I'm taking the plunge...

redrach

and calling Pay Plan tonight to try and get on a DMP. I have struggled the past 2 years to try and clear debts but things seem to be getting harder each month and I now have £30 to last me 2 weeks to payday.

My question is, when I call them tonight, should I have information of my lenders/amounts owing ready or is the first call more of an informal chat? I want to be prepared.

Also, what happens after that call, do I meet with anyone or is it all sorted via telephone?

Thanks in advance

mrsdwhite

Hi,
I'm sure someone with a bit more experience will be along soon to help a bit more.
I just set up a DMP with CCCS, which is similar to PayPlan. I did mine online though it can also be done by phone. It is quite straight forward really. You will need a list of expenditure and income to complete a budget with them. You'll need to be as accurate as possible.
They will send some paperwork out to you which you fill in and send some bits to them regarding your income and creditors.
I don't thinkthere should be any meetings, there certainly wasn't for myself or DH.

dancingfairy

I imagine that they are quite busy and that they will probably take your details and send you an info pack and make an appointment for you at some point to have a proper in depth discussion to go over all the figures - I could be wrong though and obviously if you are able to get some figures together then that would probably be an idea even if you only have rough figures to hand to start with - you can always get back to them with the final figures before you set everything in motion.
Have you been to the website makesenseof cards - google for the SOA calculator on there - it will give you loads of ideas for budget categories and I would imagine Payplan's categories are likely to be similar.
Best of Luck
df

annecheryl

You are doing absolutely the right thing. The banks were greedy and gave us more credit than we could handle, then turned nasty when we couldn't meet our commitments. we went the debt management route and found that we had a policy that could be used for a full and final settlement. We encashed this and our agent haggled with the banks, so that we are now debt free. Our credit rating is in shreds, but so what? We don't want any more credit! Admittedly, it took some time and the good old Halifax were obdurate in getting their pound of flesh, being the only company that refused to settle for less than the full amount. That said, the terrible insecurity is behind us now, and we have had a lovely holiday on the cheap. Good luck, redrach. Don't forget that there is no overnight fix, but from when you contact a reputable DMC there is light at the end of the tunnel. 5 months after, we had reached the glorious light at the end of said tunnel!
PS All was done over the telephone. Just make sure that your company is above board, or use the government free one (we used Debt Free Direct and they passed us on to Lawrence Charlton for the full and final settlement). The first advice was: stop paying your creditors and refer them to your representative at the company. This is a bit unsettling, but you are told what to say to creditors on the telephone. I cannot emphasise enough how worthwhile the whole process was! Go for it!

annecheryl

You should certainly have your incomings and outgoings ready, so that the person you speak to has some idea of what he/ she is dealing with. Later, you will have to get exact quotes from your creditors, and after that your appointed rep will deal with the companies you have debts with. Anything you want to know or be supported with, email me at: