DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 7

mikon

Queenbelbake wrote: »

Hi there Superbiatch

I too have realised the mess we are in and are now looking for a way forward. Just a question have you done this yourself or through someone like CCCS? Just wondered because we dont know which way to turn at the moment and although contacted some creditors we are not getting very far fast.

Hi Queenbelbake

My suggestion is CCCS. I was in turmoil last May and had the light Bulb Moment and embarked on a DMP with CCCS in June. Initially making token payments and then a structure monthly repayment plan via CCCS. Creditors almost immediately stopped interest except for two who reduced interest to a minimum. CCCS contacted and negotiated with the creditors and I must say they are excellent. I could not have done it without them.My only tip to you is when you do your budget make sure you have enough to live on I am struggling at the moment so may need to conduct a review with CCCS.

Well done for recognising your problem and taking action contact CCCS tomorrow and get the wheels moving.

Superbiatch

Queenbelbake wrote: »

Hi there Superbiatch

I too have realised the mess we are in and are now looking for a way forward. Just a question have you done this yourself or through someone like CCCS? Just wondered because we dont know which way to turn at the moment and although contacted some creditors we are not getting very far fast.

I've done it all myself, following a lot of advice given in the DMP Plan thread on here. I have to admit just contacting them filled me with dread, but by researching the correct way to approach the creditors (or preditors as I read someone else called them ) they have been really understanding. It does take a lot of time, but i feel in control again.

CommitedToChange

Hi guys

I thought I'd pop in and say hi. I've decried that the only way forward is to get on a DMP - I am in the middle of filling out the online cccs forms - just need to find out the amount I owe on my loan. Long story short you can see from my sig the debt I owe. I was doing ok until a few months ago when I lost my main source of work and have struggled every since. The breaking point came on Monday when work I had lined up was cancelled at the very last minute. This has left me unable to meet my minimum payments and so stressed. When I found out my work had been cancelled I actually spend 30 mins crying in the toilets at work. This is when I knew I couldn't go on.

I've done the basic maths and can make enough to pay my priority debts as well as make token payments for a while. I feel that a DMP is the way forward even though I owe so much as I just need a little extra work each month to be able to make realistic payments, its the interest that's killing me. I appreciate that I may have to end up going banckrupt due to the amount owed - but I have to try the DMP first.

In a way its a relief to finally do this - instead of struggling each month - worrying that I won't be able to pay my rent or buy food. I don't know what the future holds - but at least I am now doing something and the theory is that this way I do pay my debts eventually.

Right I applied for a co-op account yesterday and have stopped any payments from going out of my account. When I get paid tomorrow I'm going to take out everything up to my overdraft limit and cancel my reserve overdraft on my barclays account. I need to cancel my debit card as well so my payday loans don't bounce. - Have I forgotten anything else?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Currently I feel so ashamed that I have got into this mess. I think back to how I so easily stuck stuff on the credit card - what an idiot I was. I never want credit again. I think this is going to be an incredibly stressful year. I'm hoping to come out stronger, and with the support of my friends, and the wonderful people on this forum I think I will. Thank you for listening to my very long rambling.

sunfleur

mikon wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I have been on a DMP with CCCS since last June. We have worked well with CCCS and kept in regular contact with our creditors and the majority have stopped interest and the remaining 2 have reduced interest charges. We are now finding it very difficult to manange on the money we have left at the end of each month. We are considering going back to CCCS and asking for a review to reduce the monthly payment. My two questions are :

How would CCCS view me reducing the monthly payment to creditors?

How would the creditors view the reduction? They have been very quiet and that has been good I don't want to start being pestered by calls etc.

The reason for this is that i am spending more on petrol and have been hit with parking charges as my location of work has changed. My food costs have increased as have sundries items such as hair cuts due to having two daughters. We are finding it difficult to get to the end of the month.

Has anyone reduced their monthly payment and can advise on this?

Thank you

When I spoke to the counsellor at CCCS she kept stating that they are on my side! She kept asking if we have enough to live on. By the time she had been adding things to our budget we didn't have the same amount of money we were paying. I said we wanted to keep paying the same amount for now so the counsellor took a few pounds off here or there so that we could keep paying what we wanted to pay. They will make sure you can eat and get to work and park. Don't be afraid of telling them you can't manage. They say 'you can't pay what you don't have'. Everything is going up and our wages are going down so of course we will all need to increase our budgets - especially if the mortgages go up later this year too. Creditors can't get the courts to order someone to pay what you haven't got. They will side with eating every time.

So go for it. I think all of us want to pay our debts off and we may feel guilty for lowering our payments but then we will put them up when we can. We are aiming to up our payments on our yearly anniversary at least by a little so we can see the years coming down. But if we have to reduce the payments to live then that is what we will do too.

Sunfleur xx

Squirrel29

Committed to Change, you sum the anxiety up perfectly. I'm starting on my DMP next week too. Good luck to all of us x

toots1607

sunfleur wrote: »

When I spoke to the counsellor at CCCS she kept stating that they are on my side! She kept asking if we have enough to live on. By the time she had been adding things to our budget we didn't have the same amount of money we were paying. I said we wanted to keep paying the same amount for now so the counsellor took a few pounds off here or there so that we could keep paying what we wanted to pay. They will make sure you can eat and get to work and park. Don't be afraid of telling them you can't manage. They say 'you can't pay what you don't have'. Everything is going up and our wages are going down so of course we will all need to increase our budgets - especially if the mortgages go up later this year too. Creditors can't get the courts to order someone to pay what you haven't got. They will side with eating every time.



