DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 8

ianmak

Ss3kjp wrote: »

Considering a dmp with cccs but need advice on a couple of points
I have applied for a dmp with cccs, they are currently sending me paperwork to sign. Our debts are 31000 in Credit cards overdrafts and loan. I'm still not 100% sure it is the best option because of the following:

We are currently only paying a small amount of interest on 1 of our outstanding credit cards, and our overdrafts, all the rest are 0%.
Our credit rating is not that bad as we usually make all of our minimum payments.
If we take on dmp companies may start charging us interest that currently don't. This is a worry as one of our batclaycards is 9000 currently on 0% we don't want to have to pay interest on that. Is it therefore silly to take a dmp and make our credit rating worse when we are meeting our minimum payments?

Also one of our loans that we have met all of our payments on for 5yrs is ending in august, so it seems silly to default on this when it's not actually necessary to.

Additionally my husband is an actuary, and is concerned this may affect his promotion chances.

I am currently on smp in my cccs budget, in sept I will have no salary for 3 months, then I will go back to work and be on more money. Should we wait and do dmp after I go back to work?

THE REASON WE WANT THE DMP is to help us budget, so we know an end date to our debt, because my husband is struggling to get a new 0% to transfer one card as he has so much debt in his name, and to start paying off our overdrafts which we have just ignored since we left university and have lived within.

Is their a better option than taking a dmp? Should we keep paying minimum payments and try to negotiate intest on our overdrafts. So we don't get bad credit rating.

I'm really concerned about the amount of ppl who cccs hasn't managed to freeze interest for. We will be worse off if that is the case for us.

Please advise me, I'm happy to give more info.

If you feel like you can cope with your debt, have you tried posting an SOA on a thread? People can then post back suggesting any possible cutbacks. You don't need a DMP to learn how to budget, though it can help!

I think a DMP shows you another world to that of debt, and it is an extreme option (and one that I feel I had to take) - when I started I had a 20 year DFD! But obv some lucky ones are in a better position. I've realised above all, what I can live without, and everything I spent on in the past.... rubbish I guess, with nothing to show for it.

If you feel you can cope with a bit of budget restructuring, then stick with it, but beware of getting into more debt! With a DMP at least there is an end to the debt, however far away.

dfwsometimesoon

:wave: hey all although i am registered as newbie.... i do have other acc but scared of being caught out by other half re debts as he has no idea not really sure what i expect him to do mind you just scared of disappointing ..... circumstances (my hrs at work being cut and oh being made redundant and having to take much much lesser paid job) mean really have no choice and have finally bit the (biggggggg) bullet and admitted defeat..

35k in debts (6 cc, 4 loans, 2 catalogues :eek:) spoke with payplan, cccs and national debtline yesterday... all extremely helpful and non judgemental ...... think will go with payplan the lady (albeit she was american!! nothing against americans of course... i just didnt expect the accent.... ) was soooooooo helpful and really seemed to know what she was talking about, guy i spoke to from cccs seemed very bored lol am sure he yawned a few times!! anyway my main concerns at the moment are....

phone calls!?!?!?!? i have not as yet missed any payments to any creditors and am soooooo scared of cancelling direct debits incase calls start... i have today ordered BT call accept or refuse... so when any calls start i shall just start blocking numbers .... fingers crossed this works !! have also drafted up a letter outlining the situation and requesting correspondence by mail only... in my head i have visions of the phone ringing non stop day and night is this a true perception??

payplan also advised me yesterday to cancel all direct debits relating to the debts :eek: i have no debt with my current bank or their associates therefore have no need to change accounts etc... so scared of doing this tho have chickened out and will pay dds as normal for the rest of this month.... the rational part of me says this is silly however the wimp in me says will do it next month are creditors less likely to kick up a fuss if there is no break in payments prior to receiving the dmp letter and payment??

Deep down i know this is the best step forward .. have never ever missed a payment on anything before tho and feels like a huge step in the opposite direction..... yet at the same time feel like a hugeeeee weight has been lifted and there is light at the end of the tunnel... reading so many inspiration posts on here regarding others personal experiences is a huge boost so thankyou all xx i can only look forward to the day i can be posting the same

trainergirl

I've had another letter from MBNA (Virgin CC) to whom I owe £2733. They've accepted the offer from CCCS of £42.67 per month and have agreed to stop interest and charges - good stuff! So glad that my first response has been so positive!

One down - six to go!

