Debt Arrangement Scheme - Scotland

Newmummy78

Hey All

Am new on here - decided to share my story....

I have always been pretty poor with managing my money. Since university have taken every credit card/overdraft/storecard/loan i could get my hands on and over the years things have taken their toll. I did get a handle on it a few years back but it seemed never ending.

I earn a decent wage but never had anything left at the end of the month and was often incurring bank charges.

Had a baby in February last year and things really went to pot. To cut a long story short I told my sister of my troubles and she told me to look into the DAS. I contacted my local money advice centre - in Edinburgh on the bridges.

To be fair, that experience was a bit grim and I felt really stupid talking about my problems but the woman I spoke to did recommend me to the Debt Arrangement Scheme - bizarrely though she couldn't answer all my questions. And Edinburgh doesn't have an Approved Money Advisor employed so I had to be referred to a private Money Advisor. I was told by the council office that the charge might be around £500 - err well its turned out it £2k!!
But there are alot of benefits...

So i had my meeting in November and took in all my paperwork - finally opened a lot of mail which i had been ignoring for quite some time. We went through all the figures and came up with a timescale and an amount i can afford. It went through in December and its such a relief to know its done. But - its also a relief thats there is no way i can take out any more debt! Finally learning my lesson.
No more calls from citifinancial, rbs or any others!!
And i don't have to tell any more lies to my husband! Am hoping 2010 will be a new fresh start for me and my finances!!

The DAS scheme worked for me as i only wanted to focus on my debts - and not include my husband - these debts aren't his. And it isn't tied to my house in anyway. And its reasonably flexible - so long as i maintain contact with my debt advisor.

Was a bit annoyed about the fee thing - but under the DAS all charges, fees and interest are frozen so long as i maintain my payments. And 2k is less than what i would have been paying on a consolidation loan or something similar!

So - hopefully in 5 years and 11 months i'll be debt free - fingers crossed for me!

If anyone is thinking of this route and wants to ask me any questions - please msg me - will be happy to help if i can!

frankfish

Are you sure about the costs, i have used my local CAB and they do not charge a penny to set up the DAS. I think the money distributer will take 10%, but this is taken from the creditors

FF

Newmummy78

Unfortunately - yes. If i lived in a different region it would be free if a money advisor was employed by the council. Its a sore point as I know it should be free!

fiveyearplan

5 years 11 months doesn't seem that long in the scheme of things. I'm glad you got that sorted out. Here's to your fresh start! Welcome to the board.

Miss_Poohs

Great to hear you got yourself sorted out, although I too am surprised at the fee.

My husband has a DAS - which cost nothing to set up, we stay just outside Glasgow, it was set up by our local Welfare Rights office.

Anyway all the very best and here's to 5yrs 11months.

battlestarone

we live just outside glasgow,our DAS never cost a penny to get up and running,although it did take a while to set up,but we start making payments at the end of this month,we started the ball rolling in september,most of the phone call have stopped and we are currently getting only one or two,we just thank them for calling and refuse to talk over the phone,then we get out local CAB to call them,a ton less stressful than prior to september,my wife will be dept free in under 3 years and i will be dept free in less than 8,intrest is frozen and they cant apply charges i am led to believe,although i have notices A&L credit card and EGG are still trying to apply charges to my accounts even though they are aware of the DAS,i think it is a case they are not on top of scottish law,,,what ever way i would recommend a DAS,dont put it off get things sorted,you will have to ajust your lifestyle but it will be worth it in the end,we made it through xmas for the first time without credit cards,and still had a good xmas,the secret is planning,and planning is what we are going to do from now on,already saving for xmas next year,the way out parent used to do it,remember.....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

best of luck

Choo_Choo_4

The DAS is perfect for someone like you NewMummy (oh and congrats on that too) as you say - it's specific to you (as I guess all formal arrangements in Scotland are) but more importantly you do not have to address the fact that you own a property or release any equity etc ...

The fee is pretty hefty - do you mind me asking if this company just charged £2k and passed you on to someone else to see out the course of the DAS or are they supervising it as well (at least if they're going to be doing almost 6 years work on it you won't feel SO bad ...) but unfortunate all the same.

Would it have been an option to do the commute to Glasgow - surely you don't have to go to Edinburgh Money Advice just because you live there and more importantly if they do not offer the facility! This is a position that Edinburgh really need to fill I'd say!

BUT at the end of the day - it's sorted, it's paid and that's that ... happy 2010 NewMummy

frankfish

Just a short update, DAS got approved last week ,just getting all the paper work sorted. Was pleasantly surprised as it will be for 13 years and I heard that anything over 10 was doubtful.

Just trying to get the exact balances, as the DAS agreement has different figures than the CCCS statement or the actual statement supplied by the creditor !! but only minor differences, at the best it might reduce the term by 2 months.

For a while had a few thoughts about converting from my DMP to a DAS, as my creditors had been a bit quiet, however at least I get peace of mind on the DAS, in that no charges and interest had be added.

Has anybody on a DAS ever had any creditors trying to add charges etc ?

FF

bat31

Hi there everyone

First time i've posted.

After coping with debt for effectively the last 8 years i've finally come to breaking point. I'm now unable to meet my min payments and the stress of not knowing what might happen is making me ill. That and the fact i am in a job that I may well lose due to this should my creditors go for bankruptcy is making my life a living hell.

Have been to see my local CAB and have a meeting tomorrow with the likely outcome its looking like the option of the DAS. Can anyone tell me how they found this process and how long it took, also how their creditors were with it?

Finding it pretty hard to cope just now so any advice would be welcome.

Miss_Poohs

The DAS process for my husband was quite straight forward, as far as I can remember.

The man from Welfare Rights went through a SOA, with us, then went through all my husbands (rather large) debts.

OH gave WR all the debt details, ie account nos, etc and signed a permission consent for WR to act on his behalf, and that was it.

The info was sent to the AiB and the DAS was approved. The last step was setting up a DD to PayPlan each month to pay the DAS.

Later on it came to light that my OH had kept a cheeky wee debt all to himself, which he couldn't pay so after a fair amount to nagging from me, we went back to WR who arranged for the DAS man to visit again, and he was granted a variation to add in the additional debt.

It was all very straight forward for him - and we're talking debts in excess of £80,000!!!

Good luck Bat31 - get some advice - we found Welfare Rights just fabulous, once you take that first step the mist will begin to clear.

MPx

Suffol

frankfish, as I understand it from my own DAS money adviser, interest and charges continue to be added by your creditors, but once you've paid off the whole initial amount, they're all written off at the end of the DAS - she warned me I might continue to see them on statements.

BTW I'm just going through the initial stages of a DAS with my local council money adviser (free!). This after seven months struggling with a DMP where the creditors mostly wouldn't stop interest or charges - my debt has increased from £80k to £85k, even though I've paid back around £3.5k in seven months, and my money adviser was doing the negotiations. I just hope the DAS is accepted as I too am looking at 13 years in the first instance (although from next year my OH will be working after finishing training, and it'll drop to about three years)