Debt management

Iwsy

Hi, I'm new and not sure I'm in the right place??

Anyway, correct me if I'm wrong!

In Dec 2001 we started an agreement with Payplan. We owed approx £19,500 (terrible I know). To date we have repaid £10,471.09, yet apparently we still owe £21,359.78. How can this be possible? They claim to try and get interest frozen, but surely the debt shouldn't be growing at such a rate? Our estimated repayment date is June 2015. When we started with them we were told that some of the debts would be written off after 7 years, but now they say that this was never said. But they said lots of things in the beginning including 'don't have any more children'!! (I've had another 2 since! )

I've asked payplan about the interest and they said they'd write to the creditors and get back to me, that was early July.

I've tried phoning CCCS etc and they tell me that Payplan are good and that they advise people to use them. Noone has been able to help me with this, so I'm hoping someone here can or at least point me in the right direction.

Sorry if this is a bit jumbled, that's how it is in my head atm. Please feel free to ask questions.

Thanks.

rog2

Yes you are in the right place. Seems strange to me, too, but I would imagine that some of your creditors did not agree to freezing interest. I am only a recent convert to this forum, but I am sure that someone more experienced will be along soon to advise you.

Iwsy

Thanks for your reply rog2.

Can anyone else offer some advice please?

Thank you.

moozie_2

Just a thought but have you asked payplan about the interest? We can all guess what has happened but they know for sure.

Jesscat

Did payplan let you know at the beginning of your DMP who had agreed to stop paying interest and who hadnt? My understanding is that they ask and some creditors agree, some dont and some will reduce the interest. But in all scenarios they should have informed you surely?!
Im thinking of going down this road too, scared as hell and stories like this just put me off and make me thing i'd be better off struggling on by myself.......Im not much help really am I? Sorry x

Iwsy

Thanks both. This is an incredibly busy board and I thought I'd got lost in all the other posts!

Tbh, the communication with payplan is awful. They've never let us know about interest etc and whenever I've tried contacting them they're a bit vague.

The thing is, we were in such a state before starting with them, (my husband would walk the 6 miles to and from work as we couldn't afford the bus fare, we'd have no money for food etc, just a loaf of bread etc etc ) that it was such a relief to have them take it all off our hands. We now pay £202 per month and don't have to worry at all. It's only fairly recently that we've started questioning things more. I'd just like a straight answer from them of when we'll be debt free and if the figures they've given us are correct as they seem incredibly high to me.

Everyone I've spoken to have commented on how good payplan are, which has made me reluctant to question them in the past as I've assumed they must be right! Niave I know, but it's such a relief to pay the monthly amount and get on with living.

We've learnt a lot form our mistakes though and will never ever own a credit card again. Our debts were incurred through relocating and ending up with 2 homes to keep for a year. We used credit to pay the rent, bills etc. Although, when we were at our poorest we were also at our happiest in many ways, it made us appreciate other aspects of life iykwim, so not all bad

Thanks for your responses

frankie1_2

I have been with Payplan for 2 months and have found them to be excellent.:j
I would however say that I am quite persistant in my emailing for updates.
Some of my creditors have rejected my intial repayment plans but I'm hopeful that they will change their minds after a few months.
My advise is to keep ringing or emailing Payplan to keep you up to date with your repayment progress

Payingitallback

Hello

We have been with Payplan for 3 years now and our agreement should be ending in August next year.
We had a debt of over £20k and have been paying £435.00 a month to Payplan to clear this. All of our intreat has been stopped by them and we have found them to be an excellent company.
I am really concerned from reading your post that they have given you this figure, i thought their aim was to make you debt free not add more to it.

I am going to contact them today just to double check that our agreement does indeed end next August so i will let you know how i get on.

Take care

Payingitallback

desperatelyinthered

I have been with Payplan Since January and have found them good - but I do try and keep in contact with them.

I still get statements from my creditors so can see that interest has been stopped.

Was any of them a loan? Reason I ask is I had a Natwest loan of £25k however when I defaulted the interest for the term of the loan was added on meaning that the total I have to pay back is about £34k!!!

Call Payplan and query it, I have always found them helpful!

Best of luck

Iwsy

Thanks all!

Yes, we did have a NatWest loan, which might explain it. It also might explain why Payplan are so vague about interest etc. they have told me that towards the end of the agreement they write to the creditors and ask that they write off the interest, which is all very well but it's the not knowing that's frustrating and does this mean that the debt will be less or is it just pot luck?!

I'll email them again and see if I get anywhere. Good to hear about others dealing with them and that you've had good experiences. In their favour they are understanding regarding problems meeting payments eg my husband has to take 2 weeks holiday at Christmas without pay so they have been ok about us making a token payment at that time.

Keep an eye on your annual review/budget, they invented pets for us including food and vets bills!!

reformed_man

Natwest are the only one of my creditors who refuse to freeze the interest although they have agreed to the DMP from the CCCS. Despite several letters to them ( Natwest ) they insist they will continue to charge interest because they " are entitled to " !

Everyone else is also entitled to charge it as well but they've all had the decency to stop it.Because they are still adding the interest it will take much longer to pay them back .:mad: