Payplan advice

emilyamber

Hi to all,

I started a DMP with Payplan in September 09 and they estimate I will be debt free in 2013 ( I owe about £28000). My problem is that in the 6 months I have been doing the DMP my debts have actually increased as I am being charged late payment fees and default letter fees (£30 a pop). The payments being made by Payplan to my creditors each month only just cover the interest charges on my debts (none of them have frozen any interest payments) so I can't see me ever clearing the debts. I only have 2 years til I have to retire so what happens then.....I am beginning to think that I should leave Payplan and go it alone. I no longer answer the phone unless it is a number I recognise...have had as many as 30 calls a day most days. I went to Payplan because I want and need to clear my debts but I am getting so stressed about it all.
Any advice from anyone will be greatly appreciated

Tixy

Hi emily

Up to 30calls a day is unacceptable. When your creditors call you have you just given them your payplan number and then ended the call? This is what you should do. The whole point of using someone like Payplan is so you don't get hassled.
Have you sent this letter to your creditors? If not do that next - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=23624437&postcount=2

Have you spoken to Payplan about all your creditors refusing to freeze interest? Its not uncommon for some to refuse but usually many (or at least some) would be willing to do so. There is a letter on national debtline website you could send yourself asking them to reconsider freezing interest.

Are your payments almost as high as the old minimum payments were? I have seen it on a couple of occasions where people have struggled to get interest frozen because they are paying quite a high amount of repayment for a dmp (say 80-90% of the original contracted amount each month).

Try talking to Payplan about how else they can help.

Have your creditors all (or any) defaulted you yet? sometimes once you have been defaulted that is when they agree to freeze interest, or once a debt is sold on to a DCA it can sometimes be easier to get interest frozen.

Good luck.

elsie52

Hi Emily,

We are also with Payplan and some of our creditors are still charging interest. We have had occasions where we have been charged a late payment fee, but I have spoken to the creditors and explained that our payments leave our account on the 3rd and go to Justabank who then pay all our creditors around the 10th/11th of the month, and then they have reimbursed the late fee to us. Explain to them that this is how Payplan work and your payments will always be around that date. You can only try.

Tixy has given you good advice on how to deal with the calls and also the letter to send to them. We were told not to get into a conversation with any creditor, but to give our Payplan number and ask them to speak to Payplan. Perhaps Payplan could also try and get some of the creditors to reduce interest, give them a call tomorrow.

Good luck

emilyamber

thanks to both elsie52 and tixy for your replies.
When I initially went on Payplan and I kept getting the phone calls I spoke to all my creditors and explained that I was with Payplan and gave them all the relevant reference number. I did this on several occaisions but it still did not stop the calls, hence the reason I don't answer any calls any more...some were really rude and aggressive....also informed Payplan but they just told me to log the calls!!!!
In answer to your question Tixy about the minimum payments....yes you are spot on they are only a few pounds less than I was paying already.....take the interest payments off and I am repaying about £15 a month off the balance and yes I have spoken to Payplan about it and they have re sent letters to the relevant creditors but so far, nothing...... I guess that I should really give it a bit more time and hope for the best...when you ask whether I have been defaulted....well I have had default letters and been charged for it but none have been passed on to anyone else.
Anyway , many thanks for your advice

Woowoo

I almost started with Payplan back in September but decided to go it alone as I had always managed to make the minimum payment and was never late, I was worried that my creditors wouldn't accept Payplans offers for this reason. I also couldn't face the thought of the letters and the phonecalls I knew I would have to deal with for the first few months.

8 months down the line and as I have managed to set myself an accurate budget that I always stick to so I am making progress.

I ensure I send every spare penny I have as an overpayment to the creditor with the highest Apr and just the minimum to everyone else.

I hope it works out for you with Payplan and it settles down soon, I remember it was such a difficult decision to make.

emilyamber

thanks for your comments Woowoo. Your so right...a very difficult decision to make but my age was the deciding factor..... paying the minimum payment each month was never going to reduce the debt and I suppose the idea of getting interest frozen would have meant there would have been an end in sight what really annoys me is that since the credit crunch started, it seems that if you are an individual that only pays the minimum each month then you have probably been penalised by way of increased APR's...certainly in my case they have near on doubled....how on earth can they justify charging 28%+ when the base rate is 0.5%.
hey ho...another story!!!

Woowoo

It's disgusting and should be illegal to charge those sort of APR's.

claudia123

Hi there...just letting you know i too have 11 creditors and the only one not to accept the plan is youve guessed it HSBC, i have a credit card debt with them and they wont accept the plan with Payplan. They ring me loads of times on my mobile but i dont answer and ive unplugged my house phone....i do everything with letters
Just out of interest ...who are your creditors.....?

Madison

I've been with Payplan since October 2003 (only two more payments to go - yippee!). All my creditors kept the interest at zero percent with the exemption of Lloyds TSB who reinstated it after five years. They also started charging late payment fees when there was a bank holiday in the month because the payments from Payplan weren't clearing in time. When I contacted Payplan, they had my standing order in their system as clearing mid-month, when I sent it through on the 28th. They changed it to clear on the 4th and the late payment charges stopped. On the whole, I've been happy with Payplan but the standard of service seems to have deteriorated since I first entered my DMP.

emilyamber

In answer to your query Claudia my creditors are GE Money,marbles .Northern Rock,Barclays and Beneficial...the only ones to accept Payplan are Northern Rock and Beneficial (used to be Abbie credit card).Abbie reduced the interest rate by half but none of the others will even acknowledge Payplan let alone reduce the interest rate. Time will tell i suppose ...I live in hope!!!

Woowoo

Any good news from your creditors yet emily?