newbie needs advice

candy999

Hi everyone,
I have been looking round this helpful site for a few days now,and hope i have posted this in the right place. I have finally started to deal with my debt problems and in the proccess of a DMP. I should be getting all the forms to fill in through the post in the next couple of days.I hav'nt contacted any of my creditors yet, i plan on doing that monday as i have a week off work and decided this would be a good time to get things sorted so i can concentrate more on my problem.
I am not sure which is the best way to do this , by phone or by letter. That is where i am a bit stuck, if i phone i think i will just get tongue-tied, so i think i prefer to write to them. I wondered if there was a way to inform them of my situation without going into a full blown essay of my embarrassing predicament ..
I plan to offer a token payment of £5.00 each as this is all i can really afford at this time.
A ny advice would be appreciated, thank you to anyone who can help. xx

loopy.magic

Hi

Welcome and congrtulations on taking the 1st step to dealing with your debt.

It all comes down to what kind of person you are and what you feel comfortable with. If you're going through one of the debt charities then they will have letter templates and other tools to help you calculate your income and outgoings in a clear way. When dealing with creditors you need 3 things:

1. The letter explaining your situation and an offer of a pro-rate payment or token payment if that's all you can afford
2. A financial statement, this will show all of your incom, outgoings, the creditors owed money and how much you can afford to pay each
3. Patience and nerve

Different creditors will respond differently to your letters, some will immediately accept your payments while others will send more forceful letters to try to make you pay up. Don't worry about these, in the end you can only pay them what you can afford, no company can force you to pay money you don't have.

Setting up the DMP and getting acceptance of it by all creditors will take several weeks probably, so be strong and follow the advice of the debt charity (I'm assuming you're using a charity). Who are you using for the DMP setup?

candy999

Thank you Loopy.Magic,Ii have gone with payplan, they were very nice and helpful on the phone. I have had 3 appointments so far on the phone with them. I am hoping my creditors will accept the dmp.They are all due for monthly payments about now, so i need to offer them something.Thanks for your response to my questions.

theoretica

At this point what you need to tell them is that you are seeking advice on your financial situation from the debt charity payplan, are sending them £5 token payment this month and you or payplan will be back in touch with a sustainable offer when you have worked out your finances in more detail.

They shouldn't want a full blown essay but if you have a few words of explanation you could include those (separation from partner/ redundancy / illness / living beyond your means).

Standingtall

Hi there. I knew I had seen links to templates for token payment letters somewhere and here is one;
http://www.debtquestions.co.uk/debt_forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=28181
Alternatively you could do your own search.
I am also with Payplan and they have been fantastic. Good luck

candy999

Thank you all for your replies.I will get all my letters written out and posted off tomorrow.I have looked at the link and was some good advice on sending recorded delivery, I never thought of that, but it makes sense.I am so glad i found this site as i have been under a lot of stress with the whole thing and so need to get things sorted. Thank you all again .....

candy999

Hello again,
Well i have just written out all my letters to my creditors, will post them off tomorrow.There are 5 altogether but it works out at about k14, I thought it was more like k10,but payplan worked it out at k14, i think it has to do with the interest. I will have to sit and look at it properly when i get 5 mins.
I started a holistics course today, my daughter had enrolled us both in it a few weeks ago. I must say it was just what the doctor ordered so feel more relaxed afterwards.Definately felt more like tackling things, so when i got back thats when i did my letter writing. Still waiting for payplans info to come through the post so i can get started on my DMP, hopefully they will all accept .... Thank you all again for the info..will do a SOA soon when i can get my head round it.:o

antonic

I`m with them !

started my DMP in Dec 2005 and due to finish Dec 2012, never had a problem with them and I do everything with them online, again with no problems.

I would recommend them to anyone.

candy999

Hi Antonic
Thanks for your reply, good to hear they have a good reputation. They do estimate 9 years to clear the debt, but as long as i stick to the budget and hopefully after xmas try and get a third job i can pay more off it. :jI have my main job which i used to get 30 hours a week but the last 12 months or so our hours have been cut. so i started doing avon which helps out and have now got a good customer base.If the hours dont improve at work i will have to look for another part time job to earn more money.I will have to check out ebay i think and see what i can find around the house to sell.:o:o