DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 8

nicrobx4

Hopelessly_Hopeful wrote: »

Welcome

I suggest you go back to parts 6 and 7 and read through. You will see that everyone goes on a journey. Often rocky at the start but usually settles down, some people have odd blips here and there. The thing is for most people it is better than the alternative!

You can stop calls to either place. Send your letters recorded delivery, there's templates on here and and national debtline saying you only want to be contacted in writing, no phone calls anywhere or doorstep calling. Then if they do call either tell them you are on a DMP and give them your number or... ask them for their name and details and say you will be in touch. Then either complain to them or report them to FOS, easy. You do have rights - they just rely on you not knowing them!

Cheers guys

You no that, i'm about to have a nervous breakdown feeling, well i have it, and yes there is no alternative but OMG i feel like absolute hell._pale_
I'm so grateful for your support
Nic

sickasachip13

Hey Nic,

Just to add to the excellent advice you've had above....

Please try not to worry - for the vast majority of people it's not anywhere near as bad as you fear. Honestly. From your creditors we have Barclaycard and MBNA. We never received any calls from MBNA, just a couple of letters, Barclaycard I think rang a few times, but nothing awful and once the DMP was set up, it's all been quiet for 15 months :-) Btw, I did a short blog for CCCS about going on a DMP, google the info in my sig and you should find it.

Hopelessly_Hopeful

nicrobx4 wrote: »

Hopelessly_Hopeful wrote: »

Welcome

I suggest you go back to parts 6 and 7 and read through. You will see that everyone goes on a journey. Often rocky at the start but usually settles down, some people have odd blips here and there. The thing is for most people it is better than the alternative!

You can stop calls to either place. Send your letters recorded delivery, there's templates on here and and national debtline saying you only want to be contacted in writing, no phone calls anywhere or doorstep calling. Then if they do call either tell them you are on a DMP and give them your number or... ask them for their name and details and say you will be in touch. Then either complain to them or report them to FOS, easy. You do have rights - they just rely on you not knowing them!

Cheers guys

You no that, i'm about to have a nervous breakdown feeling, well i have it, and yes there is no alternative but OMG i feel like absolute hell._pale_
I'm so grateful for your support
Nic

You will be fine, we all look out for each other. If you are worried there are 2 top tips of best advice I can give you.

1) be specific about what is worrying you. EG threat of door step callers or getting bank card refused in tescos, that way other posters can help you with specific advice. Someone will have likely gone through it before, trust me.

2) invest the nervous energy into planning. Get all the cupboards, clothes and food etc cleaned out so you know what you have. Amazing how quick we forget. Plan budgets throughout the year, menu plan etc. Planning means you get so much more out of your budget. You soon learn it's the just popping into here and there that can cost more than your weekly shop.


I've become a good cook since being on a DMP. And life after...... oh my am I going to enjoy the benefits rather than paying interest to the Preditors.

It gets easier. Especially as everyone's cutting back, no one need know if you don't want them to.

I got so much from just spending a few days going through two whole threads. It was like 6 months of learning in one weekend. I couldn't have done that without the generosity of other posters sharing their experiences.

You have done the hardest bits, your other half knows, you have made a start and found this place. Despite the rocky stuff it will start to get better before you know it.
HHx

tinkerbell12

Hi All,

4 years since we had our LBM and DMP has been going swimmingly for most of that time. We still have 2 years left on our plan but things have recently become hard so I have decided to come here for some support....

Card got declined today buying petrol - end of January is the hardest time of the year financially for us as we both get paid before Xmas. Obviously we have budgeted etc etc but we missed one DD that was yet to go out this month and found ourselves stuck in a garage with no means of payment. After a panicked phonecall to a family member and MUCH embarrassment all round, it was sorted but of course now the family member is asking questions. We have never disclosed out DMP to anyone although family know money is very tight.

I just wish I could wave the magic wand and sort the remaining debt we have - we have a few expensive months coming up with a wedding and DD's birthday so I feel as though we are going to be struggling for the time being. I know we aren't spending on CC's so I should feel good about that.

I know no-one can provide an answer but I just needed to rant to someone!!

Good luck to those starting out on DMPs - it really is the right thing to do.

