DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 7

antk4

Posted last night about problems with Santander who were refusing to accept DMP unless I sent bank statements, wageslips etc. Now I've received my statement and it says estimated interest 0%. Does this mean they have finally accepted it?

sophie1412

Thanks for the advice. After a browse around the forum I decided to try the Yorkshire Bank and I am relieved to say all went OK!

I asked for their basic account (called ready cash), and apart from a small moment of embarrassment when the lady on the reception desk asked why I wanted that one and was it because of poor credit, it was fine. The advisor I saw was lovely and very understanding. She said that the account would be credit scored (at which point my heart sank!), but when she did all the application it actually came back as offering me their "normal" current account. However, I have still gone for the basic account as I am not taking any chances!

Just need to get all my DMP forms signed and sent now then I am finally on the road to regaining control :j

Jamesdf5

ali.rtw.traveller wrote: »

Hi all, just wanted to drop a quick post to say i'm so pleased with myself this morning, managed to get cap 1 to remove the interest and charges they added for April, these were added the day i called to notify them i was changing from a dmp with Valour finance so a self dmp. Guy on the phone informed me they would continue with no interest or charges as with my previous dmp but lo and behold the statement showed they were added the same day, girl on the phone this morning tried telling me it was because i wasn't in a payment plan with them at that point as i'd not sent in my income and expenditure. Anyway after half hour of her going back and forth they have removed £113 interest and charges and confirmed no more will be added in the future, just feel really happy with this and thought i'd share

Hey,

I'm new to this board but was thinking of using Valour. Can you tell me why you left them please?

JD

Jamesdf5

Hi all,

I am new to this site. It seems so supportive and will hopefully help me with me debts issues.

I have come to the end of my box of biscuits and am now at the stage where I need to go on a DMP.

I have £25k of debt that I can no longer afford because I cannot any longer get a loan despite a 921 point credit file.

I originally spoke to Gregory Pennington who offered me a DMP. They were really supportive and It sounded good but then I heard that CCCS was free. I completed the CCCS online program and it wanted me to pay £522 per month whereas GP only wanted £300. I spoke to two people from CCCS who just didn't feel me with much confidence that I could pay less or couldn't guarantee that I wouldn't be taken to court.
I stalled at that point and tried to get a loan but of course I now know that that is NOT going to happen at all after I spoke to a very informative gent from Best4Loans who again recommended me for a DMP. This gent whose name I don't have atm as I'm at work, settled my mind on getting a DMP but did not put me under any pressure to take one via his company.
What he did say about going with a company like Valour or Greg Pennington was that they are more likely to completely reduce the interest payments to zero as they will want to work to earn their monthly fee. The downside he stated about CCCS was that because they are funded by the banking industry they will try to get the best monthly payment they can from you and might not be able to reduce interest payments.

Looking at the £522 that CCCS want to take from me I feel that what he said is somewhat true because In my mind I cannot afford £522 a month without worrying about having a comfort blanket so to speak if anything goes wrong at home.

Can anyone give me advice as to why CCCS is the preferred choice and confirm if they do or don't reduce the interest?

Thanks

JD

Twit_Head

ianmak wrote: »

Keep meaning to mention, has anyone been watching Super Scrimpers on channel 4? Quite an eye opener and a bit extreme, but very interesting.

Yup! As you say a bit extreme sometimes (OMG no!!!! ) but as good money savers we know most of it already don't we?..........
Whilst having a rumage around this weeks :money:e-mail, I took a peek at this thread https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3208164

Anyone else also recognise themselves in there?

'Twitty'

creditcrazy

hi spongbong,
you seem to be at the exact same stage as myself and my husband,I cant help you with your question as I am new to this but just thought I would wish you good luck with it all. I know how scary it all feels especially having no defaults etc so far!!Looking around the forum tho, Im sure there will be someone who can answer it,they all seem very knowledgeable and helpful.Hope all goes well for you

creditcrazy

Hi Jamesdf5
Im also new to this and about to embark on the dmp journey. I actually decided to go with cccs after lurking around on this forum,im no expert but most of the posts iv read have nothing but good things to say about cccs...surley thats got to mean something. You have me wondering now!! Sorry I cant be of more help

Twit_Head

Jamesdf5 wrote: »

Hi all,

I am new to this site. It seems so supportive and will hopefully help me with me debts issues.

