DMP.... is it my best route? please help.

abbie1988

Hi there, cut things short i currently earn £753 a month. My bills are;
£160 Rent
£85 Phone Bill
£36 Car Insurance

My creditors are:

Very -£700 min monthly payments £20 39% interest
Littlewoods -£600 min monthly payments £70 0% interest
Additions -£200 min monthly payments £10 39% interest
Kays -£500 min monthly payments £70 0% interest
Isme -£1000 no min payments all on BNPL 14 months
Empire Stores -£1000 min monthly payments £70 39% interest
Studio 24 -£500 min monthly payments £40 29% interest
Natwest Loan -£650 min monthly payments £42

So far i have not missed a payment on any of these creditors. However as soon as i make a payment to a catolouge i spend it again! this has been going on for the past 5 months and ive not paid a single penny back... i know a mug! i have not the will power to pay this back alone.

After paying all my bills i have £150 left over which i spend on petrol & food leaving no money each month. I AM STUCK!

So i was recommend a DMP which seems like my best option.

So the plan lasts 40 months and my payment each month is £140.00
Total of £5600, near enough a £1000 of this is the fees of the DMP company which is cheaper then any loan i can seem to get my hands on(with my credit rating) This way i can finally pay it all off! and with the spare cash i have each month i can save.

Is this my best option?

Thanks

abbie1988

abbie1988 wrote: »

Hi there, cut things short i currently earn £753 a month. My bills are;
£160 Rent
£85 Phone Bill
£36 Car Insurance

My creditors are:

Very -£700 min monthly payments £20 39% interest
Littlewoods -£600 min monthly payments £70 0% interest
Additions -£200 min monthly payments £10 39% interest
Kays -£500 min monthly payments £70 0% interest
Isme -£1000 no min payments all on BNPL 14 months
Empire Stores -£1000 min monthly payments £70 39% interest
Studio 24 -£500 min monthly payments £40 29% interest
Natwest Loan -£650 min monthly payments £42

So far i have not missed a payment on any of these creditors. However as soon as i make a payment to a catolouge i spend it again! this has been going on for the past 5 months and ive not paid a single penny back... i know a mug! i have not the will power to pay this back alone.

After paying all my bills i have £150 left over which i spend on petrol & food leaving no money each month. I AM STUCK!

So i was recommend a DMP which seems like my best option.

So the plan lasts 40 months and my payment each month is £140.00
Total of £5600, near enough a £1000 of this is the fees of the DMP company which is cheaper then any loan i can seem to get my hands on(with my credit rating) This way i can finally pay it all off! and with the spare cash i have each month i can save.

Is this my best option?

Thanks

forgot to mention i can pay off early if i somehow have a windfall...

SHELLSHOCK

Hi,

You need to stop and think! Don't go ahead with the company offering the DMP as you can get exactly the same thing with non profit charities such as CCCS for free so saving yourself £1000!

I'm not sure a DMP is the best option for you though? You need to work out exactly how much money you have left over after the essentials food, rent, petrol etc and then use that money to PAY OFF the debt without respending! Pay off as much over the minimum as you can and pay the higher interest ones off 1st.

Go on the CCCS website and do the Debt Remedy - that will give you a better idea of what you realistically have left at the end of each month to put towards your debts.

Good luck x

Pott5y

Whatever you do Do Not Pay for a DMP.

CCCS and Payplan and CAP will organise these for you for free so all of the money you pay them goes to clearing your debts and not to line their pockets.

See this post for more info:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2077631

Also if you have a windfall you can negotiate full and final settlements which means the creditor may accept a redused final payment to clear the debt and write off the balance. All must be agreed in writing.

McCuddly

It looks like your biggest creditor is Shop Direct.


If you are going to do the DMP yourself then speak to underwriting who can do one low payment for all SDG catalogues, I work as a TM in Credit Control (UW)/Enquiries and its a common thing is "Paying my account then spending again" as agents sell AOS after payments. Its also saddening to see women who have just turned 18 get a catalogue account and end up on a reduced payment plan once they max the accounts out.