The letter also says that they will register a default with credit reference agencies - is this a good or a bad thing??

gizmo111

trainergirl wrote: »

I've had another letter from MBNA (Virgin CC) to whom I owe £2733. They've accepted the offer from CCCS of £42.67 per month and have agreed to stop interest and charges - good stuff! So glad that my first response has been so positive!

One down - six to go!

The letter also says that they will register a default with credit reference agencies - is this a good or a bad thing??

Good - the sooner registered the quicker it will go x

Time_to_face_the_music

trainergirl wrote: »

I've had another letter from MBNA (Virgin CC) to whom I owe £2733. They've accepted the offer from CCCS of £42.67 per month and have agreed to stop interest and charges - good stuff! So glad that my first response has been so positive!

One down - six to go!

The letter also says that they will register a default with credit reference agencies - is this a good or a bad thing??

Excellent news. Here's hoping the other six are as helpful :T

Re the default, if you ever want credit again, it's a good thing as the faster they default you, the quicker they will come off your credit record. Our credit days are done so they can default us to kingdom come and back again and we won't care :rotfl:

Hopelessly_Hopeful

Agree entirely re defaults. One of the challenges is that defaut starts ticking straight away, another creditor may just mark your file to the end as 'arrangement to pay' AP or similar and the clock then doesnt starting ticking until that debt finishes often end of DMP. So if DMP 7 years plus 6 years to straighten record thats 13 years :0

HHx

2spicy

We had not missed any payments when we started our DMP ... after a few months of making the minimum and paying just "a little more" we worked out we would infact be paying our current debts for over 25 years so really it was (in our eyes) the only way out.
As Mr Spicy's job would terminate if we went down the Bankrupcy route, or the IVA route, the DMP was one only option we had left.

Our total debts exc. Mortgage was around £70k, so, we both spoke to Payplan and decided to take control.

We discussed things as a couple and decided we couldnt offer our creditors the £1 that we were told to send them, so instead drafted out an appologetic letter and included a Postal order for £25 to each creditor.

We continued this for the first 3 months, until the DMP was setup and running. We recieved calls, morning noon and night, but, as we had kicked things off, quickly adopted the "we donot have it, so you cannot have it" approach.
When we were contacted we told the agents that we could not pay our creditors this month because we needed to feed / cloth our children... the excuses went on and it turned into a polite baiting game.

Eventually, the DMP was setup, Egg Defaulted us immediatly and this debt was sold on within 6 months. The other 7 creditors we have all accepted the repayments (which were "engineered" to be just slightly more than the minimum payments on all the cards / loans).

Initially, the debt total was slow to move, but ever month we tracked the repayments on a spreadsheet.. total paid versus outstanding balance.. and without the added interest, we began to see movment.

After 12 months, we increased our repayments to all creditors and, using the annual summary of accounts, we amended the total balances and plod on.

I have said this numberous times ... its a "Game" .. you can work it in your favour. you donot have to live like a church mouse... there are allowances for haircuts / pets / dental etc and you should take as much out as you are permitted. Use this to make like a little more bearable.. put it away for Birthdays or Christmas (or car repairs) .. that way the creditors get their money, you show commitment and even if its a £5 bottle of wine once a month, you get to remind yourself your not a bad person and shouldnt be punnished.

Now, half was though, we are on the return journey now ... 3 years ish to go, 2 if we are lucky.

Growurown

2spicy wrote: »

Now, half was though, we are on the return journey now ... 3 years ish to go, 2 if we are lucky.

Well done 2spicy:T

The DMP road can be rocky sometimes but as you say it is a 'game' and those creditors try all the dirty tricks under the sun but once you learn how to play it isn't as bad as it all seems when you first start out:)

925pws

Hello everyone

Haven't been on in a few days. Got the word, am out of a job in a month or so. Forms were sent off to CCCS but no word yet. It'll only be set up before it will have to be renewed.

I'm just too exhausted to care any more to be honest. I am proud to be dealing with this mess and I will pay back every single penny owed.

Thanks for all the support on this thread.

Newchapter

Hi

I'm new to this site. Started a dmp April 2011, using Payplan but they have scared me quite a bit last week by suggesting an IVA, not that I currently have any equity in my house, but I expect I will have in 5 years time at the expected end of the IVA. I am going to see a private financial advisor who has really helped a friend of mine significantly reduce her debts and am thinking of moving my DMP from Payplan to them. They have also suggersted I am paying too much into the DMP and not leaving enough to live on. I was interested to read you have chosen to no longer use CCCS and self manage. Is it better?
thanks