Whatever happened to legally protected DMP’s?

debt_doctor

Hi Bat,

I must admit that the "statutory debt management plan " trail has gone cold. If you'd have asked me a year ago I would have said that it would be in legislation by April/ october 2010 !- Personally I think it is the introduction of the DRO that has put the brakes on the SDMP.Creditors (especially catalogue and door step lenders) are shouting loudly against any more legislation.

DD

blind-as-a-bat_2

Hi DD long time no see, hope you are well

That seems to be the case, the question is, is anyone here wanting to warm the trail up again, and start out pressureing those that are making it stall?

fermi

pure_dead_dopey wrote: »

I'm quite new to all of this, not to the debt which we have struggled with for years, just the dealing with it. We have a huge pile and are currently on a DMP for 9.5 years. However, only on these boards I have found evidence of the availability of a DAS in Scotland (I live in Scotland). From what I can research, this is a legally protected DMP, the creditors have to stop interest and it applies to any bank, they don't have to be Scottish, the debtor has to be resident in Scotland. My point is that this is available, but it never came up in my list of possible solutions with CCCS. Personally I am holding it as another avenue of coping if the DMP is not accepted by all and they keep adding interest, pursueing us for our equity etc. But if it is available, it should be more widely offered and if the Scottish government can manage it why can't the rest of the UK???

Info in case anyone wants to read about that:

Debt Arrangement Scheme

& http://www.moneyscotland.gov.uk/das/MoneyScotland/Debt_Arrangement_Scheme__DAS_/DAS_Homepage

coolcait

Completely agree. I think that the Debt Arrangement Scheme in Scotland is a superb piece of legislation (effectively a DMP with legal protection, as others have already said).

The only thing wrong with DAS is that not enough people know about it.

I appreciate that there has recently been new legislation in England and Wales, but I can't see why that should be a particular brake of creating a DAS equivalent. Scotland appears to be working on new insolvency/debt management legislation all the time (going by the 'News' bits on the Accountant in Bankruptcy's website).

It also looks like a relatively simple piece of legislation to draw up - you write down how a DMO works, and add in the legal protections: freeze interest, fees and charges and write them off at the end of the programme; prohibit asking the person to pay more than the agreed amount; keep the person's home out of the equation, and so on.

They could also ask their Scottish counterparts how DAS works.

What do I click to show that I'm signed up for this? (Figured it out now!!!)

So_Sad_Angel

I can only speak from my own perspective but having been in a DMP for 2 years it is a very unsettling experience indeed especially knowing that my creditors can move the goalposts without notice....although thankfully I have been helped by the CAB who have taken some of the pressure off when I was unable to cope.

Being hounded to pay more than you can afford & the endless letters/phone calls/threats have continued throughout for me & I have found this extremely upsetting as I have done my best to pay what I can in a difficult situation.

Thankyou for raising the profile on this matter Bat & I agree too with Cait about the DAS system.

dancingfairy

It never seems fair to me that people who have got themselves in a mess from whatever cause when they ask for help from a charity that recommends a dmp (debt management plan) that the banks don't at least help the person get back on their feet by suspending interest and charges. Surely the fact that they are on a dmp shows that they can't pay the full amount but are trying their best - no doubt by then the banks have made their money back many time over anyway.
Whereas when the banks get into trouble, we the taxpayers bail them out. :mad::mad:
I know there's probably some who would abuse the system no matter what was put in place but the vast majority are trying to repay the money they owe and move on from it.
I don't think there should be overregulation in the dmp to the fact that dmp's are not allowed for longer periods of time (more than 6 years) becasue circumstances can change quite dramatically and some people are on a dmp for a long time because of the implications bankruptcy/iva's would have on their jobs - ie preventing them having a job/loosing their career then the banks would get less back anyway - so whilst it should probably be discouraged that people take out extremely long dmp's I don't think it should be banned.
df

dancingfairy

I agree with others - the fact that someone could be on a dmp and coping and then to potentially have the rug pulled out from under them at any time by the banks only granting a break for a short period of time, or by threatening to add charges later on doesn't seem fair.
df

verystupidwithmoney

I would love Martin to work on this. Imagine if every MSE'er donated one pound :-)?

DarkConvict

verystupidwithmoney wrote: »

I would love Martin to work on this. Imagine if every MSE'er donated one pound :-)?

It would cover the forums bandwidth for a whole month

blind-as-a-bat_2

re-worded my main post, seems my dry sense of humour has got me in bother yet again

But the reason for posting this was for the right reasons, to try get something done about the ludicrous situation of people on DMP's in the UK getting no protection for there efforts.