MBNA credit card & DMP help and advise please

bustyboo

Hi - sorry I have never used this before and not sure if I am posting on the right site etc.
My husband and I have previously looked on line at a DMP with CCCS and roughly filled in the forms on line but wanted to wait till the start of the tax year with review of benefits etc before going down this line. In the meantime I have received my MBNA statement showing my min payment has gone up by nearly £100 a month (debt of £8500) which we cant afford. I spoke to them yesterday and they offered phone number for a loan company or doing a DMP with them. We have a mortgage and bank account with Santander and a total debt excluding mortgage of £35000. What would be the best option. I regularly shop around for cheaper insurance, gas etc. Unfortunately or maybe fortunately we are unable to get any other credit. We only pay the min each month and its just so depressing to never see the balance going down.
If we do a DMP with CCCS are we better to change our bank account from Santander and put it with someone who we dont have any debt with? Also the DMP says we could be devt free in 4 years - would it be better as our mortgage is on a fixed rate to fix it for 5 years before the DMP so we know where we are and so it wont effect our changes of renewing our mortgage.
Sorry to ramble but we cant go on much longer like this. I know the debt is all our fault. Thanks

now

bustyboo wrote: »

Hi - sorry I have never used this before and not sure if I am posting on the right site etc.
My husband and I have previously looked on line at a DMP with CCCS and roughly filled in the forms on line but wanted to wait till the start of the tax year with review of benefits etc before going down this line. In the meantime I have received my MBNA statement showing my min payment has gone up by nearly £100 a month (debt of £8500) which we cant afford. I spoke to them yesterday and they offered phone number for a loan company or doing a DMP with them. We have a mortgage and bank account with Santander and a total debt excluding mortgage of £35000. What would be the best option. I regularly shop around for cheaper insurance, gas etc. Unfortunately or maybe fortunately we are unable to get any other credit. We only pay the min each month and its just so depressing to never see the balance going down.
If we do a DMP with CCCS are we better to change our bank account from Santander and put it with someone who we dont have any debt with? Also the DMP says we could be devt free in 4 years - would it be better as our mortgage is on a fixed rate to fix it for 5 years before the DMP so we know where we are and so it wont effect our changes of renewing our mortgage.
Sorry to ramble but we cant go on much longer like this. I know the debt is all our fault. Thanks

Please go and talk to one one the debt charities, it is not easy to take the first step to sorting out your money worries but after you have shared it with somebody who knows what they are talking about you will feel much better trust me

Please try not to worry as worrying changes nothing, they are not allowed to bully you and there are ways out of every situation in life.

I have been BR and have come out the other side a better and much stronger person, please do it today and sleep tonight. The most important thing is not to stick your head in a bucket and hope it will go away, it won't also please do not try and borrow more money to get you out of the situation as it will only make it worse. Check out the stickies on the BR board loads of great information can be found to help. REMEMBER YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE IN THE WORLD WITH MONEY ISSUES AND YOU WON'T BE THE LAST

TakingControl

You are not rambling at all

I would definately before making any other steps open a basic account like the Coop one and move funds and any payments into the account there as well as any DD for things such as mortgage etc to avoid off setting.

I started a DMP in 2009 with far more debts (and paying alone) and have managed to get it down to under £14000 now by rigerous budgeting and also help of a family member with a F&F. MBNA was my biggest debtor at over £14K and they were the first to stop interest and charges, never defaulted me (actually never even marked a late payment) and they accepted a F&F in February 2011 for only 55% of the outstanding debt

Speak to the CCCS or any other free advise and stay away of fee charging companies (I didn't find this forum until after I started mine with a fee charging one and I wasted near enough £2000 that I could have used on my debts).

Having your LBM is the most important step and you had yours.

Good luck on your journey :T

now

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1056083

Check out the information in this very useful link, and please go and seek help ASAP they will not judge you but they will help you sort out the best route to take try not to worry

dancingfairy

You should be able to opt out of the rate increase on the card I think. As long as you cancel the card you should be able to pay it off at the old interest rate - perhaps worth looking into.
No absolutely do not trust MBNA offering you a number for a loan - you don't need more debt/higher interest debt/debt for longer and I would advise against doing a dmp with them. You never know whether they will be 100% impartial and angling for more for themselves in the process or access to info. like whether you have a house or car or some other way they apply pressure to you.
Go for one of the debt charities like CCCS.
With regards to the house once you start defaulting on your debts it will affect your credit rating so I would have thought it will make it more difficult to get a good deal. If you can sort something out now for peace of mind that would probably be good. Whether you want to fix or go variable is an entirely personal choice as no-one knows what interest rates will do - it's highly likely they will rise in the next 4/5 years while you are on a dmp but how much and how fast is anybodys guess.
Best of luck
df

J_Tizzle

As has already been mentioned, do not let a creditor refer you to a DMP company as the chances are it will be one that charges for its services and will no doubt pay commission to your creditor for the referral. I almost got caught out like that but ended up going with the CCCS, who have been brilliant.

To agree with an earlier post, MBNA have been surprisingly good to deal with (once I had written to them to ask for the telephone calls to stop!) and agreed the DMP proposal straight away as well as freezing all interest/non-payment charges immediately.

Sparklyfairy

Hi there, MBNA were my worst (and largest) creditor. I think I made my mistake with them when I stopped paying while I looked into my CCA to see if it was enforceable or not - it was - and within a very short time they got a ccj & charging order on my house. Don't stress though as I have heard that loads of people have had great experiences with them like the poster above where they do stop interest & accept a dmp.

I also wanted to add that if you do decide to do a dmp - yes your credit will have loads of defaults, etc but please use a free one like the cccs or payplan - you can even organise one yourself. Read up on them as there's loads of info on this site (and others).

Also - as for them offering you a loan, I could be wrong but that is CLEARLY against the OFT's guidlines to offer you a loan if you're in financial hardship & that is very naughty of them if they know you are struggling with payments...perhaps keep that paperwork about the loan IF they get nasty with you & take you to court...I know I would if I had to go through all that again!

Hth - SF

J_Tizzle

Sparklyfairy wrote: »

Also - as for them offering you a loan, I could be wrong but that is CLEARLY against the OFT's guidlines to offer you a loan if you're in financial hardship & that is very naughty of them if they know you are struggling with payments...perhaps keep that paperwork about the loan IF they get nasty with you & take you to court...I know I would if I had to go through all that again!

Hth - SF

I was also offered a loan by MBNA but I refused it because, a) I didn't think it sounded like a sensible idea, and b) I had already started the DMP wheels in motion, and to be honest I trusted the CCCS much more than I did MBNA!

cymro77

I was on a DMP with MBNA via payplan but as of the last 16 months I have been self admininstrating it andf MBNA hav stopped all interest and charges. They accept a 50.00 per month payment on a debt that is now at 4000 and confirmed that they will not bother me as long as I pay each month. They can be reasoned with and try not to worry as I used to but it got me nowhere just very depressed. Do NOT accept their advise on a loan as prev stated. Go to CCCS or payplan for formal steps. Hope this helps.