DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part 6)

cloudnine_2

Hi Bradfordlad...My first suggestion, is that you get your self a mug of coffee and a packet of biscuits and read back through this site.. There are other links which will help too.. Theres lots of advice on here and what you should always bear in mind..is, that we all in the same boat. Some owing more creditors, some less..Some owing more money overall, some less and some earning more than others..Its all relative, but what we would all agree, is that the biggest pain, is in the beginning, right at the post LMB stage.
Its the fear of the unknown which bends people out of shape. The ditors will say thats why you should phone them and talk things through. For some people, that does work...but, for many, having a trained ( debatable) person on the other end of the phone drives them to despair. For me, I only deal with my creditors in writing and I keep a strict file on all correspondence with each. My explantion to my creditors for not wanting to speak to them over the phone is that, should I have to go to court with them, then I would have no proof of any telephone conversation. So, everything in writing keeps it all professional and clean cut.
The other thing to do is get free and professional advice. I use the CCCS, others Payplan..either one, I feel are of great value at your stage. If you decide to 'go it alone' later then OK..Personally, I think creditors take more notice if one or other of the above handle your case..but, thats just a personal feeling.
My main advice, is to travel through these early days as 'baby steps.' Make an action plan, a list of what you are going to do over the next week to get the ball rolling. Often, the simple action of making a plan of action deflates some, albeit, not all of the stress...
There are so many worthy people on here in the same position as you..We've all been at your stage and its painful..but, the fear of anticipation is usually alot worse than the reality in store..There will be pain, thats an obvious consequence of getting into debt..but, probably not as much as you think there will be....

mozzyc

Helen42 wrote: »

Hi we are currently in a DMP with Payplan and to be honest are not happy. We trusted payplan but are now findinmg that some companies are still charging interest (Which I have now negotiated a stop of with one of them so far and will be working on the others) and when i have rung payplan and asked them what they are doing they just reel off dates they sent emails to companies, but it seems that payplan do not follow up these emails.

I found out today that payplans balances for what we are differ a great deal to what the creditors say we owe some higher some lower, when i asked payplan why they dont check balances regularly it was explained to me that three months before the end of the scheme they write and get balances from all the creditors so what is currentlya 6 year payoff could be alot longer this is very scary that updates of balances are not obtained all the way through and payments are not adjusted accordingly.

We are thinking of taking over our DMP for ourselves as we are very unhappy with payplan ocer all as they never call back they send a standard email in reply to me every time and we want our debts to be paid back sooner rather than drag it out

Any advice please?

We are in the exact same position with payplan. We've been on the DMP since 2005, and it should be finishing in 2011. But we've just received a statement from Lloyds TSB (who are charging us very high interest still), and there is a difference of £8000 from what Payplan say we have left, and what Lloyds say. We couldn't believe the difference and are absolutely gutted. This plan could go on for years to come by the look of things. We really thought 2011 was our year. We've learnt from our mistakes (no store credit!) and were so hoping to start a family. I haven't slept since getting this statement, and really don't feel like we're getting anywhere. We pay over 670 to payplan every month, most of it to Lloyds, and in the last 6 months, they've added £1000 interest charges. Its really got us down.

Daffykjs

mozzyc wrote: »

We are in the exact same position with payplan. We've been on the DMP since 2005, and it should be finishing in 2011. But we've just received a statement from Lloyds TSB (who are charging us very high interest still), and there is a difference of £8000 from what Payplan say we have left, and what Lloyds say. We couldn't believe the difference and are absolutely gutted. This plan could go on for years to come by the look of things. We really thought 2011 was our year. We've learnt from our mistakes (no store credit!) and were so hoping to start a family. I haven't slept since getting this statement, and really don't feel like we're getting anywhere. We pay over 670 to payplan every month, most of it to Lloyds, and in the last 6 months, they've added £1000 interest charges. Its really got us down.

This has been explained better by someone else on the other thread i think, can't remember by who but hopefully they'll be along sometime soon. But I have an o/d that is charging me interest and charges which are bigger than my pp payment so the debt is going up instead of down. I've asked pp about this as i was inderstandably worried and they have told me not to worry. Apparently when it gets close to the end (in their eyes, ie based on the numbers they have now) they will go to these companies and request the charges etc be forgotten and left off. And Apparetnly this normally always works!! I know this is very scary and risky to trust this at this point but just wanted to pass on what i got told. Maybe give them a ring and ask about it to get your worries put to rest. Also it doens't always work but if you ask them they will ask creditors again to stop charging etc. i think they ask and then just assume we'd let them know if it didn't work and that we wanted them to ask again!

