DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 7

Hopelessly_Hopeful

Nikki4 wrote: »

Welcome Ladybird, I have just started on this journey too (DMP was posted back this morning). Good luck with yours, it's great to have support from those in a similar boat on here x

Welcome too Nikki, shout up if we can help.

HHx

Hopelessly_Hopeful

hopeful1983happy wrote: »

Hi Everyone,

Hope you are all ok. First payment went out for my DMP in April and started getting statements through showing new balances etc. Virgin CC and Barclaycard have accepted the payment plan and are on 0% interest :-) Marbles CC have whacked a whole load of charges and interest on, but going forward are accepting the payment and reducing interest to 6.1%. Natwest O/D seem to be whacking charges and interest on like there is nobody's business, although they are accepting the payment plan. Need to write to them to request interest reduction. Egg loan is a nightmare as they keep telling the CCCS I dont have an account with them! Tried to clarify the situation with them but to no avail. They have been sent the payment so I hope that they have got it.

Anyways, thank you for all your words of wisdom, looking forward to a DFD, but have no idea when that will be as Natwest keep adding charges. Hopefully it will settle.

Lol
H1983H xxx

Hi H1983H

If you want to know your DMP you could do it like this. Work out how much your overall debt is (a) then of your DMP (b)what monthly payment is being paid on interest (c) then take the interest from the DMP to get the amount that is coming of the debt rather than what's being paid to the debt (d). Then take the amount of debt (a) and divide by (d) to give your debt free date.

Example here
Overall debt (a) £15 000
DMP payment (b) £420
Total interest payment paid each month (c) £82)
Amount paid of DMP each month (b)£420 - (c)£82 = (d) £338
Overall debt (a) £15 000 divide by (d) £338 = 44 months DFD in 3 years 8 months time.

Don't forget even if they continue interest charges the amount decreases as your debt does so your DFD will come down in your favour too.

Hope that helps.

HHx

Hopelessly_Hopeful

Twit_Head wrote: »

Hello to all,
Wishing everyone a good weekend. I hear there's some big 'do' going on in London this Friday
I have been very brave today and phoned a creditor for the 1st time in the history of my DMP - swoon! (Ian would be proud of me) I am a committed letter writer.
One of my creditors was threatening the usual doom and gloom actions because they hadn't had a response to their last letter (which I never received.)
Soooo - because of the delay in post at the moment, I plucked up the courage and spoke to a real, live person. :eek:
She was absolutely lovely, instantly grasped the situation and put in place a solution, whilst outlining clearly what had happened. We even ended up having a more 'personal' sort of chat, and were getting like a house on fire.
I did of course keep a note of names, dates, times and will follow up with a letter.
But I just wanted to back up what Ian always says - it DID get straight to the heart of the matter, and wasn't anything at all like the fearsome experience I dreaded it might be.
So maybe the lesson learnt is don't be frightened to phone. Keep calm and friendly, have your facts/info/numbers to hand and it could work for you too

'Twitty'

Go Twitty go! Well done and glad you are feeling suitably empowered. Onwards and Upwards.:T

HHx

Hopelessly_Hopeful

acfoster29 wrote: »

Hi Everyone, I thought I would join this thread as I have have decided to set up a DMP with CCCS.. I sent my forms back last week and have just written to all my creditors explaining that I am going on a DMP. I keep getting calls on my mobile from Santander but when I answer there is a message saying I could not be connected......hmmmm I am scared what they are going to say if and when i do eventually get to talk to someone. Can anyone say how long it takes for CCCS to process all the forms etc and get going? what happens next I am wondering.

Anyway I hope to speak to you all regularly as I have no other support except here now.

Welcome, can all be set up in a matter of a few days. Re handling creditors, do what causes you the least stress. Remember some of the dmp mantras, they can't have what you havent got. They are after your money but dont let them have your life. Either tell them on the phone you are starting a DMP and will be in touch or write to them. It's easy once you have your head around it but appreciate it all feel very scary at the start. You're not walking away, you are facing up the the debt, be proud!

HHx

Hopelessly_Hopeful

salduck wrote: »

My DMP papers are just in the post today so should be with CCCS next week ARGHHHHHH scary times! I am gonna try and post regularly so that i can keep up to date with things but I wanted to say thanks to all who post on here as its really given me the courage and know how to go ahead with a scary decision.

I have posted all my creditor letters last week and will await repliesAm defo not going to be answering the phone for a while to strange numebrs! New bank accoutn opened and ready for rent this month and wages as of next month as i just missed hte cut off date fo rmy company with all the stupid public holidays!!
Sal

Well done Sal, significant step towards your future there.

HHx

Hopelessly_Hopeful

sunnygirls wrote: »

Hi all i do is seem to be asking questions ,im in the process of setting a dmp up with cccsand trying to get all my statements together but some of these are estatements and it wont let me print them infact i cant even view them i can only view an account overview i have printed this off gives my balance and everything ,will cccs except this ? they are closed or i would ring them as i know i will have more questions before im done today but i really want to get this sorted this weekend while im off work Thanks Sunny

Welcome, screen shots are fine or failing that just tell them who it is etc. Amazing what they can do.