Ditto regarding fee paying DMPs I knew someone who paid £500/month for one and his creditors got £195 out of the £500

bottleofred

Hi Abbie,

Please do not pay for a dmp if that is what you decide to do. As the others have suggested, contact the consumer credit counselling service and discuss your options with them. NEVER EVER pay a dmp management company as they are leeches!

Good luck in whatever you decide to do

Red

abbie1988

Firsty thank you everyone for you advise not to go ahead with a DMP. I have now cancelled my plan which i had arranged.

I did speak to payplan who could not act on my behalf as my debt is only £5000 not the min of £8000.

I used the debt remedy on CCSS but unsure of what to do?

McCuddly - thanks for your advice i called the underwriting team and as none of my accounts are in arreas the chap put me on a temp 2 month payment plan so im paying £140a month across all 6 accounts, he said they can discuss a possiable future plan at the end of the 2 months to something in which i can afford.

Shall i still write to SDP with a covering letter and a list of my income and outgoings? i dont really know what step to take next, i mean i can manage for the next 2 months because of the temp pay plan.

Thanks

bargainbetty

A good start would be to throw away all of the catalogues! If you continue spending on them, no plan will help.

Use the letters on this site (I can't search links at work, no idea why) to set up a self managed DMP. You can still use the CCCS forms to calculate your monthly income and expenditure, and then spread the amount you have available for debt repayments amongst your creditors. The letters on here will help you ask for interest to be frozen (which means the accounts will be frozen too). Do everything in writing and tell them you will not accept phonecalls.

It will get scary, but you can do this and stick to it. You shouldn't take out any more credit or storecards during the arrangement.

By the way £85 for a phone bill? I pay less than that a month to Virgin for phone, the calls, cable, broadband and the occasional movie and two of my best mates live in America. Either get a new contract, or reduce the usage!

If you like, do a SOA and paste it up here - people will help advise where you need to budget and how to save money.

Good luck

tbourner

Have a look at my thread:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2976812

Although I think the bigger issue is this:

abbie1988 wrote: »

However as soon as i make a payment to a catolouge i spend it again! this has been going on for the past 5 months and ive not paid a single penny back... i know a mug! i have not the will power to pay this back alone.

You need to throw them away and be STRONG! You must FORCE yourself to stop doing it.
Once you've thrown them away contact the companies and request that they stop allowing you to buy from them until the remaining debts are paid? Not sure if you can do things like that but worth a go.

[Deleted User]

£160 Rent

£85 Phone Bill (very very high - mobile or landline or both? Are you stuck in a contract, if so for how long and will the company let you drop a tariff? - if you are out of contract get a SIM only deal or PAYG)

You also need to include, petrol costs, groceries, and all other expenditure - follow the link below to the statment of affairs form.


My creditors are:

Very -£700 min monthly payments £20 39% interest (very high interest rate)

Littlewoods -£600 min monthly payments £70 0% interest (really 0% interest, and for how long?)

Additions -£200 min monthly payments £10 39% interest (very high interest rate)

Kays -£500 min monthly payments £70 0% interest (really 0% interest, and for how long?)

Isme -£1000 no min payments all on BNPL 14 months

Empire Stores -£1000 min monthly payments £70 39% interest (very high interest rate)

Studio 24 -£500 min monthly payments £40 29% interest

Natwest Loan -£650 min monthly payments £42

"However as soon as i make a payment to a catolouge i spend it again!"

You have to stop spending on these catalogues, and stop taking any further credit - you cannot afford it. No DMP will help if you don't stop spending. Remove temptation and throw out the catalogues.

What may seem like a good offer when you are buyng it is not once you add 39% interest


You have already gotten some excellent advice here- and it's good that you have decided not to pay for a DMP.

First thing to work out is all your income and expenditure, and it you post it here people will be able to comment and advise, I have already made some comments above

Here is the link to the statement of affairs: http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

abbie1988

ahh it wont let me post soa as newbie it just comes up as spam! ill have to cut & paste into word maybe?

Ive chucked the cats out and sent back anything that i havent worn

I have two phone contracts, one with 16 months the other 2ith 20months grrr

thanks for all your help