Wonga nightmare

Elp1

I have been taking payday loans with Wonga for over a year now, got into the trap of taking a new one out every time I repaid the old one and was told I was a fabulous customer and all the rest of it.

I've got myself into a right old mess though with other credit cards/catalogues etc and three weeks ago I organised a DMP. This was only a week after my latest Wonga loan but the DM people told me to include this anyway.

On Tuesday I was due to pay my Wonga loan which of course I defaulted on. I informed them that I had entered a DMP and gave them all the details - have other payday loans which have been rolling over and the other payday companies have accepted this unquestioningly. However, Wonga told me by phone that I was committing fraud as I had taken the loan out and had no intention of paying. This freaked me out totally as I thought (stupidly) they would react in the same way as the other payday loan people.

Anyway, long and short of it is that I've paid them £50 today (the loan is £1,000 plus charges) and I have managed to borrow £700 from my mum which I'm going to offer them tomorrow with a view to clearing the rest of it over the next couple of months - it will be a massive struggle to do this but I just want them off my back. Have told the DM company that Wonga have really scared me and to take Wonga off my plan. Thinking of selling all sorts of things on Ebay to raise the money as well.

Question is: can they really accuse me of fraud? I know it was a recent loan, but was advised by the DM company to include all my creditors so this is what I did. And if I pay them a big lump sum tomorrow and clear the rest really quickly, is there anything they can do? When I paid the £50 this morning the girl from Wonga told me they didn't normally set up a payment plan until accounts were 25 days in arrears.

Any help gratefully accepted - and I know I've been really stupid here

Elp1

Please can someone respond to this? I'm really worried even though I'm going to pay more than half of it off tomorrow

Soubrette

I was under the impression that you cannot treat one creditor more favourably than the others under a DMP - I'm sure someone more experienced than me will be along soon though.

Sou

MrsTinks

OK the answer is... no they won't be accusing you of fraud - right now they are doing EVERYTHING they can to scare you into paying THEM before any of your other creditors! And guess what? It works and that's why they keep trying it on.
Tell them to get stuffed and don't give them a penny more than your DMP plan allocates them!
DON'T pay them anything tomorrow!

what they are doing is so close to the line that it's unethical if not illigal...

Elp1

The DMP hasn't officially kicked in yet though and I told them what Wonga had said to me - they agreed to take it off the plan before it gets properly started. I've been having treatment for breast cancer and they know this and I told them I couldn't stand the stress of it so would borrow from family to get Wonga off my back.

MrsTinks

Soubrette wrote: »

I was under the impression that you cannot treat one creditor more favourably than the others under a DMP - I'm sure someone more experienced than me will be along soon though.

Sou

well legally you can... because a dmp is more a "gentlemens agreement"... however guess how understanding and co-operative your other creditors are going to be if they find out you paid ONE of your creditors but not them? this is why most DMP charities will not allow you to do it if you want them to manage the DMP for you... it undermines the trust that they rely on...

MrsTinks

Who is your DMP with?

Elp1

Yes, I understand that, but do the other companies know what you owe other people? I'm just terrified that I could be done for fraud for taking out this loan. Oh, and surprise, surprise, the person from Wonga who gave me his 'personal number' has been uncontactable all day today!

Elp1

It's with Payplan

MrsTinks

You can't be done for fraud - your DMP organiser should have told you that... Who are you with? (please don't tell me it's a company you pay to manage your DMP.... )

Soubrette

Elp1 wrote: »

It's with Payplan

Just in case you missed this MrsTine

Sou