Some info please

Carolck1

Hey everyone
Just wanted to ask a quick question, a friend of mine is in a debt management plan with harringotn brooks she has been paying in it for 4 years and has been told it will be a further 12 years before her debt is cleared she is gutted as they hadnt frozen the interest and taking a shocking fee of almost half of what she is paying, can she cancel it and just do it on her own or is she going to get hit with charges, she got a copy of her credit report and doesnt think its as bad as it could be and feels taht if she contacts them individually then perhaps she could come to arrangemtn would this be an option, any advice would be gretly appreciated.
Thanks again:j

Tixy

Yep. Please suggest to her she cancels it - she probably has to give written notice.

Then she could either contact one of the debt charities as they will run a DMP for her for free, no charges taken out of her monthly payment or she could do a self-managed DMP herself, making arrangements with her creditors herself. If she does this its best to follow the main DMP principles, to make all offers in writing, to give all creditors a fair pro-rata split of the total she can afford (split it based on the outstanding balances) and to never take on any more credit whilst in a DMP.

Even if she decides to deal with it herself it might be useful to get advice from CCCS as they will provide her with template letters she can use to negotiate with creditors.

IMPORTANT - Where to seek professional impartial advice about your debts.

Carolck1

Thank you Tixy, do you think she will get charged for coming out of it though think that is the main concern technically in my opinion the debt should have been practically paid by now with what she was paying monthly. Also, if she does do this will she have to pay what the default amount is on her credit report or can she negotiate with them.
Thanks againxxx

Tixy

No, they shouldn't charge a fee to cancel. That said be careful about when she pays them and when she cancels compared to when they pay creditors. You want to try to make sure she doesn't give them the option to swipe the last months payment if you can.

Once she comes out of it I would write to each creditor for a statement of account, so she can see the latest balance and whether they are still charging interest. Ask HB for a statement of all the payments they have made as well (they won't like giving it but she should ask).
For any creditors still charging interest she should ask them to reconsider freezing charges and interest - there are some templates about that we can recommend to her.

Carolck1

cool will get her too do that tixy thanks again she is desperate to get it cleared so she is hoping that they will let her pay the actual amount owed and not the default amount. thanks again

Carolck1

Oh and another quickie she seeing as her she has been in the plan for 4 years does that mean that the 6 years is almost up or is it 6 months from the end of the plan. Thanks