DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 8

Hopelessly_Hopeful

emmiloam wrote: »

Hi Fraggle

Well done on clearing so much so quickly. :T

We're in a very similar situation to you and I think we started around the same time (I remember your name from when I started). Like you, we've now decided to go on our own, and all 4 of our creditors have been absolutely fantastic agreeing to everything we asked for.

When we started out on our DMP journey with CCCS we were told it would take approximately 13 years to clear our debt. So far it's been just over 3 and I reckon we'll have the rest cleared in less than a year.

The CCCS have been brilliant all the way through our DMP, but we've decided to take it over ourselves so that we can clear the smaller ones quickly and plough the extra money in to the next one (just like snowballing).

Anyway, fingers crossed for you (and everyone else) that the rest of your journey is as sucessful, and best wishes for your wedding.

E
x

Well done on your progress

Sorry to sound thick but I am not clear what you are going to be doing differently to CCCS?

HHx

lemoncheesecake

thanks for the advice.

We have been getting statements from the credit card every month but stupidly we haven't paif too much attention to them as they accepted our payment.

Does LP on our credit file mean late payment - why are they marking it late???

I'm going to ring them and get a proper breakdown of the interest rates for thr lats 3 years and then write to them. It's definitely 6.5% now - for some reason the last 2 mths have been set at this and hoping it willcontinue. Will HSBC give us this sort of info over the phone?

I'll keep you all updated!

freedomfromdebt_2

Time_to_face_the_music wrote: »

Hi FFD :wave:

Where do you live? Would you class yourself as being on a low income? Do you receive any benefits or have anyone disabled living in your home?

Sorry for all the questions but there are grants available for essential work, though they all seem dependent on your location and circumstances.

Thanks for your suggestions- much appreciated. I live in Bristol but none of the things you mentioned apply to me. To be honest I'm not sure there is an answer to this problem but I thought it would be worth posting for any ideas I might not have thought of.

Time_to_face_the_music

lemoncheesecake wrote: »

thanks for the advice.

We have been getting statements from the credit card every month but stupidly we haven't paif too much attention to them as they accepted our payment.

Does LP on our credit file mean late payment - why are they marking it late???

I'm going to ring them and get a proper breakdown of the interest rates for thr lats 3 years and then write to them. It's definitely 6.5% now - for some reason the last 2 mths have been set at this and hoping it willcontinue. Will HSBC give us this sort of info over the phone?

I'll keep you all updated!

I would be hoping for zero rate now and a refund of the last 3 years interest, my advice would be to make a complaint and start making noises about contacting the FOS. It's got to be worth a try as any refund could make a big difference to you.

Marbles mark us as LP, late payment, every month. We have told them that the CCCS payment is due on the 25th but they insist it must be paid by the 23rd. They won't change the payment date without charging us a fee so it looks like it will be late until the end of the DMP.

Time_to_face_the_music

freedomfromdebt wrote: »

Thanks for your suggestions- much appreciated. I live in Bristol but none of the things you mentioned apply to me. To be honest I'm not sure there is an answer to this problem but I thought it would be worth posting for any ideas I might not have thought of.

The only other thing I can think of is trying to barter some of the work via a scheme like LETS or Swap a Skill.

Do you have anything you could offer in return for the work? OH and I have been thinking about this for some work we need doing on our house but it's minor compared to yours. It may be worth taking a look at these schemes.

sickasachip13

Hey all,
Just thought I'd share something I noticed for the first time on a letters from Barclays today. In among their usual irrelevant drivvel is the following paragraph:

"If you are experiencing financial difficulties you need to arrange an Income and Expenditure Report from an independent third party...CAB, CCCS or a Debt Management Company of your choice, together with a revised offer of payment.

Once we receive these details we'll be happy to review your offer. Please note we can only accept reduced payment plans for customers in financial difficulties through a debt management company"

So, they seem to be saying that unless you go through some robbing git of a company, or a recognised independent third party organisation - CAB/ CCCS, they won't play ball on reduced payment plans.

I've never seen that statement in their letters before. It's crap. And it will push more people into panic mode and into the hands of the unscrupulous fee-charging companies.

SAAC

Jubilee76

Hi all

Been lurking for a while but always read this thread as it really does help to keep me inspired. 5 years into my DMP and I have made quite a bit of headway though some way to go.

Does anyone else find it is the little milestones that keep you going like dropping the debt into another 1,000 or paying off one of your creditors? :j Next month I will have paid another one in full so only leaving 8 left (started with 10).

It's interesting to read the threads on managing your own. I am with CCCS and when I started in 2007 I didn't know about this site so they were my security blanket during a very difficult time if that doesn't sound too strange :rotfl:. They were the only ones who knew my secret though now family and close friends do know. I think I have fallen into the "it's all going well, don't rock the boat" thinking but as I say the posts above have definitely given me food for thought.

Jubilee

freedomfromdebt_2

Time_to_face_the_music wrote: »

The only other thing I can think of is trying to barter some of the work via a scheme like LETS or Swap a Skill.

Do you have anything you could offer in return for the work? OH and I have been thinking about this for some work we need doing on our house but it's minor compared to yours. It may be worth taking a look at these schemes.

Thanks. Now that's an idea I hadn't thought of. May not be any good for roof repairs but certainly will look into it for other minor repairs that need doing. I have also realised that I am due a one off payment next year in April that will be around 4k and therefore enough to cover repairs. On this basis I may be able to approach family for a loan that I can then repay when this money comes through. Haven't approached them to date a I knew I couldn't repay and as yet they are completely unaware of my financial mess. There may be some light at the end of the tunnnel

Tigsmom

Hello, Just a quick update. Feeling a lot better about our situation now. Went into Nationwide and finalised our new account. Just waiting for details now then I can start ringing around to transfer our direct debits. Letters to creditors are written and signed ready to post once the new account up and running. It's a bit too late to redirect our wages this month unfortunately so will have to start that next month. It is going to be a bit of a challege to switch from one to the other without missing a payment but I will check the accounts daily and then cancel each direct debit once it has been paid. Fingers crossed for it all to go smoothly and hope our creditors will agree to it all. Bought a cash box, accounts book and money envelopes yesterday. No idea what to do with them but I'm about to learn! Looked at our budget and have worked out how much needs to be put aside for things like hairdressers, dentist etc. In the past we have just paid out for them either drawing money out or putting them on whichever card fell out of our pocket first without checking if we actually had the money. From now on if there isn't money in the kitty for it we won't be buying it until there is.

Growurown

Tigsmom wrote: »

Hello, Just a quick update. Feeling a lot better about our situation now.

See - told you it would get better:D

Tigsmom wrote: »

From now on if there isn't money in the kitty for it we won't be buying it until there is.

Now you are getting into the MSE spirit:money:

Seriously though it is nice to see you happier and more positive. Don't forget you aren't alone in this. We've all been through this process and lived to tell the tale. So keep up the good work:T