Any tips on clearing our Spectrum plan?

12k_to_clear

We have been trying to clear our 12k debt with Spectrum for..wait for it... 5 and a half years. So far we still owe 11.5 k. We have just upped the payments to £148 with £125 of that going to creditors, but I wanted some tips on what we should be doing to actively manage the DMP and any advice on offering full and final settlements to some of the smaller creditors.

SusieT

Most obvious question is why is the whole amount not going towards your debt, a very quick calculation of 23 a month over 5 1/2 years is around £1500 that could have been paid.
If you are with a fee paying company then I would suggest talking to CCCS or Payplan as everything you give them will go against the debt so you will have it cleared a lot faster.

bottleofred

Hi,

As Susiet has said, the consumer credit counselling service or payplan can assist you with this and ALL the money will go towards your debt. You should seriously consider this instead of paying a company to do it for you.

podperson

As said above get rid of this company and go with a debt charity who will send the whole payment to your creditors. Am assuming you are still paying interest on them all as well since you have only cleared £500 in 5 years. Have this company actually even written to the debt companies asking them to freeze interest?
If you could list what kind of debts and who they are with then should get more specific information. For example, if you have any credit cards do you have old charges that you could look at claiming back, were you sold ppi on any of them, have you asked for a credit agreement from them (if not there are template letters, will need to include £1 postal order). If they don't have a valid agreement can be a useful bargining tool in getting a lower full and final.