DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 8

Time_to_face_the_music

geelamch wrote: »

Just coming to the end of a 3year. Dmp 1payment left and as a bonus they phoned today to say that the final payment will be just under half the normal payment.
Dmp was for just under £14000 and the best thing I ever did,sleeping at night after years of worry ie postman,phone calls and doorstep calls.debts mostly my fault not wife,even though I earned more I closed all accounts ,got my salary paid into her account (she opened a new one)as she was more disciplined than me.i found throughout the dmp we actually felt we were living better,this was probably just piece of mind rather than financial.
My only regret is that We never knew of this site earlier and we opted for a fee paying dmp so we could probably have been clear 6 months ago ,however it is water under the bridge as they say.
I again urge all lurkers etc to follow the advice on these boards and go with the charitable institutions who are acting in your interest and not there own .
Please when your lbm hits you do it you can't believe the peace it will bring you (stupid arguments,depression,sleepless nights,) I hid my head in the sand for too long .
There is nothing embarrassing about anyone's situation as we eventually talked to friends and family about what we had done in the dmp and you will be amazed that most of your nearest and dearest are in the same position as you.
I wish you all the best ,so stand up and applaud yourselves for advice and making the right choices.

Well done and congratulations geelamch. My applause is for you and your inspiring post. :T

Good luck in your new debt free life

Grand_Benders

Congrats Geelamch on getting to the end of your DMP. :T

To anyone else new or considering a DMP, always go with the charitable organisations such as CCCS or Payplan rather than fee-paying companies.

And to the trolling advertiser 'dave the debt man' I've reported your post, which I'm pretty sure violates MSE Forum rules and is not in the spirit of MSE or in the interests of the users of this forum thread specifically.

Growurown

Grand_Benders wrote: »

And to the trolling advertiser 'dave the debt man' I've reported your post, which I'm pretty sure violates MSE Forum rules and is not in the spirit of MSE or in the interests of the users of this forum thread specifically.

Well said Grand Benders quite agree!

Allypops

TTFTM - sounds like going self-administered could be the way to go in order to put you back in control. With all the experience you've built up over the last 7 months and the FOS claims etc, you probably don't need the middleman anymore and you can always phone debtline for advice as and when you need it.

The decisions made by creditors just seem so random and non-sensical. "You need to pay us less, Mrs Allypops" ???!!! Can't wait to see the back of them! Only 51 more payments to go!

Growurown

Time_to_face_the_music wrote: »

We have been with CCCS for 7 months but things aren't going too well, 7 months into a 4 year DMP, most of our creditors are reintroducing full interest. Some creditors have told us they would be happy if we reduced their payment and they would stop interest again but CCCS can't/won't do this.

Sorry to hear this TTFTM. I have been very pleased with the service I have received from CCCS but I am aware that the more you are able to pay the more likely you are to be charged interest. I think there must be a process creditors follow to calculate whether they charge interest or not. We have two Halifax bank accounts both with overdrafts one for just over £2000 and one for £800. Charges and interest were stopped on on the smaller overdraft account but not on the larger one. When I queried this with the Halifax they told me that if I reduced the amount I was paying back on the larger overdraft it would take me under the threshold to stop the charges and interest. As you say this can't be done under the rules of a CCCS DMP.

However I know I shouldn't but I do bend the CCCS rules. I don't tell them about OH's overtime money and I have put by a fairly large amount for smoking each month although we don't smoke. This was a deliberate choice even though I know it pushes back our debt free date.

When you come up to your annual review could you up your expenses which reduces your CCCS payment, which then in turn takes you under this mysterious threshold creditors impose? You could put that money away to make F&F payments near the end of your DMP. Maybe this isn't the most honest approach to paying back your debts and not an option some would choose but it is a thought.

Time_to_face_the_music

Allypops wrote: »

The decisions made by creditors just seem so random and non-sensical. "You need to pay us less, Mrs Allypops" ???!!! Can't wait to see the back of them! Only 51 more payments to go!

