DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 7

grantalien

Twit_Head wrote: »

Well the time has finally come. It seems totally surreal still; after all the ups and downs of my DMP I’m able to post this final (??? – no promises!!!) message.

Well done! Thanks for the support and guidance you have offered to me and others.

To the newbies this is the good part and the outcome that can be achieved on this long a bumpy road.

see you on the other side (in about 4 years) :money:

sickasachip13

Oh Twitty, what a wonderful result finally. How do you feel?

I haven't known you long but I have moved from being a paranoid, stressed, ill-informed and anxious newbie because of people like you. Your warmth and willingness to engage has made such a difference to so many people.

I hope you hang around for a while, the place won't be the same without you.

I'll see you on the other side, but make yourself comfy 'cos I'll be a while. The very best to you and yours xxx

vax2002

You are wasting your time, effort and energy writing to a stale debt shark.
THEY KNOW..your debt is statute barred that is WHY they bought it.
They can legally contact you and demand you pay it, however you can legally ignore them.
They will go away if you do.
They will turn up the heat if you respond, write, try to be proved right.
They are stale debt sharks and will use harassment to shake the debt from you.
IGNORE.
If they file stamped court papers, use the statute barred defence.

PS this is what signing up to free credit check companies gets you !
It is not FREE, they sell your latest details to debt sharks.

pickled72

:hello:I have taken the ultimate decision after many sleepless nights, to contact cccs to set up a DMP. I am still at this point worried to death about the whole thing, but keep telling myself I am doing the best thing. I am just getting my new basic bank account sorted, ready to start my DMP in Jaunary. They tell me I could be debt free by the end of December 2014, seems miles away, but without it it would be never ending!

Lets get on with it :eek:

sickasachip13

Hi pickled72,

Well done on making such a big step. You know it's gonna be bumpy for a little while but, most people report being so much less stressed and anxious about the whole thing.

TBH, your DFD is pretty damn close compared to most - have a look at my sig to see my original one.....;)

Anyhow, a while back I did a little blog for CCCS about going on the DMP, if you want to read it you can find it here:

http://moneyaware.co.uk/2011/09/my-debt-hell/
http://moneyaware.co.uk/2011/09/my-debt-help-2/

Also, this here thread is an absolute wealth of knowledge and I'd recommend that you get yourself a cuppa, sit down comfortably and have a good old read of it. You'll get some good ideas, advice and you won't feel lonely!

Best of luck

SAAC

richie_gc

Hi,

Would just like to share my story for anyone else in the same boat.

I had racked up quite a lot of debt, initially to pay for those things we couldn't afford, holidays, furniture etc. I was in a good job at the time, and all of a sudden I was made redundant. I was out of work for 6 months, and in the end had to take a job significantly less in wages in a small company to get by. Money was tight and we ended up using cards etc to get by eg supermarket shopping. Obviously the debt was growing more quickly, as my bills were exceeding my income.

I tried to to consolidate, and this worked for a while, but I hadn't taken all outgoings into account, and when baby no 1 appeared, my wife's income stopped coming in for a while. so more spending on cards started happening again for supermarket shopping, petrol etc.

anyways 5 years later and most of that time I had been obsessing about money, continually trying to find the best loan or best card to get me out of trouble, but each time I would still not be left with enough. Before I knew it I was £50k in debt, and a lot of that was compound interest from all the cards / loans I had. over £500 of my monthly payments were going straight towards paying interest.

There's a certain feeling of loneliness that goes along with this. I had tried to let my wife know the level of debt we had, but she never really understood just how bad the situation was, and I couldn't tell anyone else. I was determined to fix this, and the obvious way to me at the time was to try to find that next card / loan to get me out of trouble, but inevitably that would only buy me time untill I had to deal with the now bigger problem further down the road. I saw no way out.

This was also affecting my health. I put on weight, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't concentrate. Every waking moment was spent thinking about how I could get out of this. I hated myself for getting us into this situation and not being able to fix it. I felt ashamed. I felt so low.

this time last year, I came across this thread, and read about debt management plans. I plucked up the courage to phone the National Debtline, which helped immensely. They gave me loads of advice, and explained Debt Management Plans, and because I live in Scotland, the Debt Arrangement Scheme. I was kind of sceptical at first, how would my creditors react, would they accept this idea? would they start legal action?