I have come to the end of my box of biscuits and am now at the stage where I need to go on a DMP.

I have £25k of debt that I can no longer afford because I cannot any longer get a loan despite a 921 point credit file.

I originally spoke to Gregory Pennington who offered me a DMP. They were really supportive and It sounded good but then I heard that CCCS was free. I completed the CCCS online program and it wanted me to pay £522 per month whereas GP only wanted £300. I spoke to two people from CCCS who just didn't feel me with much confidence that I could pay less or couldn't guarantee that I wouldn't be taken to court.
I stalled at that point and tried to get a loan but of course I now know that that is NOT going to happen at all after I spoke to a very informative gent from Best4Loans who again recommended me for a DMP. This gent whose name I don't have atm as I'm at work, settled my mind on getting a DMP but did not put me under any pressure to take one via his company.
What he did say about going with a company like Valour or Greg Pennington was that they are more likely to completely reduce the interest payments to zero as they will want to work to earn their monthly fee. The downside he stated about CCCS was that because they are funded by the banking industry they will try to get the best monthly payment they can from you and might not be able to reduce interest payments.

Looking at the £522 that CCCS want to take from me I feel that what he said is somewhat true because In my mind I cannot afford £522 a month without worrying about having a comfort blanket so to speak if anything goes wrong at home.

Can anyone give me advice as to why CCCS is the preferred choice and confirm if they do or don't reduce the interest?

Thanks

JD

Hi and welcome to you
Just a brief reply to try and help you.
I'm with CCCS and I've always found them very reasonable, and willing to openly discuss your budget costs (it's usually them urging me to take more to live on, and me saying no, I can manage!)
I really do believe them to be impartial when dealing with the clients. I'm not too well up on the total background set-up but I know for me and many others, they are a sterling support on your DMP. Being with any company rather than self-managed takes away a lot of the worry when you 1st set up a DMP.
However, having said that why pay for someone to manage your DMP, when CCCS or Pay-Plan can help you for free? This is money that could be used towards reducing your debt. Think of it as paying for a chaffeur to drive you everywhere, or saving your precious cash by taking the wheel yourself.
Read back a few pages on this thread to get a feel for it all.
It's so, so scary at first and usually the 1st few months are a bit of a bumpy ride. But you'll soon learn and have the confidence to be pro-active, and deal with creditors yourself.
LOADS of info on this thread (we've all been where you are now )
I've said before on here, 'it's your money, your debt' and although frightening at first, it's a very powerful thing to take control yourself.
Hope this helps a bit for you

'Twitty'

MoneysTooTightToMention

Been away for a while sorting marriage breakdown etc

my first payment went out of my account to Payplan on 1st May:j

However despite saying to the contrary MBNA have continued charging late payment fees and interest, as have LLoyds TSB who are still threatening debt collection action against me.

Time to send yet more letters as otherwise my debt mountain will grow not decrease.

LLoyds TSB are still charging me £100 a month in unauthorised overdraft fees:(

Twit_Head

Spongbong wrote: »

Hi!

My husband and I are right at the beginning of our DMP; we owe £23,000 in loans, credit cards and overdrafts and have only recently accepted that we really can't carry on as we are.

We have no CCJs, no defaults or late payments so it's frightening because we are basically going to have start defaulting on everything! We are doing our DMP through CCCS and haven't even sent the letters out yet because we're waiting for our paperwork to come through about our new bank accounts first.

I am so nervous about it all but we're living off credit all the time and it just can't go on.

I have a question:

What do we do if a creditor refuses our DMP but doesn't take us to court? Will we just go on for eternity incurring massive interest and fees?

Thanks all.

Hi to you
In answer to your question -
When you first start to default on your contractual payments the creditors will go into a bit of a tizzy, because they see you're not paying them, and they're basicaly p**ing their pants in case they're not going to get ANY money back.
Often times they won't reply to let you know they've accepted your DMP, or will even say they refused it. Just ensure you keep paying your reduced DMP payment to them. The creditors are usualy reassured after a few months when they realise you are committed to re-paying (albeit a smaller amount than the contractual)
Some will accept/reduce interest straight away, others you may need to keep plugging away at. A DMP is a 'gentleman's agreement' - I've always found if you are open and up front with your creditors, on the whole they treat you OK.