DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 7

ianmak

sophie1412 wrote: »

Thanks. I think I was under the impression / illusion that once CCCS set up the DMP that the creditors would stop harrassing me and it would all be OK, but think I was probably being a bit naive!! Guess I've got to expect some hassle along the way! It just seems such a huge thing to do and, as you say, I am totally terrified by it. What I have to remember is that I don't really have a choice other than to do this!

And it does quieten down after a bit. Just not at the beginning!

Growurown

I have had my light bulb moment too! Well to be honest I have known it was coming for some time but jiggled things around, pushed payment dates back so they fell into the next months pay and so on and so forth. I knew though that I couldn't go on doing this forever, and the crunch came this month. Eon want to charge me £40 a month more and Virgin CC have changed the way they calculate their minimum payments and as my husband and I both have a Virgin CC that resulted in another £80 per month. It is the straw that broke the camel's back.

So I have applied for a new bank account - still pending - make sure our work places pay our salaries into the new account (if we get it) and then start the DMP. Can't say I am looking forward to it very much but the encouragement and help from this forum have really helped me understand the process and have put my mind at rest about how it will work. I know there will be nasty phone calls, letters etc. but there isn't really any other option, so its bite the bullet and as they used to say 'keep calm and carry on'.

So thank you all, will keep you posted on the progress!

londonfraggle

Hi newbies and oldies. afraid this is a rant!!

So...for the first time in ages I got a call tonight which went along these lines:

Them: Hi Ms XXX you are in arrears
Me: Oh hello - what a lovely sunnny day. I presume you have read the notes on the system about my account.
Them: Yes Ms XXX you are in arrears.
Me: Ok. Can you tell me if the notes about me being on DMP are on there? And if not, then here is my ref: XXX and I suggest you call them.
Them: If you don't pay your arrears it may affect your credit rating
Me: HAHAHAH. ok have you read the notes yet?
Them: Oh you appear to be in arrears.
Me: (trying to smile) Yes, that is why I am on a DMP.
Them: If you don't pay your credit rating may be affected. Please give me your credit card details so I can take the amount in arrears.
Me: I am afraid that I am on a DMP so you will only receive the amount you get every month from CCCS - if you are not happy with this please contact them.
Them: No - we can only take payments directly from you. Any other payment would have been returned so I think you are lying.
Me: Really? Please check the account - you will see that you have received a payment every month for the last year from a 3rd party.
Them: No - not possible. we do not accept 3rd party payments.
Me: Oh ok then - please refund me the last year's payments as clearly you can't accept them.
Them: Oh
Me: (by this time crying with laughter) Hhahahaahaaah.

Sometimes I love being on a DMP just to annoy em!!

Fraggle xx

geoffmr1

creditcrazy wrote: »

Hi all,
Im still in the process of setting up my new bank account before posting off freeze letters etc,I owe the biggest chunk of my debt to the bank I am with so whilst I am managing to swap direct debits over for bills etc to my new account what do I do about the DD with my current bank for my loan DD?? Its due paying before I can have everything swapped over to new account,I dont want to send my current bank a freeze letter and token payment before everything is finalised with my new account and I know i dont need their account anymore.Would use advise just paying it as I normally would until everything is sorted and what do I use for token payments?Do they accept cheques??Any help appreciated as im so confused with it all at the moment.Cant wait till everything is sorted out.Thanks

Hi CC,

I would certainly cancel the DD as you don't want to end up with additional charges for a returned DD. In this situation I would be a little cheeky and phone them before you've sent any letters, say you have a financial emergency this month and could they change the payment date. Hopefully that would buy you enough time to get everything sorted out with regards the new account.

geoffmr1

londonfraggle wrote: »

Hi newbies and oldies. afraid this is a rant!!

