Spectrum personal plan solution

desmonds

Hi,

Anyone heard of a personal plan solution that a company called spectrum financial services are doing for people who do not qualify for an IVA?

There costs are 3% on any debt over 40K paid either upfront or in 3 montly payments.

They offer the lender in my case £1 which is paid indefinately and reviewed every 3 months and can last as long as your circumstances dictate.

Any debt is not wiped off but can be settled if I come into some money and the creditors accept a lump sum payment to completely wipe off the debt which can be upwards of 12mths into the plan.

I am advised that any lump sum early on in the plan would be best kept back until the plan has been running for many years the longer the plan the most likely a lender will accept a lesser figure even as low as 5% of the value of debt.

I owe £127K of debt but this plan allows me to pay back £38 each month and after 5 years if I can find 60K then the whole of my 11 creditors are settled and I receive back from Spectrum £25K which means I have settled my
£127K debt in five years for £35K!!!!

There costs which are refundable if the plan is not accepted by the creditors are £3800.

They have letters to show that this £1 plan is accepted by lenders.

Sounds too good to be true but is it?

Apparantly CCCS and the likes work on behalf of the lender so i've been told unlike Spectrum who work for the interest of the client.

It seems that alot of people on this forum use the likes of CCCS and Payplan but are they really concerned about the debtor?

Any advice appreciated.

thanks

paul


http://www.spectrum-financial-services.co.uk/default/informal_debt.htm

rsykes2000

Who told you that "Apparantly CCCS and the likes work on behalf of the lender" ? I would guess it was Spectrum who want to sell you their service unlike Payplan / CCCS who are charities offering free services working for you.

sparkle84

Did Spectrum tell you about their appearance on Watchdog a few weeks ago while they were chatting with you.

They are fee charging scum none of your creditors will deal with them,they won't get any interest or charges stopped and from you posting seem to be telling people that its fine just to pay creditors £1 for as long as they wish without any problem, if only it were that easy.

Call payplan or the cccs who will help you set up a DMP which you creditors should accept.

Edit: Just re read your post I have never heard anything so ridiculous in my life what they are telling you is absolute rubbish. Also noticed how much you owe please call CCCS or Payplan ASAP this is not going to go away

livinginhope

NO,NO,NO,NO,NO.Don't pay them any money.This is basically a Debt management plan,Payplan and CCCS work for all,they are a charity funded by mainly the financial institutions working to help people out of debt in a way that suits all,what the person can pay and what the creditors will accept,they DO NOT CHARGE a penny for their service.This company (spectrum) WILL NOT get interest or charges stopped,and I doubt your creditors will deal with them as they know you will be paying money to them that could go towards your debt.
These companies make my blood boil,taking advantage of people in desperate circumstances,who have no idea where to turn.
I have debts around the same figure as yours and Payplan are working with us free of charge to help pay it all back.

Chortle_2

Have to agree with the other posters - of course spectrum are going to tell you that CCCS etc are no good/don't work in your favour - they want your 3%!

Have you read the threads on here from other people going through DMPs? Lots of them initially have problems getting creditors to accept lower repayments initially, and most of those are higher than £1 a month. I would be amazed if spectrum could get all of your creditors to accept £1 a month for the foreseeable future on the level of debt you have!

Also, where exactly do you think you'll be getting this £60k from in 5 years time to pay it off? If you haven't got that kind of money now, and can only afford £1 a month per creditor, I am guessing that you're either hoping for a lottery win/inheritance or something else to fall from the sky - either that, or you're thinking you'll get a new loan or something to pay it off? And why exactly would you get £25k of it back from spectrum anyway?

It does astound me how low these fee charging companies will go in slating the debt charities out there, and what they will say to convince desperate people to hand over their hard earned cash. They all seem to make it sound like debt is an easy thing to get out of, and will do/say anything they can to get people on their books.

Bet they didn't mention that creditors are more likely to accept a DMP from Payplan/CCCS did they? Creditors do not like dealing with fee-charging companies, as they know that they will be taking a % of the money that you can afford to pay back.

desmonds

rsykes2000 wrote:

Who told you that "Apparantly CCCS and the likes work on behalf of the lender" ? I would guess it was Spectrum who want to sell you their service unlike Payplan / CCCS who are charities offering free services working for you.

Although CCCS and Payplan are "charities" they still get paid and this money comes instead from the creditors.
So, CCCS and Payplan and not entirely independent because altough they do a tremendous job they are often dictated to by the creditors more than a DM company.
So, CCCS and Payplan are a disguise that the creditors use to their advantage.
CCCS and Payplan work on behalf of the creditor to some extent so they are not 100% impartial.

sparkle84 wrote:

Did Spectrum tell you about their appearance on Watchdog a few weeks ago while they were chatting with you

In fact they did and I was not aware of the program. They said that watchdog did not give them a fair crack of the whip.

