DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 7

Twit_Head

the_tooth_fairy wrote: »

Hey Twitty (and Fraggle, great to hear you, too) yes, am one of the reducers this month and as Next didn't receive any payment at all they have slapped a £17 fee on me, start of many I'm sure... Payplan didn't send the payments until the 17th this month, it's usually about the 10th, I guess it might be because they had to re assess the figures.
Hope normal service will be resumed next month, but am dreading the mail in the next few days

ttf

Hiya TF!
It sounds as if you're going to have to go through the 'will they/won't they?' sort of dance similar to the set-up of a DMP again.
But SURELY, your creditors must see sense? I'm certain the call centre/ admin. staff will understand completely where you are coming from.
They're probably fighting just as much as the rest of us trying to make a penny stretch to a pound. It's the 'jobsworth' in charge of policy who declares 'send that woman a fee, for being honest and coming clean about struggling to live on her budget' Yea, like adding fees is really going to help isn't it?
Sure the dust will settle for you soon, and it will be back on the treadmill but at least with an amount of money you can live on.
In the meantime you're allowed to feel :mad:

'Twitty'

Twit_Head

charlize_angel wrote: »

Hi guys,

My partner and I set up a DMP last December, making our first payment of 350 pounds on 1st January.

We have made all payments, but our DMP company have only mmanaged to freeze about one third of our interest from creditors and our debts have increased by over 2000 pounds since January.

I am now being threatened with litigation court? and getting letters far worse than when we started. Even worse is the debts has increased so much since January.

The company do not seem to be answering their phone now either, it is a nightmare. Advice please?

:(

Are you with a private DMP company????
If so, my best advice would be to contact CCCS, PayPlan etc and explain the situation to them. These are free 'charity' DMP companies.
If already with one of them, then certainly follow Ian's advice and contact your creditors. You need to know exactly what is going on. But sadly, it is also very true that it can take a long while for interest to be stopped/reduced.
Hope you get something sorted soon, for your own peace of mind.

'Twitty'

DevonGirl

Hi London Fraggle and Twit Head

Thanks for your support - glad to know I'm not alone. It is not a light decision to make lowering my DMP payment when it is going smoothly at the moment - but seeing a report in the Daily Mail on Saturday that the average family is paying £900 per year more just to keep the same standard of living makes me feel better. It's bad enough when you're doing ok financially, but when you're on a very restricted budget and the cost of living increases, the Ouch Factor just gets worse! So I will contact CCCS today and see if I can drop my monthly payment.
Thanks again both!
DG

bertie1606

Hey everyone, still in process of setting up, and am wondering if we're doing the right thing now, we're getting letters from the creditors about missed payments and default fees and I'm starting to panic that they're not going to accept the offers and refuse to lower/stop interest and we're never going to get out of this mess

red_scorpian

Hi bertie you ARE doing the right thing,it may not feel like it but in a few months you will feel more in control of your debts and seeing the balance come down makes it so worth while .You can expect to get letters from your creditors they're panicking too, anyone on a dmp will tell you they had the feelings that you are experiencing I know I did guilt ,panic, fear,shame,BUT you are taking steps to pay your debts back and with that knowledge you can hold your head high good luck on your journey ,AND always use this site for advice and support, I know I did

2spicy

bertie1606 wrote: »

Hey everyone, still in process of setting up, and am wondering if we're doing the right thing now, we're getting letters from the creditors about missed payments and default fees and I'm starting to panic that they're not going to accept the offers and refuse to lower/stop interest and we're never going to get out of this mess

You ARE doing the right thing ... If like Us, when your all setup, youll look back and wonder why you didnt do it sooner.

Chin up, and remember, they will hound you ... they will threaten you ... Its not personal..

Play the game with them.
They cannot have what you havnt got .. Simples..

We had 3 months of phone calls (Write to them and tell them to contact you only by letter).
They will threaten Debt Collection Agencys .. (Again, its all scare tactics)

If they mention Bailifs and property siezure.. then this can only happen AFTER a court ruling and usually only after you have defaulted against that ruling.

Keep your gaurd up, just make sure no windows are left open when you leave the property to "make sure" no one can gain lawful entry when you are out.

Rule Number one though ... Pay your council Tax and Mortgage first. These are the MOST important ones. Councils do and will start proceedings if you default payments..

Everyone else ... Can get in line.

You have to have enough money to live... things will be tight, you can play the system too to your own advantage to enjoy a few simple pleasures.

There is no need to live like a church mouse either.

Good Luck and most importantly, keep us all updated. everyone here will help if you have any questions, we will keep you smiling if your having a bad day too.

bertie1606

Thank you red scorpian and 2spicy, I'm really glad I found this forum! I am trying to be a bit more positive, and you both have definitely helped xx

michelle45_2

Hi
ive recently joined the DMP club. Sent out my letters and hoped that it would have started at the beginning of July, unfortunately, I cannot get all the upto date statements as they dont come out until the end of June. So, hopefully, it will start in August. I have my letters prepared to send off saying that I havent been able to get things sorted out and paying another payment to them until CCS gets in touch.

Hope that will be ok, fingers crossed anyhow.

Michelle

2spicy

bertie1606 wrote: »

Thank you red scorpian and 2spicy, I'm really glad I found this forum! I am trying to be a bit more positive, and you both have definitely helped xx

No worries.
I forgot to add, another trick they will use is "we need a payment off you today"... Simple Answer, NO !!! they will use all sorts of tactics to get any additional payments off you. stand your ground and tell them that you cannot by the terms of a DMP, treat any other creditor different from the next, so if they ask for an interim payment of say £30 .. tell them that in order to do that, you would have to make pro rata payments to all your creditors.. or simply refuse saying you donot have any spare cash.

Also, your Debt councilor will advise you on this, but you can have an allowance for pets / haircuts etc too ... even if you donot have them, USE THEM ... its extra food / living allowance for you (when we started off, we used the £20 a month "Pet" allowance for a bottle of wine each week in the winter months and in the summer, it paid for a few days out at the seaside, with ice-cream for our son, Birthday partys, the odd unexpected repair on the car.

yes its not essential but you donot have to lock yourself away for the duration of your DMP and not socialise. We didnt tell our family and friends, and no one is any wiser)

2spicy

michelle45 wrote: »

Hi
ive recently joined the DMP club. Sent out my letters and hoped that it would have started at the beginning of July, unfortunately, I cannot get all the upto date statements as they dont come out until the end of June. So, hopefully, it will start in August. I have my letters prepared to send off saying that I havent been able to get things sorted out and paying another payment to them until CCS gets in touch.

Hope that will be ok, fingers crossed anyhow.

Michelle

Chin up there ... just keep making the token payments to them and appologising to them for doing so, Bank the money you are saving for unforseen events / take yoru last holiday or whatever and whatever happens, Keep Smiling... your on the road to debt freedom, you have admitted you have a problem and that you are going to be proactive about your debts and prepare for the journey ahead:beer: