Desperate Advice needed re DMP/DAS's and CAB please!

jenpenny

Hi
We are in the very early process of applying for a scottish DAS through the CAB. Firstly, the CAB have written to all our creditors to ask our balances. CAB also last week told us to cancel our DD to all our CC so we could live this month(we have been sinking deeply however have always made our payments).

So, phonecalls and letters have started. My questions are - firstly, do we just ignore or also write to our creditors saying we cannot afford this months payment and give instead a token payment? Or do we leave it all to the CAB? My DH had a call from Egg a couple of days ago asking what was happening and that they had recieved a letter from CAB - did this mean we were going onto a DMP etc. She was actually very nice about it and said to maybe give a token payment this month, should we do this for all our CC then, say like £5 each? and is they a letter format or anything in particular I would say in a letter accompanying my token payment?

Secondly, what does actually happen if we are refused a DAS? My husband cannot go onto an IVA, he would lose his job basically. As it is now with a possible DAS it means he can never apply for a position that would involve a credit check.

Has anyone here any words of wisdom about DAS's?

Thank you in advance for any words of wisdom/advice you can give me. It is a very stressful time for us at the moment:(

Charco_2

As you are in Scotland, an IVA is not an option anyway.

It's up to you regarding the token payments etc... Someone will be able to provide you with standard letters over on the Debtfreewannabee forum! If you're worried about constant phonecalls you should also ask for a letter to send requiring all correspondence to be in writing.

The question is, how long do you think it's going to take! If you're already on the process of sorting out a debt solution then don't bother but if you thought it would take an age to sort out then you might want to send a token (I personally wouldn't bother - if that helps!)

jenpenny

Thank you for reply. Ok, thats useful to know that it isn't necessary to give token payments. i am just worried that it will take an age with the CAB......

Polly_Wolly_Doodle

Hi Jenpenny,
I think we are just behind you in trying to get a DAS.
Like your DH i can't go insolvant so a DAS looks the best option.
We had our first meeting at CAB last week and it'll be the week after next before we see the DAS money advisor.
However the guy i saw was great and he said to stop paying anything to the ccs, not even a token payment. He said the debt will go up while we wait for DAS approval but it won't be too much, i suppose a £12 default fee each month and interest will roll on until CAB get the current amount owed, which is where you are.
He said for us starting the process in March it would mean the DAS, if approved, would start in May, or there is the option to wait until July when the regs change and a couple can have a single joint DAS.
So in the meantime i've stopped paying the ccs other that the three linked to RBS where our current a/c is with the OD, as soon as i can get everything over to the Co-op i'll stop paying them too.
Best thing is to save everything you can now as the op said for emergencies.
Our washing machine is making strange noises, the gutters have come off the back of our house since the snow in Nov / Dec and we have damp coming through the gable end wall - so you need an emergency fund once there are no ccs to rely on - i'm preaching to myself here not you!!

Please let me know how you are getting on, i don't know anyone who is going through this and like you i am scared about everything.
The CAB advisor said we will get constant calls from 7am till 10pm and companies like mbna are commission based therefore it's in the callers interest to get even £1 out of you but he said just to say 'sorry we're with CAB now and they'll be in touch, goodbye'.
My biggest fear apart from getting accepted is what about the mortgage increases as we are on a tracker, that can't be built in...
Good luck.

Miss_Poohs

Well done to you both for checking out your options, and good luck with your DAS's.

My husband has been on a DAS now for nearly 3 yrs - there have been some developments along the way, in that I managed to reclaim the PPI on one of his loans so thats a sizeable chunk off the original debt of £86000!! :eek:

The DAS payment is in excess of £500 a month, but so far so good, and the debt is coming down.

I think we're lucky here in Scotland to have the DAS option, and its interesting to know that its being tweeked too, to provide for a joint option for couples.

Good luck.

Miss P

jenpenny

Hi Polly Wolly Doodle - I will PM you. Mrs Poohs - I was almost under the impression that our DAS would be joint anyway? Could be wrong but I know that our money advisor has collated all our information, creditors, income/outgoings etc and given us an approx payment that we will be paying out each month shared to all the various creditors. We pretty much have equal amount of CC.

Miss_Poohs

You may well be right Jen.

The DAS my husband has is in his name because he ran up all the debt behind my back, (what a discussion that was) so all the debt was in his name anyway.

I have a friend though who has joint debts with her husband and they had to take out separate DAS's, as at the time there was no provision for a joint arrangement, that was about 18 months ago.

The other rumour I heard was that they were considering allowing for non multiple debts to be allowed too, don't know what happened about that though.