DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 7

powerchimp

Ellieseleven wrote: »

Hello everyone, just popping in to say Hello. We seem to be a bit in limbo at the moment, our first payment has gone to CCCS on 1st Sept so just waiting for that to be divided between preditors.

Still getting letters stating the obvious i.e. we are in arrears - how much must it cost these companies to keep sending out these letters?

Still job searching but had an interview today which went quite well.

Hope that everyone is o.k. and coping without too much stress:)

Ellie xx

Hi All

I'm in the same place at the moment to. 4 creditors have agreed the DMP, one being the OD with Santander which is good.

Mint have today sent out a default notice; which I'm guessing is good.

Tesco CC are still playing hardball but at lease its by letter and not by phone.

The first payment to CCCS has gone of, so I guess things are looking up and I feel so much better than I did back in July.

PC

ianmak

helena83 wrote: »

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!)

If you've reached this stage, then the alternatives are an IVA or DMP, otherwise you'll never be debt free (unless you win the lottery). Suppose you get a pay off but have to wait for it, you may miss payments? End up with a Default anyway? DMPs can be temporary anyway, so you could start it, then use the Divorce payment to pay it off anyway. And if you did get a default, is that the end of the world? People complain about not getting further credit, do you really want further credit after this?

With regards working for a bank, a lady called Saskia on here is in the same position, not sure how she's getting on though, as she's been a bit quiet!

ianmak

Twit_Head wrote: »

Fabulous! Find it hard to believe you've had such success. I'm inspired. Well done you!
Hope the dodgy tum recovers soon.
By the way (a sterling money saver tip) -in the interests of all, value loo roll is really not worth the paper it is printed on

'Twitty'

Yeah I discovered that recently with a certain 'european' supermarket's brand. Not the worst loo roll, but not far off!

2spicy

Hi Fellow treckers down the trail of the elusive DMP... its been a while, but were still plodding on.

Had a bit of an issue this week with finance for a replacment vehicle, that has resulted in a very nasty letter being written to the finance house in question.
Bit of history, last month we sold our car with a view to downsizing, and being in a position to put more money into the DMP. Settled the finance thanks to WeBuyAnyCar and walked away with about £500 of equity and a nice confirmation letter from the finance company that the finance had been settled.

So .... off to a "Cheap" garage with a hand full of £20's ready to do a deal. Chose a garage that also used the same finance company that we had used previously ... did the deal subject to finance and guess what ........ REFUSED !!!

So this puts us in a very awkward position... We now have no vehicle, the cash we did have is going to be needed for busses and alternative transport, our only options now is to keep claiming the vehicle finance on the DMP, but to squirrel the cash away to save enough for a cash purchase, or go to one of the companies that are only really interested in selling you a 5 years deal on a 2 yr old base model Corsa or Astra.

Speaking to our DMP councilor, car finance is "priority lending" and acceptable to our debtors, it just P155es us right off when you make a conscious decision to up the DMP payments by downsizing, only to be smacked down because of a Low credit score (dispite the repayments being a lot less than the previous ones)

helena83

Well after a disturbed nights sleep from worrying about the DMP and dreaming about the DMP I've decided I'm gonna go for it. At the end of the day I approached the financial difficulties team at work who deal with staff and they couldn't/wouldn't help so I've done everything I can. Better to have a plan in place that shows I am working on clearing everything rather than burying my head and ending up with a CCJ and no excuses.

OH is not happy about the idea and has gone off to work this morning announcing that he is gonna work away from home for another company coz he'll be on better money that way. I hate the idea because a)it'll put extra strain on the relationship b)I'm pregnant and there's a risk he'll miss the birth c)when the baby comes he'll only see him/her on the weekends.

I'm hoping the DMP paperwork will come from CCCS today so I can get started. What will I need to do when it comes through? The counsellor mention payslips and statements etc....

jasperconran

Well thought I would update re: scalifax. re-sent OH letter special delivery and according to the post office, scalifax received it last thursday (9th). So I rang Monday, and was told havent got it call back on Thursday, so I have just rung and surprise surprise, they are saying system not updated, cant help you havent got it.