I'm really glad I'm with pp personally, for me it takes a lot of the hassle away and they are always very good at making me feel better. I agree they aren't the best at getting back to you. But when i ring them and I get through they are always very very helpful. So I tend to always ring them if I have a question. Rather than emailing and asking for a call back.

Daffykjs

supersleuth wrote: »

You're all right - it has been a bit quiet on here.

Although I have to say I quite like it as it means I can keep up lol - and yes I am blonde !!!

Anyway, now have Cap 1 and MBNA ( A+L) CC's accepted my DMP.
The lovely A+L CC at 0% with all late fees etc removed - awesome

Just waiting to hear from Natwest for my OD £2.5k and my A+L loan £7k

I am also trying to reclaim my charges from Natwest - does anybody know if an accepted DMP is proof of financial hardship ? They have sent me a SOA to fill in but can I just send them a copy of my CCCS one ?

Can I also ask how you all know how long you will be paying for or your DFD as I don't know how to work it out ?

Cheers
SS

SS, can I ask what you did to start the ball rolling with claiming charges? I really need to start doing this but don't really know how to start!!

I have a horrible feeling I won't fit into the hardship catergory, but i'm hoping the mean guy at natwest that told me that, was wrong!! Coz he was wrong about other stuff too!!!

redheadrockchick

Hi everyone

I have been reading the forum for a while now and wanted to introduce myself! I am so stressed out about my debt (4K on credit cards, loan and overdraft) I feel like I am going to have a breakdown about it...

I recently found out i am losing my job (2nd time in a year) and if i dont find something asap i will end up on benefits again which wont even cover paying off all my debt... I am going to ring the CCCS and try and get on a debt management plan if I can

The most annoying thing is - is that its all debt from when I was studying to further my career, and here I am now with no job and not enough money to buy food - its ridiculous, i feel like such a failure

There is just no work around at the moment and i am applying for jobs that i am well over qualified for but I just get letters back saying they have recieved a huge quantity of applications...

Anyway just wanted to say hi and reading all your posts has helped me realise there is way out of this mess and how lovely and supportive you all are

geoffmr1

bradfordlad wrote: »

Thanks Toffee Penny, I must admit I SO regret not "seeing the light" a couple of years ago - it would have avoided the last 2 secured loans just to see me through.

The money isn't for one thing in particular, but the car is going to need a service, and that won't be cheap, also, and probably the main reason is that my wife is on maternity leave and we DID have savings to cover the loss of income during her time off, but these have gone down by 50% therefore we are going to hit a point in the next couple of months where we can't afford to pay the essentials. My idea was to simply "top up" the savings from the card, which would give us enought till she goes back to work.

One other thing I've picked up on here is that NatWest can be difficult to deal with. I have a £750 overdraft with them which I was giong to include. If they are so horrible, is it worth me paying that off with the card?

I guess one other question which may help me "plan" is this:

Out of these creditors, who is best/worst to deal with:

NatWest o/d
Barclays o/d
Barclaycard
Next Directory
Northern Rock loan x 2
MINTCredit Card
Post Office / Bank of Ireland Credit card
Egg Credit Card
Citi Credit Card
Virgin Credit Card -
MBNA Credit Card - same as above I know

It feels SO bad writing that list - its scary seeing it written down.

While I'm on, some other points I'm not sure on - If some of our creditors don't accept our DMP proposal, what happens then? As has been said so many times, if we haven't got it we can't pay them, but do they get really heavy? Could we have Debt Collection Agency ringing/visiting? CCJs? Bailiffs?

I'm sorry if these have been discussed before, but I just want to get my head around everything.

Thanks again for your support everyone.

Hi bradfordlad,

It's always scary at first facing up to your debt problems & seeing them written down in front of you. I promise you though once you have a DMP up & running things do get easier & even if you do have hassle off a certain creditor you become much more confident dealing with them.

Some threats from creditors can get heavy, but in reality they have little power. You will most likely get defaults registered against your credit file by some firms & it is possible a creditor could go for a CCJ (especially if you own your own property) as charging orders seem to be their preferred route nowdays. However, thats a long way off & certainly isn't something all creditors attempt. Most are quite happy you are facing up to your debts & generally accept the DMP's. With regards debt collectors knocking at the door, it won't happen & if it did just call the police and tell them somebody is trespassing, they have no power of entry & no right to be on your property. Bailifs are allowed to come on your property but cannot force entry unless you open the door to them or leave a window open etc, once again though for a bailiff to come round would mean a creditor has gone to court, got a ccj against you & you haven't kept to the terms the Judge has set out (bearing in mind a Judge will only make you pay what you can afford & generally go along with whatever the CCCS or Payplan etc have been paying monthly).