HHx

Hopelessly_Hopeful

massivedebts wrote: »

Good evening!:j

I haven't posted on here for a long long time, however I 'check in' regularly to see how everyone's getting on with their DMP journey.

For those of you that don't 'know' me, I first posted on this thread in January 2009 when I thought my world was ending, we were drowning in debt! We had never missed a payment but we were struggling with robbing peter to pay paul. I couldn't sleep and knew we we had to do something. I contacted CCCS and had the option of BR or a low start DMP. I was so embarrased about the amount of money we owed (in fact to this day I don't think I've ever admitted the amount on here!:o) and as we really couldn't face the thought of BR we opted for the DMP route with a DFD of a miilion years away!

After we had first committed to the DMP the feelings were immense! My head was spinning.....I couldn't stop crying, I worried non stop at the start especially about baliffs knocking on the door and charging orders, I was so scared that I was making a huge mistake for the family.....how wrong I was! We are now over 2 years into our DMP and I have to be honest that until now (I'll explain in a bit) I very rarely think about our debt. We don't have a lavish life (anymore) but we get by and even have the odd treat here and there!;). The one thing I learned very early on was not to set my CCCS budget too tight.....We are long time DMP'ers and I realised that we needed to be realistic with our budget for it to be able to work...and so far it has! We had the odd nasty phonecall to start with, but I don't think we have rec'd a call in over 18 months. We get regular statements from our 9 creditors and all but 1 has stopped all interest and charges.

If you're new to all this lark and thinking of a DMP, I know the worries you have I know all about the things that will be buzzing around in your head, I know how scared you are and I know that you feel that you have a 101 questions that you need answered, I know that the feeling of taking this step can be petrifying, but trust me you can do this!!!!! and after a while you too will probably agree that the DMP was possibly one of the best decisions you ever made!

Don't ever underestimate the power of the support that you receive from the people on this thread....the regular posters that give up their time to support us and give us the answers to our questions are amazing! I feel like a little bit of an intruder on this thread as although I often check in and read eveyone' s posts, I don't take the time to reply and support as so many of you do. If it hadn't been for the likes of these wonderful people in Jan 2009 I don't think I'd be where I am today so...THANK YOU!!:T:T:T:T

Going back to the beginning of my post (sorry so long!.. that's what happens when you don't make the effort to post regulary ), I was wondering if any of the long time DMP'ers had ever missed a month's CCCS payment?.... and if so what happened?......I am hoping to miss this month's payment (car trouble) but am concerned that it will 'rock the boat' and will cause my creditors to start adding on charges and interest etc......can anyone help with this please?

Anyway, thank you for having me on your wonderful thread, keep up the good work guys :beer:.
Take care
MD xx

Hi MD, good to see the update!

I reduced my DMP payment by 4% after my 6 month review. Kicked off some madness with a couple of creditors but managed to sort that and interest was refunded after a letter! At the end of the day it's for a neccesity not a holiday to Maldives. Presumably no car no job so an expenses that needs to be accomodated. Just a note I had different advice from two advisors when I was thinking I would need to deal with a car issue. One said miss one payment another said reduce DMP for a few months. Clearly both options must be considered appropriate.

Good luck, let us know how you get on, it helps everyone that way!

HHx

Hopelessly_Hopeful

ianmak wrote: »

Evening all, a number for a noobie...

Nikki4 419

Have to say I've been on a downer today with regards my debt for the first time in almost 3 years of being on my DMP. Of course my footie team losing, and having to go back to work after 10 days off doesn't help, but hey ho, we've just got to get on with it!

Morning Ian

Big hugs for you. Infact have the dodgy group hug:grouphug:_pale_:grouphug:.

You've done incredibly well to always be so positive. I think it's fair to say most of us have a down day still. Luckily we're all here together to have some company to drown the sorrow and then helps Ian lift his pecker up again (ooooeeerrrr). By my reckoning you're over a third of the way there now. When I swim I always think the first third is the hardest, I get more stamina then when I can see what I've acomplished and that there's less of a distance to go. That's before you start to look at what you thought you're DFD was going to be. Many would have just walked away at that stage so a huge well done to you for dealing with it all and coming out on top. Don't beat yourself up about having a downer, we're all human, thankfully. Hope you feel on a more even keel soon.

HHx

ianmak

Thanks HH & Auntie T, I'm feeling better today. I've worked out my budget for the month, and although I haven't got much to live on for a very long month, at least I know what I've got, which I think is very important, obviously!

I've always been ok on my own, but now I've got an adopted family, I'd like to be able to treat them occasionally, take them out etc. Obv I'll need to keep looking at the cheap days of doing that!

Triggles

ianmak - glad you're feeling better today.

I know it's been a bit of a struggle here too. Extra stresses just tend to wear me down and I let myself slip and get frustrated, and it seems like juggling too many things at once. Lately even when we spend on things we NEED to spend on, I get stressed out. And always, when we feel backed into a corner, our habit is retail therapy. So we really have to be careful. sigh...