Gregory Pennington vs Payplan

recovering_spendaholic

I have been struggling with debts for some time and have finally done a SOA and worked out how much I owe and to whom etc. etc. I went to the bank (Lloyds TSB) and told them I was having problems and they were really nice and put me in touch with Payplan. I got up the courage to ring them yesterday and they have been great. They went through all my budgets and debts and have said that they will set me up with a DMP and that I will have to pay £207 a month. I felt great after the calls and knowing that I am finally on the way to getting stuff sorted out.

Last week whilst I was still floundering around I went on the Gregory Pennington website and used the annonymous tool on there to see how long it would take to pay off my debts if I went with them. Anyway to my surprise they rang me up earlier on today and said that they wanted to talk things through with me. I asked how they had got my phone number and they said it was because I had left it on the site - I hadn't. Anyway the man was nice but quite pushy and when I told him I was sorted and going with Payplan he said that Payplan work for the credit companies and won't work hard enough for me to get the interest frozen etc. He said that even though GP do have charges they are much more efficient at dealing with lenders and will get me a much better deal and that I will still get hassles with creditors if I go with Payplan. Now instead of feeling relief that I did earlier I am all worried again. Does anyone know if it is right that Payplan won't help me as much as GP? I have had weeks of no sleep and a constantly churning stomach and for the first time today I actually had a little nap because I felt so relieved but now I feel all churned up and panicky again. Any advice would be welcome.

Tixy

Payplan will help you far more than GP. Don't touch GP with a ten foot pole.

Payplan are not a charity but do offer free DMPs. Its true they are in part funded by the credit industry/banks etc but they will always act impartially and in your best interests. And they don't charge you fees like GP will. In short you will be in debt longer if you use GP.

Also take a look here IMPORTANT - Where to seek professional impartial advice about your debts. whilst Payplan are not listed there plenty of people on the site use them and are happy with the service. Others do prefer CCCS.

barbiedoll

I doubt that you will find a single person on here who would recommend that you use a fee-charging company such as GP to help you manage your debts. Despite the saleman's patter about how they help you to get interest and charges frozen etc, etc, in reality, you can do this yourself for a fraction of the cost. Remember too that companies like GP tend to keep your first few monthly payments to themselves for their "administration charges" which means that for those months, your creditors are receiving absolutely no money. You will still get plenty of letters and phone calls and you will probably end up owing a lot more than you do now. With Payplan or any of the free debt management charities, ALL of your monthly payment will go towards paying your debt and no matter who you choose to administer your DMP, there are no guarantees that lenders will stop interest and charges, although many do in the end.

If you decide to use Payplan, then don't be bullied by pushy salesmen, most of whom will tell blatant lies on the phone in order to earn their commission. If they become bothersome, simply tell them that you are not interested and to remove your details from their list. We can provide you with lots of template letters when your creditors start hassling you (which they will, no matter who you use for your DMP!) so don't worry about that. Also, even if you are with Payplan, it is always a good idea to write letters yourself to request that interest is stopped or at least reduced, the National Debtline has some very good templates you can use. Good luck, whatever you decide but I think that everyone on here will tell you to stick with Payplan.

dmb_2

Go with Payplan. You do not need to pay for DMP. Good luck with it all.:)

PNPSUKNET

soem companys may also reject you using a paid service, after all their £30 odd each month could be paying them instead

gebes

When I got myself into problems, I approached my work, who in turn allowed me time to speak to CCCS, who then setup an appointment with a money advisor at my local council office.

I took all the bills I could find in, and they in turn got me setup with Gregory Pennington to deal with all my monthly payments.

I didn't at anytime approach GP, everything was done via the council advisor.

I have to admit, I've never had any problems at all with them, and I've not heard a single peep from any of the companies I was due money to. If I have any concerns all I have to do is contact the council advisor who'll liase with GP if needs be.

Hax

I used GP many, many years ago and they were infact pretty good and handled things well. Then I discovered CCCS who were equally as good but had the bonus of not charging a fee for the help they provided.

My recommendation would be to go down the "free" route - as said, some companies don't like the fact you're paying more to GP for the service they provide than you're paying to the creditor.

Good luck!

recovering_spendaholic

Thanks for the replies. I will stick with payplan but I am still really worried in case I get hassles from the credit card companies. Can I just refer anyone who gets in touch to payplan? I intend to make token payments with the template letter from this site until the plan is in place. I hate this so much - I have never had a debt problem in my life until I got made redundant and then had some health issues and ended up living on the credit which I had at my disposal but had never needed to use whilst I was working. It was so easy to get into this debt and I feel so ashamed.

chevalier

Of course the person from GP is going to say they are better than payplan, he wants to earn his nice fat commission for signing you up. I would also be very hacked off if GP phoned me up out of the blue, just cos you went on their website. I am sure that probably breaches OFT guidelines right there. So even before you have signed up they have lied to you. Do you really think that that is a good start to a business relationship? I sure don't! And yes if you have phone calls from creditors, just firmly give them your payplan number and put the phone down.
chev

Hax

recovering_spendaholic wrote: »

I will stick with payplan but I am still really worried in case I get hassles from the credit card companies. Can I just refer anyone who gets in touch to payplan?

There is no doubt that you will get a lot of calls and letters up until the DMP is set up and running properly. Before that happens, some of your creditors will pass the debts on to collectors and they will make all sorts of threats of court action, etc, etc... That's all they are, threats - they're just hoping to scare you into paying up there and then so that they get their money as quickly as possible.

Don't let them threaten you, just inform them you are setting up a DMP through Payplan and give them your DMP reference number (assuming this is what Payplan want you to do - check with them first!)

Once everything is up and running, then the calls and letters will stop.

I don't know if it's been mentioned yet and I am sure that Payplan will tell you this, but if any of your debts are with the same company with whom you have your bank account that received your wages, etc then you need to open a new "basic" account and get your wages, etc paid into that. It's to stop the bank from just helping themselves to your money (which they may try to do) when you tell them you are entering into a DMP.

By basic account, I mean on with just a debit card - no overdraft or cheque book. The Coop do one (cashminder I think it's called) as do Natwest (their Step account).

Good luck!

recovering_spendaholic

Hax wrote: »

There is no doubt that you will get a lot of calls and letters up until the DMP is set up and running properly. Before that happens, some of your creditors will pass the debts on to collectors and they will make all sorts of threats of court action, etc, etc... That's all they are, threats - they're just hoping to scare you into paying up there and then so that they get their money as quickly as possible.

Don't let them threaten you, just inform them you are setting up a DMP through Payplan and give them your DMP reference number (assuming this is what Payplan want you to do - check with them first!)

Once everything is up and running, then the calls and letters will stop.

I don't know if it's been mentioned yet and I am sure that Payplan will tell you this, but if any of your debts are with the same company with whom you have your bank account that received your wages, etc then you need to open a new "basic" account and get your wages, etc paid into that. It's to stop the bank from just helping themselves to your money (which they may try to do) when you tell them you are entering into a DMP.

By basic account, I mean on with just a debit card - no overdraft or cheque book. The Coop do one (cashminder I think it's called) as do Natwest (their Step account).

Good luck!

Thanks - have set up a new account with Co-op bank today - just have to change direct debits over.