DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 8

BevieB

cleokat wrote: »

Thanks HH. I think I'll be worse off because when I put the total amounts owed on my barclaycard and my Halifax card CCCS automatically calculated the minimum payments and didn't let me put the totals i actually pay in. I currently pay barclaycard £195 per month but CCCS put it down at £245 and with Halifax I pay them £96 per month and CCCS have it at £171!! Will this get resolved as I get further into the paperwork?

On the plus side, they reckon that if all creditors dropped their interest charges I'd be debt free in 2 yrs 8 months!! If only that would happen!

Thanks for your help x

Hi, I dont want to sound negitive but as your repayments will be a lot higher that min payment I would be suprised if the Halifax will reduce interest. Our payment is under the min payment and the best they will do for us if reduce to 12% pa.
Good luck though.

gizmo111

cleokat wrote: »

Thanks HH. I think I'll be worse off because when I put the total amounts owed on my barclaycard and my Halifax card CCCS automatically calculated the minimum payments and didn't let me put the totals i actually pay in. I currently pay barclaycard £195 per month but CCCS put it down at £245 and with Halifax I pay them £96 per month and CCCS have it at £171!! Will this get resolved as I get further into the paperwork?

On the plus side, they reckon that if all creditors dropped their interest charges I'd be debt free in 2 yrs 8 months!! If only that would happen!

Thanks for your help x

Their debt remedy just works out an minimum payment of around 3%, this is not what you would pay on a DMP they will distribute your surplus pro rata. Have you done a robust budget on the CCCS website as part of the debt remedy tool?

cleokat

Oh no! That doesn't sound good!!! Hopefully I can get something sorted with CCCS or it seems silly me even starting the process. I'll be in debt forever :-( feel damned if I do and damned if I don't at the moment!

cleokat

gizmo111 wrote: »

Their debt remedy just works out an minimum payment of around 3%, this is not what you would pay on a DMP they will distribute your surplus pro rata. Have you done a robust budget on the CCCS website as part of the debt remedy tool?

Hi yes I've done the budget on the website but it will probably need tweaking a bit as a couple of my figures were estimates. I just feel like I'm in a giant fog. Can't wait to get going with everything and start getting things paid off.

Giraffeseeker

Hi, posted this elsewhere but I think there may be more expertise on this thread...

I have been on a DMP since January (first payment in Feb) and my biggest debt is with HSPF - a loan on a stupid interest rate. They have not responded to letters from me or from CCCS but have been accepting the payment each month and have not been bothering me at all.

On 6th July they sent a letter saying I needed to pay £1193.45 by 27th July OR they would take further action.

They then state if I do not pay this they will instruct a debt collection agency to collect in full. They say the amount is as follows:
Outstanding Balance under agreement: £19837.93
Less rebate allowable on future installments: £6551.00
Total amount to be paid: £13,323.00

I ignored this letter as (a) I am in a DMP and paying regularly around £150 a month (half the contractual payments) and (b) the letter arrived the day before the funeral of a very close friend.

However, looking at it now, their figures above to not add up AT ALL! £19837.93 - £6551.00 = £13,286.93. How can I take a finance company seriously that cannot use a simple calculator!

Since then I have had a letter from Albion Collections Ltd simply stating "Amount you Owe £19831.03 - pay NOW". A different figure yet again! And no mention of any "rebate allowable on future installments"?

I have missed a couple of calls from these guys on my mobile too (this worries me a bit as I don't want any calls at work, and they will have on file where I work).

I refuse to get stressed about this as life is too short, it was a silly decision to take the loan out 2 years ago (to clear c.cards that I then ran up again) and I will pay it back in my own time - actually my DMP redirects money to this loan each time a smaller debt is repayed and they will actually end up being paid off at least 6 months earlier than the contracted duration of the loan as by the last year of my DMP I will be paying them DOUBLE their contracted payments.

But for now I am now wondering what to do next - any advice? Should I send Albion a "in writing only" letter? Should I ask why there are discrepecies in the amounts?

And is it usual to suddenly get DCA letters 6 months into a DMP? I've also today missed a call on my landline from a number registered to Arden Credit Management who I think are connected to MBNA - another one of my creditors - and I find it odd that two DCA's are suddenly interested in me after 6 months of paying my DMP regularly (and at a reasonably healthy amount I think, I pay £650 for a debt of just under £40K)


Many thanks

ben80

tintingirl - Albion are a thinly veiled collections department from Halifax, they're not separate, even though they claim to be. They even use the same font and layout as Halifax credit card statements and expect people not to notice. I would send an "In writing or I'll go to the ombudsman because you're hassling me" letter, though it might do no good. Save the number on your phone and ignore them. In 2 1/2 years with me, they just kept sending letters.

