Worried my debts will never go away

pennybroke

Hi. I'm new to the forum and started on my DMP a couple of months ago. I can't tell you how useful the forum has been in providing a mass of information I didn't know about and in making me realise I'm not the only one in this situation and there are lots of people with helpful and encouraging words to offer! Thank you! When I finally faced the music and realised I owed £16,800 and couldn't keep up the repayments any longer I felt dreadful and was convinced no one else was in a mess like me! Having started the DMP though none of my creditors seem to have frozen or reduced the interest and I'm worried my debts will just compound and I'll never pay them off. Does anyone know if the likes of HBOS, Santander and NatWest/Mint are likely to freeze the interest?

sammy115

Have you been behind with your payments before entering into your DMP. They do freeze the interest eventually so you should be able to make headway into your debts......but I think that is if you are making less than the original minimum payments..

good luck with the debt busting

winner12

Hi there getting hassle from Monument and Capital one but all my other crediters have accepted my offers and frozen interest and charges have done my own DMP since April 2010 so not all agreed yet but keep going put it all in writing and use this board its great if you get a letter thats confusing or knocks the wind out of your sails you nearly always get an instant reply which will give you the determination to keep going
Good Luck:rotfl:

alona1

My HBOS (OD,CC,Loan) are now with DC but interest and charges are frozen. They got moved after 3-4 months of being on DMP but they did give me a couple defaults...(tut)

winner12

I think the defaults are to be expected part and parcel of debt but if your not getting charged interest etc its a small price to pay.

pennybroke

Hi Sammy. No I wasn't behind with any of my payments before going into the DMP - it's only now I'm 2 months into the plan that I'm getting charged £12 for late payment fees on my accounts because I'm not now paying the minimum payment as I was before. My account with Payplan shows that several of my creditors (Natwest, HBOS, Santander, Capital One) have accepted the plan but they are all still piling on the interest and the late payment fees so I seem to owe more as each month goes by! I'm not sure whether I should be writing to them all about it or whether Payplans should do that.

barneswell

Hi Penny, I am in the same boat as yourself almost, just a bit further along. I contacted Payplan about the fact the interest charges were more than the monthly payment and they told me "not to worry as when i was nearing the end of my arrangment their team would contact my creditiors and get the interest scrapped" as the creditors would be happy to get me off thier books.
I only have their word for this and would appreciate anyones experiences about this.
Thanks

pennybroke

Thanks for your input Barnsewell - I didn't know about the possible removal of interest at the end of the DMP. I think I'll have to contact Payplan again and see if the same might apply to me. I'm worried they will think I'm a nuisance always asking questions, but I'm just anxious about it as it's all new to me (and to everyone on here I guess). I suppose if you don't ask though you don't find out - I just get a bit crestfallen when I look at the statements and see I'm owing more and more each month and don't see myself making any headway!

barbiedoll

Hi pennybroke.

I'm in a DMP and although one (of 4) of my creditors has frozen the interest, none of the others have as yet. However, the people at CCCS who are doing my DMP suggested that it may be helpful if I write myself to the creditors, asking them to freeze interest and charges, stating that I am trying to deal with my debts and the added charges are making it difficult to pay them off. There are sample letters on here....

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/debt_advice.php#6

You can adapt them to suit your situation. They told me to send the letters to the complaints department at each creditor, and to use recorded delivery. So far, Capital One have responded by agreeing to freeze the account (although I'm still awaiting written confirmation )
and I'm still waiting to hear from the other two, although both had already put me on "reduced" interest rates.

The point is, even if you are on a DMP, it is worth being proactive yourself, although the debt management people will write on your behalf, it doesn't hurt to push things along at your end. Often, at the start of a DMP, the debt seems to climb with the added charges and so on, but things usually settle down after a couple of months or so. Good luck and don't worry about ringng Payplan all the time, you're not the only one! :rotfl::rotfl:

pennybroke

Hi Barbiedoll. Thank you so much for your advice and the link for the letter. Sounds like excellent advice to me an I'll do just as you suggest and write to my creditors myself. I did have a letter from Capital One a few weeks ago confirming their acceptance of my DMP but they didn't say anything about freezing or reducing the interest. As I don't get paper statements from them, only online ones, thye've blocked my access to my online statement so I can't see if they are putting on interest or not. I know all the others are though. I'm still trying to overcome the feeling that somehow I'm a 'second class citizen' for allowing myself to get into debt which I can't pay!

lindann_2

A letter you can use, its from payplan just fill in your own details, and it standard copy for all creditors, etc, make sure you get the address to each creditor etc..


Capital One Bank plc
P.o box 5282
Nottingham
NG2 3YH
ID: Payplan DMP


date 14/08/10

Dear Sirs
Name Number Reference amount
your name creditors number ref amount owing,

I am writing to request that all interests and charges on above account are frozen. This would clear my debt within a reasonable time frame.

I would be grateful if you could contact me with a written response to this letter,

May l take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support in what would be otherwise, be a very difficult time for me,

Yours faithfully


XXXXX