Spectrum have being on the go for 10years and have letters to show that this £1 per month is being accepted whether the letters are genuine that is another story!!

I've contacted PayPlan and they say that i should negotiate with my creditors myself and offer them £1 just like Spectrum have suggested although interest will still be charged.

I agree that not many lenders will deal with companies like Spectrum, so, I will take your advice and go with Payplan.

It may be now that i've just found that I have only £5k equity in my property the best for me is bankruptcy.

I hope i have made the right decision.

cheers

Paul

livinginhope

Remeber if you choose bankruptcy you will probably lose your home.
Interestingly I have just read through some previous threads/posts of yours,and I have to say that you seem to be looking for an easy way out of debt,there isn't one! you spent the money,you have to pay it back.
I think BR is really the last resort,even when you have nothing left if you get something in the future remember assets can still be taken,it could affect you for many many years,also assuming you try and get credit again this will be very very difficult,BR is not the quick fix you want it to be

sparkle84

desmonds wrote:

Although CCCS and Payplan are "charities" they still get paid and this money comes instead from the creditors.
So, CCCS and Payplan and not entirely independent because altough they do a tremendous job they are often dictated to by the creditors more than a DM company.
So, CCCS and Payplan are a disguise that the creditors use to their advantage.
CCCS and Payplan work on behalf of the creditor to some extent so they are not 100% impartial.



In fact they did and I was not aware of the program. They said that watchdog did not give them a fair crack of the whip.

Spectrum have being on the go for 10years and have letters to show that this £1 per month is being accepted whether the letters are genuine that is another story!!

I've contacted PayPlan and they say that i should negotiate with my creditors myself and offer them £1 just like Spectrum have suggested although interest will still be charged.

I agree that not many lenders will deal with companies like Spectrum, so, I will take your advice and go with Payplan.

It may be now that i've just found that I have only £5k equity in my property the best for me is bankruptcy.

I hope i have made the right decision.

cheers

Paul

I have heard a lot of cr*p spouted on this board in the time I have been on here but I think the rubbish "apparently" told to Desmond by spectrum surpasses everything else I am almost left speechless

Bunnie1982

When my fiance had his phonecall from CCCS they told him they make there money through Interest.

You pay them on the 1st of each month and then they pay your creditors on 25th

Addicted2Chocolate

sounds too good to be true becuase it is. the agreement is not legally binding over your creditors. they are just making money from misery. ambulance chasers and cowboys.

desmonds

livinginhope wrote:

Remeber if you choose bankruptcy you will probably lose your home.
Interestingly I have just read through some previous threads/posts of yours,and I have to say that you seem to be looking for an easy way out of debt,there isn't one! you spent the money,you have to pay it back.
I think BR is really the last resort,even when you have nothing left if you get something in the future remember assets can still be taken,it could affect you for many many years,also assuming you try and get credit again this will be very very difficult,BR is not the quick fix you want it to be

In BR the home only becomes at risk if there is equity in it and in my case there aint any.

So, if there is only 10K of equity and all the debt is mine and not my wifes's then the OR will have interest in 5K of our home in which I would have 3 years at the most to have the beneficial interest bought back either by my wife or a friend or family otherwise risk having to sell the house which is very unlikely.

I'm not going to struggle finding £5K!!!

I am not after an easy way out of debt but instead the only way because I don't even qualify for an IVA and a DMP would leave me in debt for life.

Once a BR is discharged then that is it. The debt is nill and void and the house is safe that's why if there is any beneficial interest then I am advised that someone release it as quick as possible before the property accrues any extra equity within the 3 year discharge period.

IVA will ruin your credit history as much as BR and even a DMP will be with you for eternity.

IVA's are not the be all and end all and BR can sometimes be the best option which in my case it is because I have very little to lose.

I had this guy from Spectrum in my living room for 5 hours until midnight and he tried his best to get me to sign under duress and give him £3800 in fees to start a DMP for me.

I had the strength to tell him I needed time to think over what he'd been talking about and thank God I did otherwise I would now be in a DMP with no chance of ever getting out of debt as the interest spirals me out of control.

Payplan even suggested the £1 per creditor but couldn't guarantee interest would be reduced.

Don't stick up for the creditors they are all scum and crooks.

Why do you feel you have to justify being in debt.

They have a responsibility to be responsible lenders but the majority just abuse there position making millions off the back of vulnerable people.

Advertising loans on kids channels goes to show how corrupt they are and how they do not care.

Why not wish me luck in my decision to go BR and put the violins away!!