The guy I spoke to stated if they only received it Thursday and with the weekend, it takes a while for everything to be updated, so now ive been told to ring back on Monday:mad: how hard is it???? I am concerned now that if I ring back on Monday and they still claim they havent got it, it doesnt leave us much time as the last letter we received last week stated give us £1800 by 23rd Sept or we will pass the account to a DCA or take you to court.

So what do you think guys? Was the letter just one of their standard, "we want to scare the s**t out of you so you pay us more money" ploy or what???? As I have stated before OH suffers from depression and ME and stress, so I am trying my hardest to deal with this on my own. I cant believe this, it just doesnt leave me much time, shall i contact the FOS do you think?

thanks

pure_dead_dopey

OK Jasper it sounds like a scary tactic, and hey, its working!!! Is it a default notice? have you had a default notice from this mob? No one is going to take you to court next week, you are a very long way from that, honestly. I have had some dealings with Halifax and when we started out DMP they wanted us to phone every 3 months to keep the arrangement going. They just wanted to ask a lot of stupid questions but did reinstate the reduced interest each time I phoned. Things like can I pay more - eh no, have I any more phone nos? - eh no, will I be clearing my arrears anytime soon - NO!!! You could just phone the collections department and reinstate the arrangement. However, if you feel that you can't cope on the phone, don't, just ignore them until you get a reply to your letter. They are harassing you so you could complain to FOS but they send these letters to everyone and I guess they will just say it is "normal collection procedures". Try to stick it out a bit longer, getting passed to a DCA is not the worst thing that can happen, they can sometimes be easier to deal with. They have very little power and they can't have what you haven't got. Try not to let them upset you, its only money and they are pretty powerless as long as you are proactively trying to pay it back, which you are. They rely on you being scared and worried, remember knowledge is power, the more you learn about the whole thing, the less power thay have to frighten and intimidate you. Good luck, keep posting

Ellieseleven

powerchimp wrote: »

Hi All

I'm in the same place at the moment to. 4 creditors have agreed the DMP, one being the OD with Santander which is good.

The first payment to CCCS has gone of, so I guess things are looking up and I feel so much better than I did back in July.

PC

I know exactly what you mean Powerchimp, the feeling of relief is overwhelming and I find it very strange at the moment that I'm not having to worry about finding money to pay to CC's. My life consisted of worrying and calculating how to make the next payments. We appear to have a better standard of life than we did before going onto the DMP as we were throwing every penny at debt, it was like trying to plait fog, we never made any progress and just got deeper and deeper in debt:o

jasperconran

pure_dead_dopey wrote: »

OK Jasper it sounds like a scary tactic, and hey, its working!!! Is it a default notice? have you had a default notice from this mob? No one is going to take you to court next week, you are a very long way from that, honestly. I have had some dealings with Halifax and when we started out DMP they wanted us to phone every 3 months to keep the arrangement going. They just wanted to ask a lot of stupid questions but did reinstate the reduced interest each time I phoned. Things like can I pay more - eh no, have I any more phone nos? - eh no, will I be clearing my arrears anytime soon - NO!!! You could just phone the collections department and reinstate the arrangement. However, if you feel that you can't cope on the phone, don't, just ignore them until you get a reply to your letter. They are harassing you so you could complain to FOS but they send these letters to everyone and I guess they will just say it is "normal collection procedures". Try to stick it out a bit longer, getting passed to a DCA is not the worst thing that can happen, they can sometimes be easier to deal with. They have very little power and they can't have what you haven't got. Try not to let them upset you, its only money and they are pretty powerless as long as you are proactively trying to pay it back, which you are. They rely on you being scared and worried, remember knowledge is power, the more you learn about the whole thing, the less power thay have to frighten and intimidate you. Good luck, keep posting

Hiya, thanks for replying

Yes it was a default notice. I have to say, all our other creditors have been fab. Evil Egg were a nightmare to start with and we got the same we will take you to court letter, but we just carried on. Scalifax are a pain, in the sense that, we are really fed up with the 3 month informal arrangement stuff and the "we havent received your letters" crap.

But your reply has spurred me on!! and I will keep fighing OH's corner as i have stated he suffers with alot of health probs etc.

I will keep you updated of course, and thanks again ever so much for your prompt reply

helena83

Well the DMP paperwork is here so I'm about to take a deep breath and start getting everything ready to send off... actually I might just have a quick cuppa and then I'll do it..