DMP help!!

obeo2k2

hi, this is my first post here so please forgive me if it is in the wrong section or has been asked a million times before.

myself and the wife have got ourselves into a bit of a pickle with our finances and really want to start getting to grips with the debt so that we can start living again!

we currently owe around 26k on credit cards, store cards etc and after the minimum payments are made it only leaves us with around £450 disposable income to get food, petrol etc.

at the moment we are managing to make all of our payments (just) but means that we have pretty much no social life and things that need doing around the house just cant be done (ie damp course and installing central heating, even fixing a leaky gutter)

i have been reading about setting up a DMP to help reduce payments etc but have seen several companies offering the service.

can anybody help point me in the direction of a good company to use and offer any other tips to help us out.

Thanks

Ian

barbiedoll

If you have a look at the thread on this board called "Important: Where to seek impartial advice about your debts" it will give you a list of companies and charities that will help you to decide if a DMP is the best way forward for you.

Many of the posters on here are in a DMP and you will always be able to find help and advice from them and others. Please remember that you should NEVER pay anyone to administer your DMP, you will simply be paying them money that could be used to repay your debts.

Also. although a DMP provider will be able to help you to sort out a reasonable budget and they will pay your creditors on a pro-rata basis on your behalf, you will still need to be a little pro-active yourself. No DMP company can guarantee that they can get interest and charges frozen on any of your debts, (no matter what they may say!) but many of us have managed to do so, simply by writing a letter and asking.

Before you contact any of the companies or charities, do yourself a favour and get together a full list of all of your outstanding debts, along with the current balances. You will also be asked to provide a SOA (statement of affairs) which is basically a list of all of your incomings and outgoings. If you google the CCCS website, there is an online form which you can fill in to give yourself an idea of your situation. It's never pretty but remember to include EVERY single thing that you pay for, including lunches at work, pet food, lottery tickets, etc etc. Be honest about what you are spending, you need to be able to set yourself a budget that you can live with.

You could also post up your SOA on here where people will be able to advise you where your spending could be cut. I know this sounds a little scary but we are all helpful and generally non-judgemental!

Good luck and well done for facing up to your predicament. Let us know how you get on.

feeling-good

Try using Pay Plan, google them for their website plenty of people on here have used them and they are really good. I have used them too, They are a charity and do not take any of your money on fees, every penny you send them gets paid to your creditors. Remember though when you enter into a DMP you cannot have any more credit whilst it is in place... not that you would any more anyway


They also used to tell me " I was a valued customer, then they started to send me hate mail " quote from confessions of a shop a holic