Payplan DMP - natwest now taking me to court - arggghhh

blimeycharlie

Just looking for a bit of reassurance & somewhere to vent really.

A bit of background:
About 2 years ago, my small business (franchise) started to go belly up, like many gone before, I naively hoped I could trade through the bad spell. This meant that ultimately I ended up with circa £45k worth of personal unsecured debt.

Eventually I bit the bullet, wound the business up and went job hunting. At this time I couldn't afford to repay this level of debt and therefore missed payments across the board. Once I found a job, I still couldn't afford to meet the required payments (as i'd been originally servicing the debt with other credit), so I entered into a DMP with payplan. Whilst not hunkydory I could atleast just about afford to make these payments based on my income/expenditure.

Fast forward 12 months, Natwest who are by far my largest creditor have now passed the debt over to Triton Credit Services. Fine I think, as per the original situation, I know I owe the debt, I want to pay the debt, but only at a level that's sustainable to me. This isn't good enough for them, they either want the (reduced) balance in full or over 5 times the amount of my DMP every month until it's clear, or they will take me to court.

Clearly I'm in no position to consider either of these options - I wish I was.

Their response was simply that they will do nothing more and the ball is now rolling to instruct their solicitors to prepare the case.

So, since having the DMP with payplan, I have set up a new business with investment from an acquaintance who also pays me a salary (about a net £300pm more than I was on originally when I took out the DMP), however, we have also subsequently had an unplanned child and so have a baby to support so therefore my partner has been contributing and is still contributing less to the household bills that previously.

I really don't understand what they feel they can achieve from taking this course of action, i've never buried my head in the sand with my debt, I've always been entirely honest and made it very clear that I actively WANT to repay the debt but that I just need some help with reduced payments & an extended term.

Bankruptcy would be the easiest choice, we jointly own a small 1 bedroomed flat that we rent out (no profit), with no equity in. We moved out of it into a rented house as we needed more space for our son. I'm a named director of this business so clearly bankruptcy would mean I would be stripped of this. However, despite the hassle, all of that could be worked out. The sticking point is that I genuinely do want to pay it back, I don't want to shirk my way out of my obligations - I'm not that sort of person.

So why are they persisting on causing more untold stress at a time when I have enough pressure on with trying to build a business, have a new baby and have no scope to give them any more? It's completely heartless.

I've never been to court before, for anything, I have no idea what the likely outcome will be or indeed, how the process will work. I've called payplan and as usual, they were very knowledgeable but at this point, they can't really help me further.

So what do I do?

I think I need to get myself completely prepared with a fresh income/expenditure, but where do I find out what amounts are acceptable to claim for etc?

The really frustrating thing is we don't have a lavish lifestyle, I drive around in a 20 year old battered car. The other half had to sell hers to provide us with enough money for a deposit on the rented house. We never eat out, rarely go for a drink, have no holidays and have a wardrobe full of old clothes. Christ, these days I buy my jeans from tescos.

The banks seem to make a big deal about 'caring' now and 'we can help you out as long as you talk to us'. This has been the case for most (and including natwest up until now) so why has this suddenly come to an end?

Yours sincerely,
Frustrated, furious, stressed & confused from Cheshire.

blimeycharlie

Oh, and apologies for war and peace above.

Tixy

Hi Charlie

Have you actually had the court papers come in the post? Creditors/DCAs often threaten court without any intention of proceeding.

If you have had court papers the key thing is not to send them out off to Payplan. You must deal with court papers yourself to get the best outcome for yourself.

Usually if you admit liability you would then ask to pay the debt in installments, so yes you do need to do a new income & expenditure now, based on your current situation. Firstly write out an actual budget before you start worrying about what is allowed.
A few options to look at what is 'allowed' level of expenditure - you could complete the only debt remedy tool at CCCS - when you put certain amounts of expenditure in it will 'recommend' a higher or lower level. Or you could post on here (using this http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html) and people will see and advise as to whether your costs appear reasonable. Finally you could ask Payplan for a review and work through your new budget with them (this last option could take some time though which you may not have if you have received your court papers).

This link is probably worth a read http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/d_what_happens_if_you_are_taken_to_court_for_money_you_owe.pdf

If you have had court papers through then hopefully someone will post who is more familiar with court proceedings will advise - perhaps 10past6, who is knowledgeable in this area.

RAS

charlie

What sort of debt is this - bank account, loan, cards?

blimeycharlie

Tixy,

Much obliged. I have only just had the phone call from Triton this morning so I haven't as yet received the papers.

On speaking to payplan subsequently, they think due to the amount of debt (£27k with Natwest alone), the threat won't be a hollow one.

The trouble with income and expenditures I found was that they don't allow for any fluctuation. For example, the first time I did it with payplan, they set the DMP for absolutely everything that was left. However, in my circumstances now, I may not have the same left every month as we may need to buy more clothes for the baby, he may start drinking more formula, may go onto solids, may need to pay nursery/group fees etc etc. It's just so up in the air.

blimeycharlie

RAS, thanks for the reply.

It's a mixture of unsecured loans, credit cards, overdrafts etc.

This particular debt that they're taking me to court for is a £25k unsecured loan and approx £2ks worth of overdraft.

gabriella90

Hi,

Please don't panic too much. Call Payplan 1st off. Also as above have you actually received court papers. Or is it a threatening letter from Triton. Look for the words if it is a letter we MAY/COULD take you to court.
Has it been passed to Triton recently?

someone will probably be along with more answers - and as a lot of people say on here 'they can't have what you haven't got'

good luck

RAS

Ok

So the loan is consumer credit. Do you have the CCA and the default letters relating to the loan? When did you take it out?

I am assuming that your current bank accounts are no where near Natwest?

blimeycharlie

Gabrielle, thanks also.

As per my reply above, I've already called payplan but as yet haven't received any letters from Triton, only the phonecall this morning. I'm inclined to believe that they have carried out the threat as once the lady (who was nice enough) had determined that I couldn't pay any more, she cut the conversation pretty short. IE: "Ok, well unfortunately that means I will have to pass this to our solicitors, you should now notify payplan that we are going down this route".

blimeycharlie

RAS wrote: »

Ok

So the loan is consumer credit. Do you have the CCA and the default letters relating to the loan? When did you take it out?

I am assuming that your current bank accounts are no where near Natwest?

RAS, correct, I've moved all accounts away from any creditors.

I'm fairly sure I do still have the CCA amongst all the paperwork but I sent most of the original default letters off to payplan.

RAS

Youneed to get that default letter back ASAP, then. If that is faulty, you can halt any court action.