good to read these last few posts, cheered me up a bit, thank you! Day 2 of the sinking feeling.......I will snap out of it, it sort of comes in waves, got a lot going on with my mum at the mo too, just heard she has a cancerous tumour and is having it taking out on Wednesday so what with all the cancelling of direct debits and ringing around to give new account details, organising all the DMP letters and stuff to return to CCCS it's been a tough week. Then.....like I said in yesterday's post, self employed OH announced he wasnt coming home with any money and just learned he wont be next week either.....the builder he is working for 'has no money' to pay the men. :mad::mad::mad::mad:......he's a %$^&*($ millionaire and has at least 4 holidays a year and a very nice house here and abroad. Makes me sick.

So as well as cancelling direct debits, I cant even pay them.....or the mortgage which is really hefty until January when it comes off the fixed rate thing.

This is why Im feeling like £%^&. With Christmas coming his work is going to die down, Nov-Jan is usually quiet so what are we going to do I dont know. The CCCS is waiting for their first payment 1st Dec, still a month to go, a lot can happen in a month I know. My pay is set and its really not an option to work weekends, I need to see my children, they hardly see me during the week as it is.

Anyway, just thinking aloud, all I wanted to say was thank you again everyone, it is comforting to hear that a few months or a year down the line things will get easier. I am looking forward to dealing with cash only, I am looking forward to finding cheaper deals for food/insurances etc...I suppose it's all too much in 1 go worrying about my mum too.
Sigh......I need my PMA back and fast!!
so sorry for moaning again

Toffee_Penny

Twit_Head wrote: »

Have been out shopping today for the first time in ages due to slipped disc.
What a saddo I am! Haven't bought a thing but had a lovely time trying on lots of sparkly party dresses and masses of shoes. Recommend it! You get the pleasure without having to part with any cash and you have this secret thrill at outwitting the big advertising/marketing boys-you can sniff the bait but not swallow the hook.
:rotfl:
And has anybody else noticed what a load of rubbish the shops are trying to force on us for Christmas? It really opens your eyes on a DMP to the hype and overpriced c**p they try and force on us.
I feel sorry for you younger ones with families but hold firm against the adverts and peer pressure. They won't remember 2 months after Christmas what they had but they will remember for a lifetime the love and warmth of the family.

The whole lot should be banned! Get the tat in the bin! Nah I know what you mean Twitty, Tesco have Christmas cakes priced at £10!! :eek: yep £10 :eek: ten bloody quid for a fruit cake with icing and a plastic Santa on it! I also saw a 'Me to You' cup in Next with a hot chocolate sachet and few marshmallows in priced up for £10!! Seriously the shop staff should wear masks! :mad:

Toffee_Penny

Northstar

So sorry to read about your mum, hugs and best wishes to you xxx

Rachel

Toffee_Penny

Northstar

I just scanned through your post and you say your OH is self employed. Has he got payment protection insurance on any loans or credit cards?

Northstar68

Toffee_Penny wrote: »

Northstar

I just scanned through your post and you say your OH is self employed. Has he got payment protection insurance on any loans or credit cards?

I am investigating this during the next week. All our accounts that are in debt are very old, opened in the last 10-15 years. As my job is secure we often decided not to have it. But, I had 4 years off work from 2003-2007 and in that time we def took it out for a loan and credit card.
I am going for claiming the credit card charges next, especially for the credit card that is taking him to court in Feb for a redetermination.
I still havent read the PPI board yet, so much info I couldnt take it all in last week. I have all the credit card statements going back at least 7 years so Im going for that one first.
If there is anything else I can go for give me a shout pls, am all over the place at the mo......but pretty organised with a very long 'to do' list. :eek:
Anything that will help reduce our debt will be a bonus.

correction : OH just told me that he def took it out on all his cards/loans and said that a 1/3 of the monthly payment was actually PPI.......Oh god......so there is something else I can claim for?

Toffee_Penny

Northstar68 wrote: »

I am investigating this during the next week. All our accounts that are in debt are very old, opened in the last 10-15 years. As my job is secure we often decided not to have it. But, I had 4 years off work from 2003-2007 and in that time we def took it out for a loan and credit card.
I am going for claiming the credit card charges next, especially for the credit card that is taking him to court in Feb for a redetermination.
I still havent read the PPI board yet, so much info I couldnt take it all in last week. I have all the credit card statements going back at least 7 years so Im going for that one first.
If there is anything else I can go for give me a shout pls, am all over the place at the mo......but pretty organised with a very long 'to do' list. :eek:
Anything that will help reduce our debt will be a bonus.

correction : OH just told me that he def took it out on all his cards/loans and said that a 1/3 of the monthly payment was actually PPI.......Oh god......so there is something else I can claim for?

Definitely Mrs! :beer:

Banks, loans and credit card companies have had their knuckles wrapped over the mis-selling of payment protection insurance especially to the self employed. They could only successfully claim on it if they either died or went bankrupt! No kidding, the clauses in the insurance policy meant that it would hardly ever pay up resulting in the masses asking for their money back.

It is a hard fight cause no one wants to give any money back to you but if you can prove you were mis-sold then yes you have a very good chance of getting your money back, might not be in your pocket but it will come off the debt. I only found out from this site about the whole ppi mis-selling thing and used it to fight our own creditors, we have successfully claimed back ppi and some cases are still with the Financial Ombudsman but it has helped to bring our debt down a good few thousand over the past year.

Don't take too much on though, you will burn out and that is no good for your family or your personal well being. When you have time give me a shout and I will help all I can by showing you the letters I wrote on behalf of OH to creditors to give you an idea what to put etc if you like.

Martin also has template letters on here under the 'Reclaim £1000s' button at the top and there are some lovely people in the ppi reclaim section on this site who will go out their way to help you.


Just noticed you wrote you were out of work for 4 years and you had ppi on a loan and credit card. Now if this was a joint application, usually only one person was covered; OH being self employed meant he wouldn't have had full benefit of cover due to his employment status and you wouldn't have been covered for losing your job etc because you were unemployed. If it was just in OH name he was self employed, if it was in yours you were unemployed, see where I am going here with mis-selling?

Northstar68

Thank you so much for writing Toffee Penny....I have gained some strength tonight now! :beer:
What I will do first though is do the credit card charges reclaiming, I have all the statements so it will take a bit of time to dig them out for 7 years and highlight the overlimit/late payment charges, we only ever went over the limit when they slapped the charges on, which happened a lot.

Once that is in the post then I will get onto the PPI. Had a quick look at the PPI threads on here, soooo much to read so will have to leave that a bit, def have the paperwork though for the loans and cards, in a box, somewhere. Unluckily for the banks/credit cards I am highly organised and kept everything....had to because of OH being self employed......so that should help. (I'm pretty sure I can go back 10 years, let's see LOL)

Toffee_Penny

Northstar added to my post in case you haven't seen!

woo hoo party time for you :beer: