Going it alone....

tlc123_2

Hi all

So in a nutshell, I'm up to my eyeballs in debt but have always been able to make payments. Circs have changed and although I can pretty muh pay them I ave nothing left, even for food most of the time. So as much as I don't want to ruin my credit rating I think it's shot anyway. After much thought I finally called paylan, who have said they can help.

My issue is that my husband and I have three joint debts and he doesn't want to be affected by the DMP. He's in full support of me, but wants to keep his credit rating good as we have a mortgage and the fixed term is up soon so we need to be able to re mortgage.

Essentially paylan have said they can only take all of my debts or none as they can't be seen to prioritise some debts over others. So we're going to try and get my name taken off the joint loans and go with Payplan or go it alone.

I just wondered what people's experiences are? The thought of going on a DMP scares the life out of me, but I really want to be pro active and feel like I'm taking control of my life and my debts, rather than letting them control me.

What are people's thoughts on the right way to go?

Apologies for the long msg!

T x

Tixy

Hi

For a lot of people going on a DMP works out very well and is a huge relief to them and their finances.

Even if you get your name taken off the joint loans presumably the mortgage is in both your names? if so you will be financially associated and when you get defaults (which you almost certainly will on a DMP), this will affect husband's ability to get credit and will make it hard for you to remortgage (well you'll probably be unlikely to get the the best APRS on the market and if you wanted to switch from your current providers SVR may find you have to look at subprime mortgages not the high street banks).

tlc123_2

Thanks Tixy
I realise that we're financially linked and i have explained this to my hubby - unfortunately he's a bit closed minded with it, and as much as he's supportive he won't put his name to it. We've discussed the mortgage and will most likely stick with our current company as we figure to change product rather than re mortgage will be easier for us.
Its a balancing process for me at the moment - keeping up appearances or actually being able to sleep at night and stop the premature ageing process!

Issuma

Morning tlc
We've been self managing our own DMP for about 8 months now, we have large debts and our situation deteriorated after my husband was taken ill in December 2009 then couldn't return to work until June 2010 (wasn't getting paid during this time).

I have been very honest with all our creditors, I sent them all full Statement of Affairs listing all our income and outgoings - CCCS did help me with this, plus a full list of all our creditors with outstanding balances and pro rata payments so each creditor can see that they are all being treated fairly.

I have to be honest most of our creditors have been ok with us they haven't frozen the interest but they have reduced it, I think a lot of it is about being determined and being able to hold your nerve, you will get creditors refusing your offers but you have to stand firm and repeat what you can afford and don't let anyone bully you into paying more plus I only communicate in writing then I've always got evidence and confirmation of all the discussions and what we've agreed.

Until you send your letters you've no idea what response your going to get but nothing ventured nothing gained !!!!

Good luck with whatever you decide to do you will get some wonderful advice and guidance on this forum............keep us posted !!!

tlc123_2

Thank you,I think I have to do it myself, but it's so daunting, it's really hard to know where to start, how to get organised etc. Im hoping to get more advice on where to get started.

Thanks for your reply,I guess it's about being assertive and holding firm

Issuma

Being new to this forum I'm probably not the best person to give you advice however this is what I did.

Firstly I completed the Debt Remedy tool on the CCCS website within that there is an Income & Expenditure sheet to complete and a list of all your creditors where you list the outstanding balances that you owe to each then basically whatever money you have left after all your priority debts and essential items are paid that is the amount that is available to pay your creditors on a pro rata basis - it is important that this is worked out correctly so all your creditors can see they are all being treated fairly.

Then I went on the National Debtline website where they have some very good template letters - I modified one of the letters which I then sent to all our creditors with a copy of the Income & Expenditure sheet plus the list showing all our creditors and the outstanding balances owed to each and then sent all the letters recorded delivery - if you don't do your letters on a pc make sure you keep copies, then I just had to wait for the replies and surprisingly they were positive, my creditors have agreed to the reduced payments, thay haven't stopped the interest but they have reduced it so I can see the balances coming down now. Non of our creditors have our phone number (changing it was one of the best things we did) and I only communicate with them in writing not because I want to be difficult but so I have copies of everything that has been proposed and agreed.

The hardest part for me was facing the facts of putting the figures down on paper and adding them up - that was very scary :eek: but you just have to take a deep breath and go for it, once you've done this you do get a sense of relief and it is a good feeling to know that you are dealing with the problem rather than just hoping it will go away.

Hope this will be of some help to you I'm sure some far more experienced peeps will be along to help you out.

Hannah_10

If your husband is going to be stubborn about it and you know he's plain not going to change then your option, as you know, is to go it alone. He's being selfish, it's not "your" debt and "his" debt, it's a joint mortgage, a marriage and linked finances, so for all practical purposes it's both of yours problem. *sigh* But I have a hardheaded partner too and I know what it's like when you know nothing short of a cricket bat to the head will shake his mindset.

I can't see the lenders taking you off the joint loans no way no how. Still though, you can ask. The reason I don't think they will is they have no incentive to. From thier point of view they don't know that you aren't really about to cricket bat the annoying git and that you wont be eating her Majesties finest porridge for the next 10 years as a result, if you're in prison you are really, really hard to recover repayments from! More realistically you could, as far as they know, have the row of all rows and decide to divorce. Lets say you did divorce (for examples sakes only of course) then they'd have to chase someone for the repayments. Who though? Why only chase one when you can chase 2? What if he left the country, ran off to Peru for a new life? They'd be stuffed, unless of course your name was still on that loan. It offers double the chance of getting a pay out to keep you both on there, so they're not going to want to take you off. Can't do any harm to ask though, just don't get your hopes so high that a knockback hurts you.

If you go it alone, I suggest...
1. Start with a SOA (post it here to get our help too)
2. Your SOA will show you what income you have left to repay with, lets say you have £xxx a month.
3. You take your £xxx a month and divide it fairly, this means if you owe Capital One 26.5% of your total debt, they get 26.5% of your total repayment.
4. You send them all letters (National Debtline have a template) saying something to the tune of I am in financial trouble, I am undertaking a self managed debt management plan and will now be offering you repayments of £xx per month by standing order (standing order is safe, direct debit and card payments aren't). Read this.
5. Some will accept. Some wont. Set the SOA's up anyway. To cut a long explaination short- they refuse because they are greedy, but if you send it anyway they can't send it back, as long as you are paying something (even £1 a month) you are safe from any nasty court action.
6. If for any reason you can't get an SOA set up send cheques or postal orders signed for every month.
7. Make sure you're banking somewhere safe.

There is one other wildcard option, which Payplan wont have thought of. Well actually I say wildcard, it's quite normal actually, it just sounded good. It's called snowballing, and if your husband is still keeping his head above water it's possible you might be able to go for this instead, it's a lot less bother than a DMP. If we see your SOA we can tell you if it'll suit. If so we'll explain it then.