At this point the penny dropped for my wife, she finally grasped just how bad things were, and we went through quite a bad time then, but she was determined to help get us out of this and supported me throughout, even though she was massively disappointed in me. I love her so much, and am so thankful for the support she has shown me, the understanding and help.

I found my local trading standards office (though Payplan and CCCS were also mentioned) and the lady there took a note of all of my financial details, and in all honesty that's the best thing I ever did. First of all, there is a MASSIVE sense of release, just opening up fully to someone you know wants to help you. Next she looked at my balances, what I owed, what was coming in & going out, and created a financial plan for me based on what I could actually afford.

Then the proposal letters went out to creditors. I was worried. Would they accept these proposals? I cancelled all direct debits and set up standing orders for all of the new payments, and one by one letters started coming back. The feeling of elation knowing that they all accepted the proposed payments is something I still cannot put into words.

I know my credit rating is now shot to pieces as most of them defaulted me for not paying the original amount, but I'm not too concerned about that, because I can now live knowing that I'm not looking for that next loan or card, and that is a wonderful feeling.

One year on from that date, and for the first time in 10 years, I can honestly say that I owe less this year than last year. £5k less. that's a lot - well to me anyway. I still have a long way to go, and I know I have to keep up this momentum, but we have made made sacrifices which in hindsight looks like basic common sense, but didn't seem that way at the time.

This is the first time I have written publicly about this, and I guess that is because I was so ashamed before, and even though things had been set up and were running fine, I still had that feeling that something might go wrong. However if anyone can relate to all of the feelings I have written about, then hopefully it can help them that they can look at where I am now and how I feel now and realise that they can get there too. That first step is the hardest one. Don't be kidded, it's a lot of hard work and worry to get the financial plan sorted out and waiting for the responses to your proposals, and requires discipline to make sure you keep up with the payments, but the first step of talking to someone about it - yes it's the most difficult step to take, but is also the most helpful and rewarding moment of the whole process. If I hadn't done it, I'd be 5K more in debt rather than 5k less, or worse could have lost a lot more.

I still have 8 or 9 years still to pay - its still a long way. But year 1 is now complete and we're in a much better position than last year, and its such a relief that I can see there IS a light at the end of the tunnel and I am now finally heading towards it.

Richie

sickasachip13

Hey Richie,

Great story and, I think, it's so helpful to share these things with others. You know I too was fearfully ashamed of the situation we'd got into but now I realise that there are millions like me and I'm not a complete social pariah.

I'm pleased to hear it's going so wel. And you really hit the nail on the head when you observe that your amount owed has gone down for the first time in years.... we're exactly the same, one year in and the debt has gone down - it's a complete novelty for us. Goodness only knows how much it would have increased by over the same year had we not made the move to a DMP.

Lovely to hear from you, I hope we can persuade you to stay around?

SAAC

Dolly66

This thread has been a reading marathon but totally worth it (yup, I read the whole thing). It's been a massive help whilst I've been trying to set up my DMP. It's reassuring to see that I'm not the only one struggling with all this. It's been a slow set up for me, (approx 3 months) but my first payment finally went out today.

I can see me taking over my DMP myself in the next 12-18 months :eek: as Payplans budget isn't going to work out for me long term, and having to pay them monthly when I get paid weekly means I can never leave it ticking along, as dependng on payment dates I can have anything betweek 3 & 5 weeks to get my monthly payment together :mad:.

Interesting reading all the comments about Lloyds being really inconsistant. I have 5 accounts with them, 1 od, 2 cc's & 2 loans. So far they have defaulted 1 loan & 1 cc but haven't yet withdrawn my od or defaulted the other 2.

Vanquis cc has been passed to Impact Collections (in house dca), but payplan say they don't deal with them as they are still Vanquis so I'm expecting issues over that.

M&S have been really good. & Cap 1 I haven't heard anything from since I asked them to stop calling, except a letter saying an email had bounced back as undeliverable (nothing wrong with my emails).

Twitty - Massive congrats on your success. I hope you stick around for a while to help us newbies cos your advice has been really helpful.

Ianmak - Can I have a number for this fantastic thread please?

debtfree2015_2

I am considering a DMP. I considered it a few months ago but got freaked out at the stories of nasty telephone calls & letters, my biggest fear someone turning up at my door.