With regards maxing out one of your cards, I wouldn't recommend it. It would look very bad on you & would probably make that creditor take enforcement action such as a CCJ, it's also doubtful a Judge would look too kindly on someone who withdrew a large amount of cash & then immediately went on a DMP, it would probably look like debt avoidance. It's entirely your choice though & nobody on here will judge you either way.

Daffykjs

bradfordlad wrote: »

Thanks Toffee Penny, I must admit I SO regret not "seeing the light" a couple of years ago - it would have avoided the last 2 secured loans just to see me through.

The money isn't for one thing in particular, but the car is going to need a service, and that won't be cheap, also, and probably the main reason is that my wife is on maternity leave and we DID have savings to cover the loss of income during her time off, but these have gone down by 50% therefore we are going to hit a point in the next couple of months where we can't afford to pay the essentials. My idea was to simply "top up" the savings from the card, which would give us enought till she goes back to work.

One other thing I've picked up on here is that NatWest can be difficult to deal with. I have a £750 overdraft with them which I was giong to include. If they are so horrible, is it worth me paying that off with the card?

I guess one other question which may help me "plan" is this:

Out of these creditors, who is best/worst to deal with:

NatWest o/d
Barclays o/d
Barclaycard
Next Directory
Northern Rock loan x 2
MINTCredit Card
Post Office / Bank of Ireland Credit card
Egg Credit Card
Citi Credit Card
Virgin Credit Card -
MBNA Credit Card - same as above I know

It feels SO bad writing that list - its scary seeing it written down.

While I'm on, some other points I'm not sure on - If some of our creditors don't accept our DMP proposal, what happens then? As has been said so many times, if we haven't got it we can't pay them, but do they get really heavy? Could we have Debt Collection Agency ringing/visiting? CCJs? Bailiffs?

I'm sorry if these have been discussed before, but I just want to get my head around everything.

Thanks again for your support everyone.

Another thing people do is postpone the start of the DMP and in the meantime pay £1 to the creditors!! this could work for the car but not sure if that would help for the maternity leave as that's longer term! You can also always lower the payments once on the DMP if you have something that month that needs paying!!

Sorry if that's no use. No idea about taking the money off the cards! It sounds tempting but I'm not sure how it would go down with them and if it might make it less likely for them to accept. I have heard something about not being able to put a card on the dmp if it's been used too recently!! But not sure about that!

geoffmr1

I've just had some good news regarding my reclaim against Nationwide over their illegal charges. Originally they offered my just a £20 refund, however after a strongly worded letter they have now agreed to refund £830.

It's not quite the £1076 I was claiming but it does clear my remaining debt with them & give me an excess of £130. I wasn't sure they would refund anything until the test case outcome was officially known, but they allowed me to do it under financial hardship which surprised me.

I'll still go after the rest but regardless of whether I get it or not I'm just delighted at this outcome.

mozzyc

Daffykjs wrote: »

This has been explained better by someone else on the other thread i think, can't remember by who but hopefully they'll be along sometime soon. But I have an o/d that is charging me interest and charges which are bigger than my pp payment so the debt is going up instead of down. I've asked pp about this as i was inderstandably worried and they have told me not to worry. Apparently when it gets close to the end (in their eyes, ie based on the numbers they have now) they will go to these companies and request the charges etc be forgotten and left off. And Apparetnly this normally always works!! I know this is very scary and risky to trust this at this point but just wanted to pass on what i got told. Maybe give them a ring and ask about it to get your worries put to rest. Also it doens't always work but if you ask them they will ask creditors again to stop charging etc. i think they ask and then just assume we'd let them know if it didn't work and that we wanted them to ask again!

I'm really glad I'm with pp personally, for me it takes a lot of the hassle away and they are always very good at making me feel better. I agree they aren't the best at getting back to you. But when i ring them and I get through they are always very very helpful. So I tend to always ring them if I have a question. Rather than emailing and asking for a call back.

Thanks!! I really hope this is the case. We're in our 30's now, been together for 15 years and feel so ready to start a family. Suddenly it feels like there's a massive clock ticking over us. And we just don't think we could afford it right now.

Daffykjs

geoffmr1 wrote: »

I've just had some good news regarding my reclaim against Nationwide over their illegal charges. Originally they offered my just a £20 refund, however after a strongly worded letter they have now agreed to refund £830.

It's not quite the £1076 I was claiming but it does clear my remaining debt with them & give me an excess of £130. I wasn't sure they would refund anything until the test case outcome was officially known, but they allowed me to do it under financial hardship which surprised me.

I'll still go after the rest but regardless of whether I get it or not I'm just delighted at this outcome.

That's brilliant!! I really must get on the case with this!!