DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 7

ianmak

And excellent advice there PDD for everyone!

freedomnow

Thank you very much for your reply. We'll be discussing our options tonight. At the moment the DMP has my vote.

I'm sure I'll be back soon. Seems like a great place to hang out :-)

pure_dead_dopey

ianmak wrote: »

And excellent advice there PDD for everyone!

thanks Ian

I am noticing a worrying trend around that the first advice isn't the best on some of the other threads. I think a lot of the guys forget that in the first instance, at the LBM, panic is the thing that happens. Plus the vast majority of people are absolutely ignorant about the debt industry (I know we were ). A lot of peeps still think someone is going to take their house right away and make them bankrupt. Its, I suppose all about education, but I really feel that before anyone gets technical about what creditors can and can't do, you have to calm the panic (difficult I know). I know we took some dodgy decisons in the first panic and I bet quite a few of us have that tee-shirt as well. New peeps have to be aware that they have options and time (which a lot don't realise) to make the right decision for them. I don't know how many threads I've read which people have entered DMPs/IVAs without any emergency fund, which we just know is going to end in tears. Sorry just my day for ranting, saw some particularly blatant examples earlier on another couple of threads.

helena83

OK so now I'm having a panic! I'm pretty sure CCCS are right and the only option I have left is a DMP but my credit file is squeaky clean at the moment and I'm scared by how much its going to get trashed. Should we try to hang on for a bit longer, get extra hours, second jobs, carry on selling everythign I can think of on ebay???

I've never had a missed payment before so the whole prospect of getting threatening letters, phonecalls etc is scary scary scary.

pure_dead_dopey

Hi Helen

Try not to panic!!! Its the first reaction but I guess you are in some difficulty if you felt it necessary to contact CCCS? They recommended a DMP? What you have to work out is what are your other options? Can you afford to continue your minimum payments or are you robbing Peter to pay Paul and getting into more debt? (I did that for about a year before the penny dropped). If you don't go into a DMP, is it viable to get another job, sell everything on Ebay, is that a way forward? Like I said above you have to read up, find out exactly what a DMP means and work out if that's the way forward for you. If you are worried about your credit record why? do you need a mortgage or do you want to borrow again? A DMP will trash it for at least 6 years because you will get defaults. No one is allowed to threaten you, its only debt, and its not a capital crime. You will get a few phonecalls, we had 22 creditors and no one has threatened or been nasty on the phone to me yet, thick and unhelpful, but certainly not threatening. There are loads of letters on here you can send to ask them only to deal in writing or you can just not answer the phone to them (which is what I do now). So really its not that scary, its time consuming and you need a filing clerk but not too scary. If it helps you to work things out, why don't you put up an SOA here, then the guys on here can have a look and give you an honest opinion? Please have a think and come back to us if you need more help

helena83

I've gone for the robbing peter to pay paul approach but have reached the limits on every card and overdraft now so there's nowhere left to go. I've also tried the ostrich (head in the sand) approach thinking that it would all sort itself out eventually but that hasn't worked either. I looked at a consolidation loan to pay eveything off and pay less each month but couldn't get anything approved (and got fleeced of £70 by cowboys in the meantime!)

Because of my job in a bank I have limited options, I get credit checked twice a year and would lose my job if I get CCJs, IVA or bankruptcy but I'm hoping they'd be ok about a DMP since its really the only other option I have left.

We're waiting for a lump sum to come in from a divorce settlement which my OH tells me will be enough to pay the lot off (although I haven't seen any statements for the money he says is in the accounts and its been going on and on and on forever now)

All the debt is in my name so I want a way to sort it out which means that I don't have to totally rely on his divorce money to get out of this mess. I'm dealing with this on my own really because he can't see how serious it is and just moans when I tell him there's no money left in any of the accounts so he can't go for a few drinks/have a takeaway/buy new jeans.

I'm ranting now so I'll stop. If anyone has any other ideas I can try before I trash my credit that would be helpful but I'm pretty sure I'm out of ways to turn.

pure_dead_dopey

och a good rant never does any harm!!

I think you are out of options other than a DMP. Why don't you ask your HR if this is OK or is there an HR website page on your system you could check. Then you would know exactly what your options were. if you go into a DMP and then funds become available in the future, you could do some F&F and get rid of the debt that way, meanwhile you will be proactive and are hopefully reducing the balance instead of it increasing.

helena83

With a DMP am I able to keep paying full payments to some of the debts and reduced payments to others. I'm wondering if that would be better as some of the bits have small payments anyway and if they start charging me for missed payments etc then would it be better to have made the full payments. Might it look better on my credit if I'm only defaulted on some of the cards and not all of them?

pure_dead_dopey

all debts must go in the DMP if they are unsecured as its all worked out so that you are being fair to all of your creditors. Don't think the amount of defaults makes much difference other than when they appear and how long they take to fall off. (6 years from when they are issued) Nothing to stop you paying £1 token payments for a couple of months and getting rid of the wee ones before you go in to the DMP though, although I would recommend you try to build up an emergency fund in this time. its up to you, its your DMP and your financial situation. How small are they and could you pay them off quickly?

helena83

Not small enough to clear off that fast really. Its a couple of bits I had from DFS on the 4 years free credit and its only £11 and £17 per month. Looking at the agreements the charges for missing payments, solicitors letters etc etc etc seem huge! I'm scared that by making reduced payments I'll just end up with the debt carrying on going up with the extra charges etc.