DMP - Self administered or stay with CCCS??

dadooronronrondadooronron

Hello

I have recently set up DMP with CCCS - got good advice from here about it. I have nothing but praise for CCCS they have been full of advice, helpful - even when I have asked daft questions and things going smoothly.

However _ I am still getting letters and I feel as though keeping an eye on what is happening with CCCS is just another taske I need to deal with - also the payment date by 10th of each month is a bit arkward. I would prefer it to be taken 25th each month when all my other bills go out (that is only a minor niggle). If I am honest I like to do stuff myself _ I am not great at handing over to others - which is probably part of what got me in this situation in
first place:o

I am wondering what experience people have of doing their own DMP. I was thinking of just taking the figures from CCCS and continuing to offer same to creditors (most of them have accepted amounts so far). Would they be likely to look less favourably on me if I was doing own DMP? All suggestions and advice welcome.

Also - is there a letter anywhere on here that people send when doing their own DMP. Cheers. RON

saltnvinegar

Hi Ron

You've seen my LBM and subsequent self administered DMP thread so you know what my view on it is

What the CCCS does give you is a little bit more weight and credibility with your creditors as they will know the CCCS will have done their due diligence on checking if your financial situation is really as you say it is etc etc.

They also offer that free advice and support which for some people is a great help.

What have I found doing a self administered DMP:

Some creditors 'try it on' by asking you to fill in their own financial statement sheet which of course is biased towards them as in my experience these statements did not include all outgoings etc which made your surplus income look better which in turn would allow them to demand more money.

So you need to become familiar with something called the 'Common Financial Statement' which has a prescribed set of considerations when calculating debt payments. Creditors are meant to abide by this, and in fact the new debt collection guidelines that the OFT are currently consulting on mention it in much more depth and place more weight on creditors to accept it.

You may also be asked to provide more personal information than you feel comfortable with.

I know the mantra on this forum is to provide your creditors with nothing but I take a slightly more pragmatic approach, which is I know I am asking my creditors to freeze interest and charges, accept a lower payment, and ultimately although I'm not worried about going to court any more if that were to happen I would want to show that I have been reasonable trying to sort things out not be obstructive.

So my creditors are supplied with the CFS, a list of all my creditors and the pro rata payments they are getting (so they can see they are all being treated fairly) and also a copy of my payslip (with employment details blanked out).

This I think is sufficient information to be providing. The reason why I blank out my employer details is I'm not daft and am not going to give DCA's information from which they could then call my place of work and start hounding me there!!).

I also find that my accounts seem to do the debt collecting agency merri-go-round when they realise that they've bought a debt they have no realy hope of making a profit on in a short space of time so they then sell it on.

Good thing about this is its something else to show bad practice if things ever went to court (My Amex debt has passed to 3 different DCA's in 6 months).

With the recent Link/MBNA v Harrison judgement I think many creditor would have second thoughts about going to court if you were able to show a record of harrassment.

Saying that though the letters really do start to settle down after a while. Having recently got to the 6 month mark though a few creditors did try to get me to increase payments but I think thats just par for the course and just wrote back explaining nothings changed.

The only downside is you DO have to be COMPLETELY organised and keep on top of your paperwork and communication with your creditors. You must make sure you save everything, including your proof of postage.

What I have found is that most companies record keeping is completley pants, and if you can make yours better than theirs then it puts you in a powerful position.

If you are sloppy with your paperwork then you will find things more difficult.

Good luck whatever your decision!

Best

SnV