So...for the first time in ages I got a call tonight which went along these lines:

Them: Hi Ms XXX you are in arrears
Me: Oh hello - what a lovely sunnny day. I presume you have read the notes on the system about my account.
Them: Yes Ms XXX you are in arrears.
Me: Ok. Can you tell me if the notes about me being on DMP are on there? And if not, then here is my ref: XXX and I suggest you call them.
Them: If you don't pay your arrears it may affect your credit rating
Me: HAHAHAH. ok have you read the notes yet?
Them: Oh you appear to be in arrears.
Me: (trying to smile) Yes, that is why I am on a DMP.
Them: If you don't pay your credit rating may be affected. Please give me your credit card details so I can take the amount in arrears.
Me: I am afraid that I am on a DMP so you will only receive the amount you get every month from CCCS - if you are not happy with this please contact them.
Them: No - we can only take payments directly from you. Any other payment would have been returned so I think you are lying.
Me: Really? Please check the account - you will see that you have received a payment every month for the last year from a 3rd party.
Them: No - not possible. we do not accept 3rd party payments.
Me: Oh ok then - please refund me the last year's payments as clearly you can't accept them.
Them: Oh
Me: (by this time crying with laughter) Hhahahaahaaah.

Sometimes I love being on a DMP just to annoy em!!

Fraggle xx

Hi Fraggle,

Hope you are well?

What makes me laugh about this conversation is that the person you spoke to clearly doesn't know their own regulations. A creditor has no option but to deal with a registered 3rd party (CCCS or Payplan etc). Bunch of morons.

the_tooth_fairy

copperboom wrote: »

Hello everyone

No one has really been replying to my posts on here but I find it very therapeutic to post updates on my situation so I shall continue!

Finished my consultation over the phone with Payplan about an hour ago. The woman I spoke to was lovely - she took loads of details from me and talking to her about the amounts of all my debts and explaining that many of them had stopped interest and accepted my token payments made me realise that in fact I'm not doing too badly so far and that in fact if for some reason I can't make any headway with Payplan or CCCS, I would be able to set up my own DMP with creditors.

Anyway, we went through my income and expenditure, and she said she didn't see anything wrong with what I had budgeted for, but that someone would ring me back by Tuesday evening to go through it all in more detail. I hope they don't have any problems with my SOA as it sounds like if it all goes well, I will be making my first payment to them this month.

Hope you're all doing well this evening.

Copperboom

Hi CB, sorry if we've neglected you! I'm glad that all went well with Payplan, we are with them, and they've been great. Hopefully you will be up and running soon!
ttf

the_tooth_fairy

Twit_Head wrote: »

Ooh bless - I'm really sorry to hear that.
Stick with it. Dads often get the worst of the deal in a relatioship break-up. But your children will always know and love you; you're a special person to them and always will be.
Don't know their age but as they grow into adulthood they will understand how all this has been for you.
DMPs are tough but life can be a real b*st*rd can't it? Stick with it - all things change. One day ( I hope soon) you'll be living a better life than the one you're in now.
You look after yourself

'Twitty' x

Yes, sorry life's been tough, Geoff, it was great to hear from you again. You were such a help to me when I started, when we hadn't heard from you for a wee while, I had really hoped you were in a hammock somewhere hot!
Glad you have finished your DMP, sounds like it's time to spend a little 'Geoff' money. Take Care,
ttfx

Twit_Head

the_tooth_fairy wrote: »

Hi CB, sorry if we've neglected you! I'm glad that all went well with Payplan, we are with them, and they've been great. Hopefully you will be up and running soon!
ttf

As the very wise Tooth Fairy says CopperBoom - apologies. Sometimes there are so many new messages, a question or comment can be inadvertantly overlooked. Just post again if something still troubles you.

And TF have you no honest work to go woman? Shouldn't you be baking Blarney Stones or some such so early in the afternon?
Glad all goes well for you.

'Twitty'

creditcrazy

geoffmr1 that was an excellent idea(just tried it) but unfortunatley its not to be as im too late to change it this month as its due wed!Typical,but never mind as I have just managed to sort out the final D/D and so can now send off my freeze letters etc.The bank actually told us to do a card payment at the end of the month but we would still incur a charge for missing the DD!!So helpful...NOT!! So instead of that I shall be posting there letter with a token payment tomorrow which will reach them before due date of DD!! So in other words no more dealings with current bank so can cancel DD!!Yeah!!

Squirrel29

Hi all, just checking in to see how everyone getting on. My DMP that started Feb with Payplan is going along nicely. All accepted and stopped interest apart from Barclaycard but it's being handed over to their DCA so I expect better treatment from them. I'm actually enjoying budgetting and amazingly still have £100 left until payday in a week! I expect to spend half of that, so a nice bit of savings!