So go for it. I think all of us want to pay our debts off and we may feel guilty for lowering our payments but then we will put them up when we can. We are aiming to up our payments on our yearly anniversary at least by a little so we can see the years coming down. But if we have to reduce the payments to live then that is what we will do too.

Sunfleur xx

Thanks Sunfleur for saying this I like the quote "Creditors can't get the courts to order someone to pay what you haven't got. They will side with eating every time." it makes it easier to get on today. Cheers:D

sunfleur

CommitedToChange wrote: »

.

I've done the basic maths and can make enough to pay my priority debts as well as make token payments for a while. I feel that a DMP is the way forward even though I owe so much as I just need a little extra work each month to be able to make realistic payments, its the interest that's killing me. I appreciate that I may have to end up going banckrupt due to the amount owed - but I have to try the DMP first.

In a way its a relief to finally do this - instead of struggling each month - worrying that I won't be able to pay my rent or buy food. I don't know what the future holds - but at least I am now doing something and the theory is that this way I do pay my debts eventually.

.

You won't necessarily have to go bankcrupt CTC. When I was speaking to the Counsellor at CCCS she told me very specifically that people are now taking on debt management plans lasting 20-30 years! Not that any of us want to pay out for that long but she meant that people have less and less in their pockets to pay out monthly at the moment and even for this amount of debt - which is pretty average these days - the longer periods of pay-back are becoming more acceptable to creditors because that is the only way they are going to get any money.

CC Companies and Banks can't afford to take everyone to court for charges on their houses as that would cost them a lot of money - probably more money than they will eventually get back. I know many of them sell on to debt collectors to recoup some money quickly but, again I think this practice may change in the foreseeable future as Banks like steady incomes and even if it takes a while to pay back, they know they will get it through organisations like CCCS. Of course that all makes Banks sound reasonable and I don't really know any of that it's just a theory. They would be stupid not to change some of their thinking around recouping debts at this stage of the game in this country though. Sure they will still try to come the heavy but unfortunately for them many, many, many people are now learning about debt and their rights through sites like this one (thanks Martin!) and the banks no longer have a monopoly on knowledge of the financial laws.

So in other shorter words. Keep swimming - there are many ways through and you are on the track to a good one.

Sunfleur xx

Hopelessly_Hopeful

Just flying past to say hello to all the Newbies. Hope your set up goes smoothly. There are no silly questions so just shout up if you need to offload or have any queries.

Mikon - Good luck with your review. I reduced my payment by 4% on CCCS advice. Just be aware that with some preditors this can trigger the process off again. One applied £170 interest in one month. I fought it out and have had it reimbursed, they offered to pay my current account. I did the honourable thing and reminded them it needed to be paid off the debt!!!

HHx

ianmak

CommitedToChange wrote: »

Hi guys

I thought I'd pop in and say hi. I've decried that the only way forward is to get on a DMP - I am in the middle of filling out the online cccs forms - just need to find out the amount I owe on my loan. Long story short you can see from my sig the debt I owe. I was doing ok until a few months ago when I lost my main source of work and have struggled every since. The breaking point came on Monday when work I had lined up was cancelled at the very last minute. This has left me unable to meet my minimum payments and so stressed. When I found out my work had been cancelled I actually spend 30 mins crying in the toilets at work. This is when I knew I couldn't go on.

I've done the basic maths and can make enough to pay my priority debts as well as make token payments for a while. I feel that a DMP is the way forward even though I owe so much as I just need a little extra work each month to be able to make realistic payments, its the interest that's killing me. I appreciate that I may have to end up going banckrupt due to the amount owed - but I have to try the DMP first.

In a way its a relief to finally do this - instead of struggling each month - worrying that I won't be able to pay my rent or buy food. I don't know what the future holds - but at least I am now doing something and the theory is that this way I do pay my debts eventually.

Right I applied for a co-op account yesterday and have stopped any payments from going out of my account. When I get paid tomorrow I'm going to take out everything up to my overdraft limit and cancel my reserve overdraft on my barclays account. I need to cancel my debit card as well so my payday loans don't bounce. - Have I forgotten anything else?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Currently I feel so ashamed that I have got into this mess. I think back to how I so easily stuck stuff on the credit card - what an idiot I was. I never want credit again. I think this is going to be an incredibly stressful year. I'm hoping to come out stronger, and with the support of my friends, and the wonderful people on this forum I think I will. Thank you for listening to my very long rambling.

As above, you're going in the right direction, and I too started with a 20 year DFD. Only through a promotion, and amendments of my budget have I been able to reduce this (I'm the lucky one!). As you say, a little bit extra money makes a lot of difference to your DMP.

Welcome to the gang, and ask any questions you feel need asking!

ianmak

Not sure how you guys and girls feel about this, but I'm all for it. Wish I'd had it in school!
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/get-financial-ed-in-schools