Is A DMP inevitable ?

lynzpower

HI all

Many have been following my own diary thread, and some will know my health situation. IM now on half pay, so I need to know what to do. As my employer has given me sod all notice, Im really up against it at the moment.

Heres my current SOA again

Income 775 ( after unison contribution of £15 - for obv reasons cant cancel this)
OHs income 850
( looking into whether I can get incapacity benefit) = 1625

Outgoings
rents 368 ( inc water & SC )
mortgage 357 ( yes, shared ownership)
bt landline 11 pcm
primus 2 calls - 0
extra calls for daytime £10
student loan co 100
egg card 100
parent loan 150
electric 25
OHs cahoot flexi loan 11.9% £65 ( no he cant get any other credit cheaper, weve tried)
OHs barclaycard 0% £35
my mobile 40 inc vat ( lowest tariff with 3 thats any use, other one is only a fiver lower but Id lose all my minutes - seems pointless )
gas - 0 - no gas in the flat
OHs mobile £30 lowest tariff
buidings & contents 26 ( cant change till October)
internet 17.99 ( tied in with tesco)
life cover 31.00 ( tied in)
food - 100 ( with significant effort)
My OD charge- 8.00
tv licence 10.99
ohs travel card 85 pcm

OUTGOINGS = 1415. 98

Outstanding debts -
I owe
Student loans 600.00 ( 100pcm its gone for this month)
Egg card 0% 2047.73 ( pay 100 a month- its gone for this month)
Barclaycard 168.54 ( 19.9%) hasnt been worth while doing a BT on this due to fees, been paying this off with all spare money since I joined DFW)
Parents 1500- paying at 150 pcm 0% interest, but cannot reduce these payments as they are tied into thier mortgage. ( gone this month)
800 sofa on 0% due to be paid in October before reversion to 29.3% Land of leather ( not paying, was considering borrowing the money off my parents for this, but now I have no way of paying them back???)

OH owes
1500 barclaycard 0%
1500 cahoot loan 11.9%

HELP ME OUT HERE- entitled to says were no due anything as we are a couple

dottyanne

Hiya Lynz - sorry to hear about your situation.

I can really sympathise with you myself ....... before becoming s/e both me and hubby were on relativley good wayges - him 30k per year me £15.5k per year - yeah we had debts and a mortgage but all were paid and manageable and we had money left each month to do/go where we wanted......

I feel S/E was one of the best/worst things to happen to us - best in that hubby changed so much for the better - hes more relaxed, doesnt have to go away with work and doesnt drink too much as he used to...

worst - financially - i have never been so hard up in my life - the business has been stretched to hell trying to keep up with all my personal bills as well as trying to pay its own........something had to give thats why ive arranged to go an a DMP - at least the business has a chance to catch up with itself - ok so it only owes £2kish which in business terms in zilch - however it may as well be a million if you aint got it!! I cant sem to catch up - have NEVER been this stressed in all my life and HATE it........

Im trying a DMP as a way of trying to stop being overstretched, mines supposed to last just under 10 years - but im taking to outlook that a lot can happen in 10 years and it may well be that i can pay it off a lot sooner.

I would suggest a DMP - you have nothing to loose do you?

love

dotty xx

Wonder_Girl

Yay! get a DMP, I will look after you!

but really a DMP is a way of managing things when your life gets a bit hectic. it takes a lot of the pressure of you as somebody else does the hard work and it is only temporary once you feel up to it you can take things back over. A DMP isn’t a binding contract and can be stopped at any point by yourself. But it could give you that little bit of breathing space you need.

Big hugs xxx

Mirtos

Hi Lynz. It sounds like a DMP might be the way to go if only to take some of the pressure off and help you think more clearly. I don't know too much about them - what are your reservations? If you list them, people might be able to suggest ways to overcome?Thinking of you.xxx

lynzpower

wonder girl

Ive just been onto CCCS and they are saying that I have to open a new bank account. But I will have nothing to live on for the rest of the month, as Im in my OD now, as I have an £800 OD and they must include it.

What do I live on if I went through with it?

Wonder_Girl

Lynz,

We have to include Overdrafts as a form of credit so would need to be on the plan, it takes a few weeks to set up a DMP (looking at September now) so that gives you chance to open a basic bank account with a bank you don’t owe money to (unless your with Barclays you can bank with them still if you owe them money as they won’t take money off you, but you will still need a new basic account) and get all your income and bills transferred over to your new account. So you have a few weeks to sort yourself out, you can still use your current account until your new one is up and running

WG xx

Iriahm

hey (((HUGS))),

give incapacity benefit a go. I got it when I was off work after the car accident. the form is a nightmare but the staff were very helpful. on the plus side the money is backdated to when you were first sick. Not great news as you needed the cash yesterday but worth doing. go and see them asap.

I didn't have to change my bank account when i started with Payplan so am not much use on that side of it, hopefully someone else will have experienced that...

you said that you can't get benefits because you are in a couple. Are you a financially linked couple? can you become unlinked to apply for benefits? is this legal??!! i am eligible for sod all benefits now and it really annoys me when we are in situations like this. grrr!

lynzpower

I cant get incapacity benefit, as Im still being paid from work

I might be able to get council tax benefit, I have to phone the council now

I just dont think a DMP is going to work for me really as I dont want to stop paying things.

Emmzi

Lynz,

imagine you are you. looking at your details in the way you would for a first time poster.

what advice would you give yourself?

I ony suggest this because it may help you get past what you 'want' to do, to what you 'need' to do..

xx

Wonder_Girl

lynzpower wrote:

I cant get incapacity benefit, as Im still being paid from work

I might be able to get council tax benefit, I have to phone the council now

I just dont think a DMP is going to work for me really as I dont want to stop paying things.

It's not a case of not wanting to pay things, it's a case of being able to keep a roof over your head & food on the table.

I think it's worth finding out exactly what you can get benefit wise and redo a SOA with the new information, we may be able to work something out

snoozer

Hi Lynz,

One thing that struck me was the student loan - now that your income has dropped can you stop paying this for a while? It might be worth checking out.