NaughtySpot

nicrobx4 wrote: »

Hi all,
I'm a little worried about how the next few months are about to pan out.
I'm sat with my husband going over our DMP which we are in the process of setting up with CCCS. After going over this thread we've noticed that some of you have had more problems with creditors than others and we're worried that we're doing the wrong thing.
We have two kids 20 and 23 and cant bear the thought of constant phone calls and calls to work etc...
Our debts are with
Santander OD 3,000 CC 4,000 Unsecured loan 7,000
M&S CC 5,500
Barclaycard CC 7,500 & CC 1,800
Virgin 1,000

Any thoughts on how these will react
Just in the process of opening a new account with the nationwide
Thanks in advance
Nik & Mark :0(

Hi
The creditors we have in common are Santander (approx £10k on CC) and Virgin (another £10k CC, this is MBNA).
To put your mind at rest we have not had one phone call off anyone (also owe Natwest and Sainsburys). MBNA wrote to us really quickly saying they had accepted the DMP and I had an arrears notice from Santander so I phoned them to check they had accepted it and they had, and were perfectly polite to me.
All I can add is speak to the CCCS about your concerns, I probably spoke to them five or six times last month about various worries, and they calmed me down about them all.
What I have learnt is that it is only money, and if you don't have it you can't give it. After all, RBS amongst others didn't manage their debt well so what can they do to me?!? This last three months has really toughened me up about money, and TBH if they did phone me I wouldn't be bothered really. I am doing my best and paying what I can, they can wait for their money...
HTH

NaughtySpot

Hopelessly_Hopeful wrote: »

nicrobx4 wrote: »

You will be fine, we all look out for each other. If you are worried there are 2 top tips of best advice I can give you.

1) be specific about what is worrying you. EG threat of door step callers or getting bank card refused in tescos, that way other posters can help you with specific advice. Someone will have likely gone through it before, trust me.

2) invest the nervous energy into planning. Get all the cupboards, clothes and food etc cleaned out so you know what you have. Amazing how quick we forget. Plan budgets throughout the year, menu plan etc. Planning means you get so much more out of your budget. You soon learn it's the just popping into here and there that can cost more than your weekly shop.


I've become a good cook since being on a DMP. And life after...... oh my am I going to enjoy the benefits rather than paying interest to the Preditors.

It gets easier. Especially as everyone's cutting back, no one need know if you don't want them to.

I got so much from just spending a few days going through two whole threads. It was like 6 months of learning in one weekend. I couldn't have done that without the generosity of other posters sharing their experiences.

You have done the hardest bits, your other half knows, you have made a start and found this place. Despite the rocky stuff it will start to get better before you know it.
HHx

I agree with all of this, HH speaks sense! I find being proactive really helps me get things straight in my head, but I appreciate everyone is different.

Hopelessly_Hopeful

tinkerbell12 wrote: »

Hi All,

4 years since we had our LBM and DMP has been going swimmingly for most of that time. We still have 2 years left on our plan but things have recently become hard so I have decided to come here for some support....

Card got declined today buying petrol - end of January is the hardest time of the year financially for us as we both get paid before Xmas. Obviously we have budgeted etc etc but we missed one DD that was yet to go out this month and found ourselves stuck in a garage with no means of payment. After a panicked phonecall to a family member and MUCH embarrassment all round, it was sorted but of course now the family member is asking questions. We have never disclosed out DMP to anyone although family know money is very tight.

I just wish I could wave the magic wand and sort the remaining debt we have - we have a few expensive months coming up with a wedding and DD's birthday so I feel as though we are going to be struggling for the time being. I know we aren't spending on CC's so I should feel good about that.

I know no-one can provide an answer but I just needed to rant to someone!!

Good luck to those starting out on DMPs - it really is the right thing to do.

Hi Tinkerbell.

You've done really well. Must be starting to feel that you are on the homeward stretch now. I don't think there are many people, DMP or not that don't struggle in January so please don't beat yourself up.

Can you tell folks you decided not to rely on credit cards but you just got caught out and will be back on track next month. Not like you have done it before with the sounds of things?

Have you reinterogated the budget? Done the obvious things like put energy consumption into Uswitch? Looked at house and car insurance? Try raiding freezer and cupboards. I find the food budget is one place you can dip into if you need to make headway elsewhere. Bless jacket potatoes and rice pudding from the slow cooker. Not at the same time obviously !

HHx

BlushingRose

Wannabefree1 wrote: »

I'd be inclined to write to the central customer services centre and complain and also demand the account is closed wittin 3 working days of receipt. We wrote to lloyds and they closed the account on the day they opened the letter.

Recorded is ok, not too expensive at all. However special delivery is the one to avoid!!

Sounds like you branch may not know what they are doing

I must admit, I don;t get it. The woman in charge of the accounts rang about the first letter, told us what she needed from the new letter and we wrote it and marked it for attention, and yet still nothing.

BlushingRose

Also - forgot to mention, yesterday the boiler decided to stop working.
We've tried everything we can to get it back up but nothing, so we've got a man coming out this morning to look at it. We pay a monthly fee to British Gas which means they'll come out and fix it for free, so here's hoping they can do that, and soon *shivers*

Ellieseleven

sickasachip13 wrote: »

Haha, you and me both JC!

We've had the same letter telling us that MBNA have sold both our CC debts to that company - I think they're better known by Moorgate(??) My MBNA debt is our biggest, by a long way, so I'm hoping for a smooth ride.

MBNA must be having a clear out!

Ha Ha! We got two of these on Saturday - they must definately be having a clear out:)