Debt management companies

Tommyh

Hi,
A bit of advice would be fabulous please. My wife and I are in a debt management programme (it’s one we pay a monthly fee too), and we’re considering leaving to ‘go it alone’.
Do you think this is wise? In the last 18-20 months of being in it, we’ve managed to clear about £2,000 worth of debt, either from agreeing an amount directly with the debtors, or in the case of Alliance & Leicester, having the debt written off.
We’ve still got around £9,500 of debt with 3 credit card companies but I’m sure we can come to some sort of agreement with the companies regarding the repayments. Although they wont be the minimum payments, certainly on one of them, I’m hoping that because we can up the amount whenever we want they’ll look favourably on it.
Do you think it is wise for us to start getting hassled by them (as this is what the DMP are saying is going to happen), and do you think it is actually worth us ‘going it alone’?
Also, we need to buy a car and are hoping to improve our credit score to get on on credit, is this also a good idea?
Thanks
Tommyh
p.s. I forgot to add that, as soon as we are debt free, we will concentrate on becoming mortgage free, so the sooner it's all paid off the better.

tda1301

HI there,
i did the smae thing as you, i was paying 65 fees a month to gregory pennington whilst they were manageing my debts. i had 6 companies to deal with and decided to to cancel the DMP and do it myself.

All of them accepted the same payment on the same terms - the best thing to say to your card companies is that you want to pay them slightly more every month and should you do that through the DMP you will be charged an extra fee to do so - so instead you can split the fee you usually pay to the DMP over the 3 companies, this is what worked for me.

ring the card companies first to sound them out and then cancel your DMP - you will always be told the risks and be told not to do it but at the end of the day they dont want you to stop using their service so they will tell you that!

Do it and get debt free quicker!

Tommyh

I'm with GP too actually. Don't have a problem with them but just think I can do better without them.
I thought about doing what you said regarding spreading the payment to them.
I think i'll grab the bull by the horn and do it.
Thanks forthe advice.

dlb

I was the same was with Bainst & Ernst for 3 years paying silly fees, i swapped to Payplan the free dmp company no hassels at all took a few weeks to sort out, creditors didnt even know until they got next payment via payplan.
If i had swapped earlier i would be debt free now, i paid over 2.5k in fees!!!
Swap over to one of the free companys Payplan or cccs and let them do the leg work and clear your debts faster.

dlb

Also the free companys have a good record of getting interest charges stopped wrote off...not guranteed but they deal with these creditors every day and have a good working relationship with them, also towards the end of your dmp plan the will try and get full and final offers sorted on your behalf.

Deep_In_Debt

Try Payplan or CCCS who do not charge for dmps, thus being debt free sooner. I'm with CCCS and have been for 3 years and all the creditors have still kept interest frozen.

Check out National Debtline Website for some good template letters you can use to send to your creditors if you decide to go it alone.

tracyhols

tda1301 wrote: »

HI there,
i did the smae thing as you, i was paying 65 fees a month to gregory pennington whilst they were manageing my debts. i had 6 companies to deal with and decided to to cancel the DMP and do it myself.

All of them accepted the same payment on the same terms - the best thing to say to your card companies is that you want to pay them slightly more every month and should you do that through the DMP you will be charged an extra fee to do so - so instead you can split the fee you usually pay to the DMP over the 3 companies, this is what worked for me.

ring the card companies first to sound them out and then cancel your DMP - you will always be told the risks and be told not to do it but at the end of the day they dont want you to stop using their service so they will tell you that!

Do it and get debt free quicker!

Hi, Great news you have cancel with Gregory Pennington and doing your financials yourself. How did you cancel with Gregory Pennington - did they try and charge you for leaving? What did you actually do to get away from GP?

I look forward to your reply.

Mowgli87

Hi,

I was in the same boat with Smooth Financial, I was paying them £40 a month to distribute my payments... 12 months down the line I found out that they hadnt made a single payment to two of the five creditors. Needless to say i wasnt very happy and cancelled immediatly.

It took me a while to come to agreements with my creditors myself, but all in all, I actually found them to be very helpful and understanding, AND because I am not pay the DMP fee, I cam give them more money every month.

I have been dealing with them myself for 12 months and I've had no problems (with the acception of a ferw 'forgotten' debts cropping up - but again, very helpful creditors or DCA's)

My advice would be to speak to your creditors and let them know what you are planning to do BEFORE you cancel with your debt management company and get everything in order/agree monthly payments first I actually find it very liberating to feel in control of paying my creditors myself.

Failing that, get in touch with one of the free debt charities or CAB, they dont charge a fee.

Tommyh

Hi all,
Since i posted this, i've pulled out of Gregory Pennington and am now 'going it alone'. As Mowgli87 said, it felt very invigorating and strangely, a bit of a relief knowing i'm in charge again. I've managed to increase each payment by a fair bit, which is obviously beneficial to both parties. One of the creditors even said I could pay a lesser amount off in three installments if i could afford it (thats something to look to in the future).
I appreciate all your help and comments as it helped me make a sensible decision (for once lol!)

Tixy

Thats great news Tommy.

If you do consider trying to go for a reduced full & final settlement as one of your creditors mentioned then its always worth getting in in writing first so they cannot start chasing you again at a later point - some useful info on here - http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=24_full_and_final_settlement_offers