I got into huge amounts of debt escaping a violent ex (hence worried about people turning up). If Id just given up and gone into a refuge my debt wouldnt be as huge, but I was so embarrased at the situation I stayed renting privately, running each time we were caught, loosing deposits, putting new deposits on credit cards, I had to leave work as he kept finding me by followig me home from work, changed my car 4 times etc.

Ive been managing to make payments purely by trying to keep shopping between £10-15 per week - thats getting harder each week with prices rising. Clothes, shoes etc for dd get put on credit card, when there is space, and I go without.

I was always at the bottom of overdraft, but coping just have never ever defaulted or paid late..My nan then fell ill, £200 to visit (abroad) 2 weeks later she passed £200 to get to her funeral. I still had to buy dd's preschool clothes & shoes etc so went over my limit...£25 fine.
3 weeks later, as I changed my tax credits payment to weekly, it reported a change to HB, an error caused my payments to be cancelled. So I went over my limit again, this time twice in 2 weeks.
Oct, ov renew charge again over limit.

Debt remedy suggests DMP or Bankruptcy, I cant take bankruptcy as I cant risk my name being splashed about incase he finds us again, plus I havent got the money to do it.

DMP is currently suggested at £119 per month, I currently pay £361. It will make a huge difference to our lives in the sense of not being frightened to turn the heating on, me not going hungry and having money to get on the bus to take dd swiming. It says it will take 9yrs 3 months to take off, if creditors stop interest, Il be almost 40 by then!!

I think if it was something that could be guaranteed, I wouldnt hesitate, but my fear is I end up in so much debt if they dont agree, Il be pushed to bankruptcy and be found by him again, which is why Im in this mess in the first place.
I have a spare account opened, I need to start diverting my direct debits & payments, I don't know what is stopping me, I guess I just keep hoping that something turns up.

My spare account is a Nationwide current account - no overdraft. Are they likely to allow me to keep it open do you know? I have no debts with them.

Dreading them not accepting and my debt increasing even more, Im with HSBC, M&S money, BOS, Egg - which is now barclaycard. Ive seen some positive eg they accept right away, some not so positive.

I keep thinking if I just carry on the way I am for another 3 years my debt will be clear.....but I cant see how I can contiune like this, dd will start school, I won't have the money for her uniform, school trips anything at all.

I hate the thought of having to start again, but I know the sooner I start, the sooner it will be done with, just trying to work up the courage to start.

Any tips or words of encouragement gratefully accepted

Jenjen

Hi everyone

I've just spent the last 2 hours reading posts on this thread and picked up loads of useful information thank you.

Dh and I are just starting our debt free journey and we think we will be going down the DMP route. I'm very scared and emotional at the moment which is putting a real strain on our relationship. We had a blazing row last night because I accused him of not caring enough and always being too tired/busy to look at our finances and putting off doing anything about it. I've known we have a real problem for over a year now and we've tried to sort it out by cutting back, moving debts around etc but things just aren't getting any better.

So the point we are at now is I have done the budget calculator on the CCCS website and they have recommended a DMP. Some of the figures are only estimates at the moment because I haven't dug out all the paperwork or log in details to the accounts yet. But CCCS are currently recconing that it will take us 17-18 years to pay off our debts of around £30,000. That seems a scarily long time but I hope we can improve that as time goes on. I have my own business which is small but growing so as that improves I hope we can pay more. And Dh is looking for a better paid job so hopefully things will improve then. I suspect we will be in it for the long haul though and we just have to face up to that.

I'm a little confused about the order we need to do things. We haven't yet applied for the DMP. Do we need to do that before or after we start changing bank accounts, cancelling direct debits etc?

At the moment we haven't missed any payments although we have had a few overdraft charges. So most of our creditors have no idea thare is a problem. The next lot of payments will be due to most of them around the 6th December so I really want something sorted before then. Is that possible. I don't want December to be as miserable as November has been and I also want to be able to afford some at least token christmas presents for family etc. Most of them don't know our situation and I don't really want them to so I can't just not buy them presents. Future years obviously I will budget for this but I need to do something this year and I know credit cards are not an option.

Sorry for the long rambling forst post. My head is spinning with information so I just wanted to say hi cos I suspect I'll be spending quite a bit of time here in the next few years.

Jenny