Growurown

tintingirl wrote: »

my biggest debt is with HSPF - a loan on a stupid interest rate. They have not responded to letters from me or from CCCS but have been accepting the payment each month and have not been bothering me at all.

On 6th July they sent a letter saying I needed to pay £1193.45 by 27th July OR they would take further action.

They then state if I do not pay this they will instruct a debt collection agency to collect in full.

But for now I am now wondering what to do next - any advice? Should I send Albion a "in writing only" letter? Should I ask why there are discrepecies in the amounts?

And is it usual to suddenly get DCA letters 6 months into a DMP

We got letters from DCA's 6 months into our DMP and we had been paying regularly. I had assumed that creditors would be happy with reduced amounts if they were paid regularly which would mean eventually they would get all their money back. I'm not sure why they would sell my debts on because my understanding is they make a loss when they do this although they do get a lump sum now rather than small regular payments over the next however many years it is going to take to pay it back.

I haven't had any problems with the DCA's they have all accepted the payments offered on our DMP. I would telephone them and ask about the discrepancies in the amounts and discuss your options with them, basically find out what they want from you. They know you can't pay back what they are asking, I think they are just trying it on.

Bettingmad

I haven't posted here recently however I check the board daily. I have been on a DMP for 15 months now and I have to say it is going along quite smoothly now. There have been little ups and downs along the way, expenses that perhaps weren't expected but you do get through with the support of your DMP.

To those starting their journey, it is entirely natural to feel guilty about your circumstances, especially if you have children. It can be easy to feel you have let them down, but remember by going along this path you are going to give yourselves a far better futire long term.

It gets easier when you change your mindset towards the baning sharks. What focussed my mind and made me stronger was to think about the tactics the banks use to keep you as a slave for their profits.

For 18 years I had a perfect credit record and had never missed a payment. I had struggled for years to keep meeting minimum payments. What do the sharks do when they see you only making minimums? They think it is fun to increase the interest on your payments time and time again. They see us as their cash cows. My LBM was a combination of MBNA ramping up their minimum payments and a firm of solicitors who were threatening Court action.

On top of that I was under pressure at work to comply with an enhanced vetting status. The stress at this time was unbelieveable. I feared that I would lose my current position in my employment.

Well one year on I am comfortably settled into my DMP, having no contact from my creditors and having passed my vetting due to being open and honest about my situation. In short I have been able to sleep again.

The thought of what may happen is far worse than what does actually happen when on a DMP.

Remember it's the banks that haven't helped our position all they saw was huge profits form our borrowing. Well the tables are turned now and I don't care about my credit record. I am going to be debt free and enjoy my life without being a slave to the financial institutions.

To all those embarking upon the journey, stay strong, seek advice and stop worrying about electronic credit records.

Hopelessly_Hopeful

Good thinking and well put Betting Mad. Glad that things are going well for you.

HHx

getdebtfree

Bettingmad wrote: »

I haven't posted here recently however I check the board daily. I have been on a DMP for 15 months now and I have to say it is going along quite smoothly now. There have been little ups and downs along the way, expenses that perhaps weren't expected but you do get through with the support of your DMP.

To those starting their journey, it is entirely natural to feel guilty about your circumstances, especially if you have children. It can be easy to feel you have let them down, but remember by going along this path you are going to give yourselves a far better futire long term.

It gets easier when you change your mindset towards the baning sharks. What focussed my mind and made me stronger was to think about the tactics the banks use to keep you as a slave for their profits.

For 18 years I had a perfect credit record and had never missed a payment. I had struggled for years to keep meeting minimum payments. What do the sharks do when they see you only making minimums? They think it is fun to increase the interest on your payments time and time again. They see us as their cash cows. My LBM was a combination of MBNA ramping up their minimum payments and a firm of solicitors who were threatening Court action.

On top of that I was under pressure at work to comply with an enhanced vetting status. The stress at this time was unbelieveable. I feared that I would lose my current position in my employment.

Well one year on I am comfortably settled into my DMP, having no contact from my creditors and having passed my vetting due to being open and honest about my situation. In short I have been able to sleep again.

The thought of what may happen is far worse than what does actually happen when on a DMP.

Remember it's the banks that haven't helped our position all they saw was huge profits form our borrowing. Well the tables are turned now and I don't care about my credit record. I am going to be debt free and enjoy my life without being a slave to the financial institutions.

To all those embarking upon the journey, stay strong, seek advice and stop worrying about electronic credit records.

Thanks

Thats a really nice post, one to put me at ease a little.

Marcus