Debt Management Plan - Advise Please

Little_Witch

Hi all,

please could someone tell me the pros and cons for using a debt management company to help me get out the horrid hole I am in at the minute. I have never used one and been trying to tackle the problem myself using citizens advice and contacting my creditors direct, Egg are proving to be unhelpful and telling me I need to give them the names of the other companies I owe as well as the amount I owe. I have given them details of income and outgoing and they are still demanding I give them all details. Another member very kindly suggested I use a debt management manger to help, but have no idea how they work can someone please advise, as I am ill with stress, as are many others I am sure, sick of the phone calls and threatening letters.

Thanks
Little Witch

HappyMJ

As opposed to what? What are your other options? If you are going to go onto a DMP then go through a charity and not a company.

Tixy

Hi little witch

Using one of the charities who run your DMP for you can help people a great deal. Effectively you work out a budget with the charity and how much you can afford to pay in total to your creditors (similar to what you will have done with CAB I expect). Then you pay that monthly amount over to the charity and they then distribute it to your creditors (rather than you pay them all individually).
They will also deal with all letters from your creditors for you and write to them with your budget etc. If your creditors phone you you can simply give them your DMP reference number and tell them to contact the charity and then hangup - so should save you a lot of stress.
Creditors are used to dealing with the charities and are far less likely to try bulling tactics with an third party organisation that they have been using on you.

There are also companies who will do the same but who will charge you a percentage of your monthly payment (often 17.5%) so these are not recommended on here.

Might be worth you giving CCCS a call to discuss your options with them. IMPORTANT - Where to seek professional impartial advice about your debts.

NB if you use any third party to help with your debts then the one letter you should never forward on to them is if you receive court letters in the post. If that ever happens always deal with this yourself (by coming on here for advice).

sofababe

I used Citizen's Advice for my DMP and they dealt with everything for me. They wrote all the letters, worked out what I could pay each creditor and whenever I got letters from creditors I just sent them on to CAB. If you really feel you don't want to deal with creditors yourself (they can be very unpleasant, so I wouldn't blame you), speak to your counsellor at CAB again or contact one of the other charities who will help you, CCCS, National Debtline, Payplan.

Tixy

I think some CAB offices will run the full DMP for you (as sofababe says) but others only have the resources to help with an initial budget and suggested letter templates.

jayn_3

I spoke to cccs and put together a full budget (google them for their site)
Then I rang all my creditors with an offer to pay.
Yes they want to know who and what but I had the information to hand and they were OK-and I owe a lot!
Be completely honest with them, the reason they ask this is so they know they are getting their fair share

Good luck

Ps The soa calculator on one of the sickys is a really good starting place