We have had this from 2 creditors now. I know CCCS can't do it but it is so frustrating to see £85 interest added on a £150 payment and know if that payment was reduced to £130, there would be no interest added

Growurown wrote: »

Sorry to hear this TTFTM. I have been very pleased with the service I have received from CCCS but I am aware that the more you are able to pay the more likely you are to be charged interest. I think there must be a process creditors follow to calculate whether they charge interest or not. We have two Halifax bank accounts both with overdrafts one for just over £2000 and one for £800. Charges and interest were stopped on on the smaller overdraft account but not on the larger one. When I queried this with the Halifax they told me that if I reduced the amount I was paying back on the larger overdraft it would take me under the threshold to stop the charges and interest. As you say this can't be done under the rules of a CCCS DMP.

I think it is definitely related to size of debt/amount of payment. After 7 months, we are already above minimum payment on 3 debts and right on the border for 3 more. I have just managed to get a bit of breathing space on 2 of those 3 but once they start adding interest, we are looking at losing a third of our DMP payment to interest each month :mad:

Growurown wrote: »

However I know I shouldn't but I do bend the CCCS rules. I don't tell them about OH's overtime money and I have put by a fairly large amount for smoking each month although we don't smoke. This was a deliberate choice even though I know it pushes back our debt free date.

When you come up to your annual review could you up your expenses which reduces your CCCS payment, which then in turn takes you under this mysterious threshold creditors impose? You could put that money away to make F&F payments near the end of your DMP. Maybe this isn't the most honest approach to paying back your debts and not an option some would choose but it is a thought.

I wish we had done this and I am thinking of doing it now

artyfartyem

I am also worried about interest being added on... We have been able to clear some of the smaller debts which has meant the remaining 4 debts are getting much larger payments now. Saying that, Lloyds have written saying they accept our 'reduced' payment of 498 and interest is frozen still... The original repayment when we took the loan out was 360, so how does that make sense?

I have started saving up my money now instead of PADing so that when I have a lump large enough to pay everything off in one go I can. I just wish I had done this before because I am so worried about interest being added and putting me back to square one.

I totally agree with the other posters TTFTM, increase all your expenditure so you go beneath the minimum, and maybe save up the extra so you can pay off the DMP earlier?

On another note, has anyone tried those Ecoballs for washing? I've been reading up on them and they sound quite good, 150 washes without using any detergent or softener must be mse!!

Em x

artyfartyem

Oh and you can change your budget any time just by ringing CCCS, no need to wait for the review!!

Time_to_face_the_music

I tried Ecoballs a couple of years ago and they ended up thrown in the cupboard under the sink after a couple of washes. They just did not work on any stain, no matter how small, and they seemed to put odd marks on clothes where there had been no stain to start with.

Still thinking about the whole CCCS thing, my head is totally chockablocka at the moment. But the good news is I have just done spreadsheets for the month, having received CCCS statement and all bank/CC statements and our debt is now ......

Drum roll please .......

£68,560

So 8 months in and we have paid £12,746 off our debt. In reality this figure is much higher due to interest charges, fees etc but it still works out at £1593 per month :j

Now to work out how we can make sure every penny paid goes towards debts and get that monthly figure higher and the DFD sooner

katy_ann

geelamch wrote: »

Just coming to the end of a 3year. Dmp 1payment left and as a bonus they phoned today to say that the final payment will be just under half the normal payment.
Dmp was for just under £14000 and the best thing I ever did,sleeping at night after years of worry ie postman,phone calls and doorstep calls.debts mostly my fault not wife,even though I earned more I closed all accounts ,got my salary paid into her account (she opened a new one)as she was more disciplined than me.i found throughout the dmp we actually felt we were living better,this was probably just piece of mind rather than financial.
My only regret is that We never knew of this site earlier and we opted for a fee paying dmp so we could probably have been clear 6 months ago ,however it is water under the bridge as they say.
I again urge all lurkers etc to follow the advice on these boards and go with the charitable institutions who are acting in your interest and not there own .
Please when your lbm hits you do it you can't believe the peace it will bring you (stupid arguments,depression,sleepless nights,) I hid my head in the sand for too long .
There is nothing embarrassing about anyone's situation as we eventually talked to friends and family about what we had done in the dmp and you will be amazed that most of your nearest and dearest are in the same position as you.
I wish you all the best ,so stand up and applaud yourselves for advice and making the right choices.

Well done, brilliant news! :T I am just starting out and its very inspiring to read