Advice

bedfordgal

Hi,
I'm in a spot of bother totally self created but now i don't know what to do.
I was off work sick for over a year and in 2008 i went back to work but i had all this old debt hanging around my neck so i approached Payplan and got a dmp to pay off over 10,000 pound debt, I changed my bank to lloyds who gave me an overdraft even though i stressed i did not want one which i used when i know i should not have done. The past year i struggled with depression and i did some stupid things but i finally sought help in October and touch wood the depression isnt such a problem but now i have to face up to the amount of debt i have got myself into.
Not only do i have a 300 pound overdraft with lloyds, I also have over 700 pounds payday loans and i really am struggling to pay them off.
I live with my parents and i really ought to pay some keep but i don't have any spare cash at all.
I feel really ashamed at what i've done and now don't know how to go forward.
I do not need anyone to tell me i've been stupid - i do know that... i just need advice.

Many thanks

Margaret

Tixy

Hi Margaret

Are you still with Payplan and still paying into the DMP? If you are and are on a tight budget I guess you are going to struggle to repay the debts outside the DMP.
Whilst it is against the rules to take on more credit I am certain that you are not the only one to do this, I imagine if you speak to Payplan they may allow you to add these new debts to your DMP, particularly it might be worth mentioning the circumstances that led to these problems they might be more willing to accommodate you.

I guess there is a small chance Payplan would say they would not manage your DMP for you anymore, as you broke the terms. If this happened you could in theory do a self-managed one (although its sounds like it may not suit you at the moment) or could approach a different free provider (such as CCCS or CAB).

The only other thing I could think of (and I am not recommending this by the way) is that occasionally people have unexpected emergencies and have to ask their provider if they can just pay token payments for a month or so (e.g to buy a new washing machine/ or if their car needs repairs). I guess you could use this to free up some money for a month if that would help you clear these new debts.

Personally I would go with the honesty option and just admit to Payplan that you messed up. An extra £1000 isn't a huge amount in addition to the £10k already in the DMP so your exisiting creditors won't see a huge reduction in the amount they receive each month (obviously if you could somehow up your monthly payment by 10% they wouldn't need to see any reduction)

Choo_Choo_4

Margaret - don't be so hard on yourself.
You were the one who asked Lloyds NOT to give you an overdraft facility and let's face it, it's not the first time that a bank would take matters into their own hands and decide to treat you with an overdraft facility anyways.

If you hang a bone in front of a dog for long enough - he'll soon reach for it ... (now I am not calling you a dog by any means so please do not take offence - I just want to show that it's not hard to give into temptation)

We all do it Margaret anyways - when we know there is an avenue to call on we'll dip in albeit with great intentions to put the money back next week - unfortunately that rarely happens (washing machine needs fixing, need oil - you know it never rains but it pours) - so once again, don't be SO hard on yourself.

And at the end of the day Tixy is right, it's only an extra £1000 - others have done the same on a much bigger scale ...

You are in a DMP - so it's an informal arrangement anyways and you are in this DMP with the intentions of repaying 100% of the debt - nothing has changed there. Payplan might be a bit disgruntled at the extra debt BUT honestly usually is the best policy ... so give it a go and if they do decide to no longer work on your behalf then it's their loss.

Am I right to say then that your debt is now approx £11k?

Are you a homeowner or living in rented accommodation?

Bottom Line Margaret is that most of us are in debt in some shape, form or fashion. £11k won't take as long to address as someone who might be £50-60k in debt BUT still, it's a lot of money to you and was enough to make you ill.
That is not worth it. Life is way to short to allow debt to affect your health. There are so many solutions out there and plenty of people to explain them to you - I'm glad that you are over the bad spell (healthwise) so now hopefully we can get you back on track financially too and 2010 should be a better year

x

bedfordgal

Thank you for your advice... in the end i phoned payplan which was really difficult and could only admit to the o/draft... I just found it really hard and the woman would not listen... She said because i signed up to a managed loan with HSBC there is no way to amend the agreement she said i'd just have to try and arrange to pay off the debts over a few months.
Now I don't know what to do...
My work has an employee assistance program and i spoke to them yesterday briefly and they have said they can help me with a DMP but I already have one...
so not sure how to proceed...
if anyone has any idea what i should do I'd be grateful...

Thanks
Mags

GeorgeUK

Have you posted up a SOA anywhere? Not sure if there are any savings we can find for you but i was wondering how much you can put towards ebt repayments each month.

You have already taken out credit while on a DMP so that horse has already bolted. Don't know if you would be able to service the DMP and a small loan too? If possible, to get rid of the payday loan (and possibly overdraft), could you check with a credit union if you would be able to join and possibly get a loan? Some require you to be a member for a few weeks but not all require this.

Can't think of any other way out but don't take out the loan if you won't be able to repay it.