Debt Arrangement Scheme Scotland - Share experiences?

Worried_Girl

Hi I am hoping to be approved on a joint DAS with my husband. We have decent incomes but around £59k unsecured debts. We have an appointment with an advisor (free) next week

Can anyone who is on one of these share their experiences? Would be good to know what it's like in reality and that we are not alone!

Thanks

Arwen

DAS changed on the 1st July, so it's now hard to say how it works in practice now.

It used to be that an approved Money Advisor oversaw your DPP for the length of term, however now the MA gives you advice, and everything is now done by DAS admin, including Forms replies from creditors etc etc. I am unsure if this is a bad or good thing-too early to tell yet.:D

You will need to take details of all your creditor letters/agreements, mortgage statements, bank statements, proof of income and expenditure to your interview. Once you have gone through the money advice process, the advisor will recommend solutions inc DAS.

If you agree that DAS is for you, then you will have your details submitted online by your MA. Your MA can check the progress of your case, but as far as I am aware doesn't take much of an active role anymore.

You make your payments to a payment distributor every month, your fisrt payment MUST be made within a month of your DPP being agreed. You must pay your payments every month on time, and cannot miss any more than 2 payments on your DPP, when the 3rd one falls due, then your payment will be revoked by the DAS admin. I know this sounds scary but you must make sure that it is set at a level you can afford. If there is a change in circumstances, you can vary your DPP.

Until the DPP is agreed, you may still get letters and phone calls from creditors.In fact you will.As DAS ADmin have now taken over the admin of DPP's, these may stop quicker than they did under the old system as they are now getting official letters from the Das Team in the Accountant in Bankruptcy. But be prepared for a barrage of calls till your plan is set up and agreed.

Most people find that the DPP is the best thing since sliced bread.If you pay your DPP every month,there shouldn't be any issues.Creditors cannot take enforcement action against you, and if they do start hassling you contact your local Trading Standards office. When the DPP is being paid,you may get the odd letter or two,but either ignore or contact Trading Standards.

I am not sure what happens at reviews now, or what info they require. It used to be that Money Advisors did them, and they sent out a form to sign asking if your circs had changed, and checking that your payments were made. Not sure whether DAS admin will be looking for extra evidence eg Bank Statements/payslips etc. Hopefully not.

DAS has been tightened up since the new rules,but IMO is still the best Debt Management tool,before going down any of the Insolvency routes eg Bankruptcy or Trust Deed.

Tbh as I said earlier, as long as your payments are made on time,you can get on with your life,knowing your debts are being repaid, and your creditors can't touch you.

Arwen

Oh forgot-on joint debts of £59k, you will need to pay about £600 a month between you to get it under 10 years.

Worried_Girl

Hi Arwen

Thanks for taking the time to post such an informative reply! I've read as much as possible about it and I really believe its the way for us to go. I did the debt remedy online with CCCS and it states we could be debt free in 2 years 5 months but the budget we are left to live on is very tight - around £700 per month for the two of us for all housekeeping, petrol, travel etc. I really want the budjet to be realistic - will we have any say in this?

PS Is it possible/advisable to go down the route of reclaiming bank and credit card charges once we are approved for DAS?

Any other stories of people in similar situations would be appreciated!

sarah1111

Hi There,

My experience is as follows:

I looked to start this process back in April, I had paid all creditors the Min monthly payment in April. I went to see my MA at the end of April and decided to go ahead with a DAS.

My MA was great, very helpful, and most importantly stopped me feeling so bad about my situation, and gave me the positivity I needed to get myself out of the situation I am in. My Debts were around 20K, I took all of my creditors details and sat down and put together a stament of affairs, all incomes and outgoings were looked at, and everything is organised to give you a true reflection of your disposable income. There is no point in being so strict you cant stick to your DAS but also, this is not time to be fanciful, you are in this situation for a reason and you can forget luxuries for a while (its not forever).

Anyhoo I digress, with all of the changes that came in to place on 1/7/11 my application for a DAS got delayed, and I should know by Tuesday if it has been approved, tho touch wood nobody so far has rejected it. I will keep you posted.

I hasn't been easy, as I stopped paying all creditors in May I have had the phone calls, the threats of baliff visits (even though these were empty threats as I had an intimation), the letters, the defaults etc. But you need to stay positive through this as there is nothing you can do till its processed. I will however suggest at this point that token payments to the creditors as it does stop the calls even if it is only for a week or two, this can be for as little as a £1, they just want to make sure you acknowledge the debt and aren't trying to pull a fast one.

I will be glad when everything is sorted, since the AiB have sent out the proposals to the creditors I have had no mail, or phone calls which has been bliss. I genuinely do want to start paying off my debts, the soonere the better. and with the DAS you will have yearly reviews with the AiB so if your income goes up or down then this can be addressed, which is one benefit, at the moment I am facing more towards the 10year mark, though I am hoping that I will be able to start paying more in when my children are at school and I am paying less on childcare so reduce my term.

Good luck with whatever you decide, but make sure you go down the FREE MA route, its not right that people make more money out of your situation, its not fair, though you may find you have a bit of a wait with the CAB or CCCS at they are dealing with a lot of people in a similar situation as yourself, but as I have proven it is not impossible.xxxx