Really need help - DMP advice

Chella2

Hi everyone, I have been reading this forum for a long while, but only just had the guts to post. I have 2 young children, before i got married and had kids, me and my partner where bad with money, we racked up debts and we then got a huge mortgage and now we are in negative equity. We are stuck. We were fine but then my husband got made redundnant and now earns half of what he used to in his new job. We have had to take drastic action and I got in touch with the Citizens Advice Bureau who recommended we contacted Payplan. Natwest (one of our creditors) also recommended we contacted Payplan as well, so we did.

Anyway, this month now we are not going to be able to afford our debts. We can pay the bills but the loans and credit cards cant be paid, and Payplan so far have been good and are arranging that we pay them what we can afford each month into the plan and then they pay our creditors. Ok so what I am scared off is being taken to court and bailiffs standing on my doorstep. I am so ashamed that we were reckless with money if I could rewind the clock me and my husband would NEVER have done what we did and we would have never bnought a house either. We have totally messed up and I am now a worryign wreck and I am scared of what is going to happen. Payplan say they are going to try and ask the creditors to freeze the interest but its not guaranteed. That frightens me as it means we will never be debt free. We cant do an IVA they have looked into it and for various reasons its not suitable for us. The only other thing is bankruptcy but that frightens me even more, we would lose our home and I would lose my job as I cant do my job as a bankrupt.

I just want things to be ok - nowadays I am so much better with money and think before I spend but back then in my late teens/early 20's I didnt think.

Has anyone had experience with Payplan? Has it worked for you? Will I end up with people knocking on my door demanding money? I dont want that for my children, they are only preschool age, I am so worried. Thanks for listening.

Tixy

Hi

A lot of people on here do use Payplan for a DMP.
Whilst its bever guaranteed that creditors will freeze interest when you go on a DMP many will when they see you are paying all you can afford. Some might freeze it straight away and some after a few months. Sometimes creditors won't agree to it and in those cases it can be frustrating but you can keep sending letters to ask them to or sometimes you just have to wait until the debt is sold on to a debt collection agency who will usually freeze interest.

It is possible a creditor could take you to court (although its not hat common on a DMP). If this happens then you would ask to pay in installments and a judge would assess what you can afford (often the same as the DMP payment that creditor was getting). If you keep up with those repayments then bailiffs would not be appointed.

The only other people who might come to the door are doorstop collection agents - these are not bailiffs and have no rights to enter your property. They are not common but if a creditor or debt collector does say they will be sending an agent there is a template you can send to stop such visits.

Good luck on your DMP, most people who enter one with a charity or Payplan usually say that after a couple of months it was the best decision they made.

Chella2

Thank you so much for your advice Tixy, I am hoping so much that it all works out