Possible DMP ... advice??

spendy

Hi again all ... can't tell you how invaluable this site is and of course the people in it.

I've finally come to terms with the fact that I'm in some serious debt trouble and am seeking help.

I have contacted CCCS and waiting for my appointment.

There is a strong possibility that I may have to do a DMP, but I've read so many horror stories regarding massive lump sums at the end and lots of interest, charges, etc.

I've currently got debts with barclays, tesco finance and sainsburys. Can anyone tell me a bit about their experiences? Are these financial institutions usually willing to go along with DMP?

Also, a common trend with DMP's seems to be that the banks one day will wake up and decide to unfreeze interest and backcharge you. Is there something you get in writing saying they will freeze (whether it be for the full duration or a limited time)?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as I'm pretty terrified at the moment.

Thanks much
Spendy

eyeopener2

The vast majority of DMPs are fine and i'm not sure where you have got the horror story info from because it's news to me.

Banks may freeze interest, they may not. Some of mine have, two haven't and each case/bank seems to treat people differently. If you can't pay your minimums then a DMP maybe for you.

Speak to CCCS about your concerns, they are great (or have been with me).

Deep_In_Debt

Firstly, Welcome.

Secondly, I only have experience of Sainsbury's. They were a problem at first but soon passed my debt on to their in house collections, Blair Oliver Scott, who were ok to deal with once the dmp was in place.

I don't know about "backcharging" but yes, they may unfreeze interest as they are not legally obliged to freeze interest in the first place. In this instance, I'd let CCCS know and ask them the write to them again...if that fails, you can write yourself. National Debtline website has some good template letters you could use for this purpose.

You can ask the creditors to write to you to confirm they will freeze interest...when I started my dmp, most creditors wrote to me as a matter of course anyway to let me know what was happening and whether they were accepting my dmp etc.

I've been on a dmp with CCCS since 2008 and not heard of massive lump sums.

For what it's worth, all but one of my creditors have kept interest frozen since 2008 and the one that hasn't only started last year and it's a small amount of interest because I have increased my repayments to them and now close to paying the minimum amount that I should be paying if I wasn't on a dmp.

sickasachip13

Hi Spendy

I just wanted to echo what the others said really. I've never heard any horror stories like the ones you have and I've been on a DMP for a year now. For me it was an absolute life-saver. All our creditors (19 of them!) have frozen interest or, in the case of two, they have reduced to a nominal amount. They've been fine to deal with overall, a couple of glitches but nothing serious.

I'm with CCCS and they asked me to do a short blog about my experiences of debt and dmp - if you want to read them then the info to look them up is in my signature.

Best of luck - you're doing the right thing by seeking expert and free, impartial advice.

sickasachip13

Hey Spendy, just wondered how you were getting on?

SAAC

SkintButHappy

Ive just gone on a DMP with ccs, so far so good b ut its early days

Deep_In_Debt

SkintButHappy wrote: »

Ive just gone on a DMP with ccs, so far so good b ut its early days

Hi SBH

Bear with it...it's a bit of a roller coaster for the first few months but ride the storm and does get better...honestly.

As I mentioned, I'm nearly 4 years into mine (only a year to go - yay!) and the first few months were a bit hairy. Keep posting on here if you need support and you'll soon learn how to deal with the endless barrage of threats and hot air the various creditors and DCA's spout for the first few months and then it becomes a walk in the park after that and things will just tick along nicely.

Good luck.