Baines and Ernst

mwillow

Hi im relatively new to this site and this is the first time ive written on a forum.

Yes im currently in the process of a DMP and ive spoken to Baines and Ernst and also Payplan! im struggling to know who to go with as i know b&e take a fee every mth and payplan dont but i also know you dont get anything for free. it was sold to me by b&e that they would make my situation a priority and the reason it would be a priority is because of the fee of between £35-£100 per mth they would receive from me and im worried that because i want the debt cleared as soon as possible, that if i go with payplan it will be the opposite because they work with no fee charge. I have debt of 21k and the most of it is from my divorce in 2009 for which im struggling to pay for now. i have both sets of paper work to send off to the DMP companies but would like some advice on who to go with. Ive been told i could have my debt cleared off with in 8 years by B&E but they also said i could go into a IVA which would clear my debt inside 5 years. i have never had poor credit or had issues with debt until my divorce. I would really appreciate if anyone could advise me asap.

Looking forward to your help and advice.

Oneday77

B&E are in it for the money not you.
Payplan are a charity and make money by taking your payment and then sending it to your creditors later in the month so gain interest. CCCS are also an option. What ever you do don't believe the B&E speil.
Many more people will confirm this.
£100 a month over 8 years is £9600 not paying off your debts.

mandyl

i hate b and e
i rang them once last year about a dmp.
they mentioned bankruptcy and at the time i didnt wish to do it. i told them it was because i didnt want to loose my bike, there answer well you will loose it anyway . they actually told me people would come and take my things away. was in a complete state and had to be calmed down by a lovely person at national debtline.
all they wanted was my money and didnt care if they terrified me in the process.
stay away from them is my advice . x

CH27

Stay away from B&E.

Look at the CCCS website.

worried1969

I agree with all above look at CCCS i would recommend them. Good luck

barbiedoll

Hi there. You've answered your own question yourself really. B&E will take a monthly fee, money which could be paid towards your debts, whereas Payplan won't, it's really as simple as that.

Don't listen to B&E telling you that you will be a "priority", they will do no more for you than any of the charity/free debt advisory services will. They CANNOT guarantee that any of your creditors will freeze the interest on your debts, no-one can guarantee that, no matter what they say. Please don't be swayed by their hard sell tactics, they do not have a magic wand, sadly.

But.... you will be hard pushed to find anyone on here who will recommend that you pay for someone to administer your DMP, you don't really get anything extra for your money in this case!

Sorting out your debts will be a hard slog at times, we can all tell you that for nothing. But you will find lots and lots of support and help on here and there is a lot of the legwork that you can do yourself for the price of a few stamps. Could you post up your SOA for a start? We can have a look and maybe help you to find ways to save a little money each month. If an IVA is the right solution for you, Payplan or one of the other free services will be able to help you with that. (CCCS and Christians against Poverty are two others who you may want to look at)

£100 per month is a shocking amount to pay for a DMP, just think how quickly that money would build up if you were paying it into a savings account, £1200 each year! That would go quite a way towards paying off your debts, why pay B&E when you could be paying your creditors?

Welcome to DFW by the way, and sorry to hear about your situation but there are lots of us on here with horrendous debts so you really aren't alone. It's scary at first but we have lots of letters that you can send to creditors, lots of advice for fending off the phone calls and letters. Keep your money for paying those who need paying, B&E don't need your money too.
Good luck!

On_My_Lonesome

Think of it this way B&E are getting a fee from you for each month you are paying your debts through them, so how is it in their interest financially for you to pay debt off quicker when the longer it takes the more money they make?

Go for one of the free ones and pay the money off your debt not lining someones pockets when you can get the same for free.

Good Luck getting all sorted.

wuzzypoo

Hi,

As everyone above has said, stay away from B&E. I went with them when I got into trouble with my debts, but at that time I didn't have the internet or know anything about the national debt line, payplan etc. Basically, when I was with B&E my creditors wouldn't stop the intrest as the fee you pay to B&E each month they class as money which should go to them to clear your debt, so companies don't like it when you go with a company who take a fee. I'm now with payplan and not having a fab time, but I know many on here have had no problems with them, so try them, or national debt line or as someone has suggested CCCS (I've not head of these but i do know a lot of folk on here have dealth with them with good results).

Basically, try any of the free ones, but so stay well away from B&E, please.

I hope you get sorted soon. Do keep on coming to this site and the forums as there are some great people who will help you, others who cannot help in one way but do offer so much help and support, and mainly, most of us have been in or are in a similar situation so we know just how you feel, so there is always someone to talk to, plus the fantastic added bonus of the the hints, idea's and deals people post is just great, and believe me, it's helped me in my life no end.

Best wishes.

Oneday77

I also forgot to add earlier on B&E will probably keep your 1st 2 months payments before anything goes to your creditors.
So say you were paying £220 a month ie. 21,000/96 months, they will cahrge you £440 up front and then take a monthly fee.

Tools you may want to look at OP are www.makesenseofcards.co.uk/soacalc.htm and www.makesenseofcards.co.uk/snowball.htm
You never know with a tidy SOA you could Snowball out of debt.

Alternatively I had a good time with www.cccs.co.uk I went self DMP after a while, out of choice rather than problems.