DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part 6)

ald65

lilyb131 wrote: »

Hi Everyone

I am new on here just wanted to say hello and ask if anyone has any advice for me

I have 30,000 in unsecured debt with my husband spread across credit cards and a personel loan.

I started this week feeling quite positive and decided this was the year we were going to get this mess sorted I had a phone appointment yesterday with payplan and was sooo embarressed going through the mess that is our finacial situation. At the end of the appointment he asked how me and my husband got in so much debt I tried to explain yes we have been stupid with money but have had some bad situations as well redundancy and ill health. He rang me back and said that we had two options an DMP paying £300 a month he painted quite a bad picture of this explained there could be CCJ's etc he seemed to think it was better to go for a IVA (this scares me to be honest I feel like this is just like bankruptcy).

I came off the phone feeling quite deflated he also said my husband needs to check either won't affect his job as he works for a bank in call centre.

Has anyone any advice on which would be best a DMP or IVA and anyone work in the banking industry on a DMP??

Thanks a very tired Lily
x

Dear Lilyb131
just wanted to say that we owed over 90k:eek: when we started our DMP and payed a small amount to begin with. Over the past two years we have been able to increase our payments and do not regret taking the DMP route.We were offerred an IVA initially, however chose to take the longer DMP route.
all the best whatever you decide

ald65

Dear Newlywed

so sorry to hear about your threat of redundancy, you are such a strong support for all the posters on here, I hope your luck turns around-you deserve it

ianmak

bobbych wrote: »

Hi

I just thought I would offer some help here. You say you have 30,000 in debt, and are only going to pay £300 a month? I take it Payplan went through your in/outs with you, and they came to that figure as your only spare amount? If so, then THAT is your problem, £300 will not be enough to share amongst the creditors, and some will file CCJ's

I started my DMP 3 years ago, with £27,000, and I am paying £697, so more than double, and it is taken 3 1/2 years to pay it off.

So, dont blame Payplan, as they can only work with the income you have spare, and they are just going in experience, when they will be informing you that you may end up with CCJ's, as creditors will expect a min amount, which you probably will not be able to cover. So to that end, an IVA seems the better option

To be fair, I started out paying £158 on a 38k debt (20 year dfd), luckily managed to double to £310 after 6 months (10 year dfd), and another year later have managed to increase again. I believe my creditors have been understanding, and although I have a lot of defaults, I sort of expected that.

Mrs_Ryan

Im having real grief with Simply Be right now.

They rang me yesterday on a number I had never given them permission to ring me on, I had rang them before on it and stupidly forgot to withold it :mad: i told them this but they havent bothered removing it - Im also getting calls from them at stupid hours of the day - I had one at 10.25 PM last night and 7.45pm tonight!!!

They are well aware Im on a DMP with Kensington and they have accepted this but keep harrassing me for payment despite the fact I have told them repeatedly they wont get a penny out of me :mad: I keep quoting chapter and verse of their breaches of the OFT guidelines at them and Kensington are fuming with them as well - but this lot are a nightmare to deal with - we had to get legal advice on my mate's account after they repeatedly sent clearly forged paperwork to her :mad:

I pity the poor person who answers the phone to me tomorrow when I ring them :rotfl:

lilyb131

Hi everyone

Thank you so much for all your replys feeling alot more positive today.

Bobbych did scare me quite a bit with his reply (sure he didn't mean to though).

We have decided to keep our payment at £300 to start off with and see how we go on after listening to all you lovely people on here.

I am so glad I have found this forum and people that are in the same boat.

Thanks again will keep you updated I am off out for a long work with my dog and 2 little girls today and am going to try and forget all about money.

Lily
x

bobbych_2

lilyb131 wrote: »

Hi everyone

Bobbych did scare me quite a bit with his reply (sure he didn't mean to though).Lily
x

Hi

I feel i must reply. I was not intending to scare anyone, and my comments ARE based on fact. You have all answered with comments like, all my creditors have accepted etc etc, however, that was NOT my answer, nor the question

the original query from Lily, was that Payplan have given her advice. It has not even gone anywhere near the creditors. It does not matter if you have £1m debt, and can only pay £1 a month, the Creditors WILL accept and possibly WILL stop interest.

My answer, was based on a Payplan point of view, not creditors. Payplan have looked at the situation, and decided, that it would possibly be better with an IVA. A previous poster above, shows, on a high debt, with small payments, it initially would be taking them 20 years to pay! They were lucky, they have managaed to increase the payments every year. But what you need to look at lily, is what happens if you are not able to up your payments.?

At present, IF all creditors stop interest, and they may not, as I have been on my DMP for 3 years, and still have 2 that refuse to stop interest, then you will be paying £300 a month for 8.3 years! That is the reality, NOT a scare tactic, and it is that, that payplan have looked at. Anything over 5 years, they usually offer an IVA route as an option, but will not push anyone into it. it is in the end, YOUR choice. If you think you will be able to up the payments in futre, then stick with the DMP. If you think £300 is all you can afford, and cannot see a time when you will be able to offer more, think to yourself, are you happy paying the debt for 8.3 years. If yes, fine, go for it. if not, go for the IVA. simples. No scares, no flowery bull***t, simply hard fact. Sometimes, as I found, when you are in this situation, you need someone to tell you how it is, instead of tip toeing around the hole in the sand

I don't appologise for my original post, nor this one, and I feel having been on the same road, for 3 years, and just paid my last payment, qualifies me to comment, as I know exactly how you feel

crispycornflake

In response to bobbych, it is important to realise that iva companies make thousands of £'s out of people in debt so it is hardly suprising that they are recommended but not always for the right reasons!!! Payplan do not charge for dmp's but will make a very tidy sum from an iva. As for the time it takes to pay off the debt, don't be fooled into believing an iva offers a set payment for 5 years and then thats it because that is not correct. They often now run for 6 years and require equity release which is impossible in this financial climate, how many lenders will allow a 'sub prime' iva customer a mortgage???? So then it can extend again or in worst case scenario fail and then the debtor is back to square one and possibly face bankruptsy!!! I am sure you are delighted to have paid off your own debts bobby but that does not make you a qualified financial advisor. We are here to help and support each other, that is why it is a DMP mutual support group! oh, and congratulations on paying off your debts, that is proof (and fact) that dmps do work

Toffee_Penny

Newlywed - Have to second what Ald65 said, sorry to hear about your situation. Hope all goes well for you xx


CCCS have sent us a list of our creditors (as if we could forget ) so we can write to them and explain our little blip this month. Each of them will receive a token payment of £5 but our normal payment will continue next month. OH back in work tomorrow now the snow has cleared :T Tell you what this DMP journey is certainly a rollercoaster of emotions isn't it? :rolleyes:

Lily just to let you know that when we first started up with CCCS, they suggested bankruptcy as an option to us. Sounded great to have no debt after a year, all the mess would be gone on a flash and we could carry on as if the debt never happened however whilst investigating the ins and outs of bankruptcy I read that if you were working you would still be required to pay x amount to the OP anyway and the budget would certainly be tighter than what it is now for CCCS. A DMP was a much better option for us even if at the time we had a dfd of 2013.

Also because I only owed 10k myself it seemed a meagre amount to go through all the hoo haa just to get it cleared. I don't think we would choose bankruptcy unless we really had no choice and lost both of our jobs and there was no chance of any other work, not go through it just so we had no debt and it seemed the easiest option for us.

Do what is best for you, research into the other options just to understand the advantages and disadvantages of each as I am sure each debt option has them even DMP's. Good luck

ianmak

Same here. I thought about an IVA for about 5 mins, and thought I'd sooner pay off the debts properly. Bobbych, I hear what you're saying, 8.3 years to pay off debt etc, problem is a lot of people are way past the stage of being able to pay off their debt in 3 years, and are constantly struggling to pay off even minimum payments. I'm sure if you worked it out, it would take forever to pay those off!

Yes IVA's are very suitable for some, but each case is different. And it certainly wasn't an option for me. I'd imagine PP will suggest IVA in alot of cases, it doesn't always mean it's the best option. And I'm trying to say this in a way that doesn't put PP in a bad light. PP have been great for me, but I wonder sometimes!

the_tooth_fairy

ianmak wrote: »

Same here. I thought about an IVA for about 5 mins, and thought I'd sooner pay off the debts properly. Bobbych, I hear what you're saying, 8.3 years to pay off debt etc, problem is a lot of people are way past the stage of being able to pay off their debt in 3 years, and are constantly struggling to pay off even minimum payments. I'm sure if you worked it out, it would take forever to pay those off!

Yes IVA's are very suitable for some, but each case is different. And it certainly wasn't an option for me. I'd imagine PP will suggest IVA in alot of cases, it doesn't always mean it's the best option. And I'm trying to say this in a way that doesn't put PP in a bad light. PP have been great for me, but I wonder sometimes!

I wonder too, Ian. I've been reading recent posts with interest, and all I can say is that this forum has been a lifeline to me. I was in a really bad place when I first posted on here, and I'm not sure how I would have reacted to very bad news. That's all.