DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 8

Time_to_face_the_music

Madgirl wrote: »

Hi there

I have been lurking for the last couple of weeks.

After following this thread, I decided to bite the bullet and call StepChange last week and have just received my DMP paperwork through which I will complete over the weekend.

I have already sent letters to my creditors so am anxiously waiting to see what happens, and have an appointment with another bank to open a basic bank account tomorrow.

I have to say that, despite being nervous of the awaited reaction from my creditors, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted already. I guess the first step is the hardest eh?

It seems like there is a lot of support and help on this Forum, which I'm sure I'll need as the DMP starts.

Anyway nice to meet you all!

Madgirl x

Hi Madgirl and welcome :hello:

The first steps are definitely the most difficult. I found I was terrified of cancelling all my DDs and the thought of changing bank after more than 20 years was petrifying.

The first few weeks can be a little bit rocky but from about 6 weeks in, we felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from our shoulders. We could sleep, laugh and start to live our lives again.

It really is like a new fresh start and suddenly there is light at the end of the tunnel when before you could see no end to your debt.

It's super to have you out of lurkdom so stick around now and ask anything you need to know. Someone here is always willing to help

Time_to_face_the_music

Prowler1973 wrote: »

Hi again all.
Just a note my first payment has been accepted by most of creditors with interest stopped. My BH has an account with Halifax and we do not know if thet have accepted. We are going to wait for a statement. Is that normal to not know about Halifax and not knowing if payment terms accepted?

Some creditors never sent us any sort of acceptance but they took the payment and a few even stopped interest :j

I wouldn't worry too much about it but keep a careful eye on your statements to check if the Halifax have stopped interest. If not, write and complain and if you need help with any template letters, just ask

Time_to_face_the_music

fifitrixiejane wrote: »

I hope everyone is well? I see there are some newbies here, I'll have to catch up later as I'm getting ready for work now..

Everything sorted with Stepchange now, direct debit set up things are going in the right direction. Most of my creditors have written to me now accepting the payments offer and freezing the interest, so that's good. Only problem is, I got paid yesterday and although I spoke to my employer about switching bank accounts, they still paid it into the wrong bank account.. Not the most brilliant move..! I knew it was going to well!!

Feeling so much better though now..

My employer did that to me too but they had actually changed my salary over, yet they managed to pay my expenses into my old bank account!

Have you managed to transfer the money to your new account? And made sure your employer gets it right next month?

Am very happy everything is going well apart from this

RonniesMummy wrote: »

Hiya all,
I am getting a few phone calls recently, from opos ltd, a DCA, along with the threatening emails, I have told them three times now I am on a dmp and they don't seem to listen, its so frustrating, especially when on their website they advise to go to step change if you are in debt, which is what I have done. These companies really cause so much more stress than what is necessary!

Hope everyone is well, nice to see more people going onto a DMP and taking control, I feel so much better already and I hope you lot do too!

x

I have noticed how many new people we have here too. I think it's the time of the year because I arrived here in January last year and got the most amazing help and support.

Am glad everything is starting to fall into place. Ignore the DCA and if they get too much, send them a harrassment letter and tell them contact by letter only. It really is ironic that they do this despite their website advice!

Time_to_face_the_music

patator wrote: »

Hey everyone,

I've finally got on with it; I have my DMP stuff through from StepChange, I just need to print, sign, gather the evidence and send it back. They've been so helpful; even with the dyslexia and the neurological nonsense that causes cognitive problems I've found them so much easier to deal with! I was going to set something up with Payplan, but I lost all confidence in them...but I'm feeling better today knowing that I'm almost there with getting this set up.

The bit I'm a tad freaked out about is the cancelling the direct debits...I know that must sound quite mad, but I haven't actually missed any payments (yet), I've managed to scrape together to keep up to date somehow...so cancelling the direct debits is scaring me like crazy! But with the sudden thousands of debt that I didn't even now about that's suddenly dropped out of the sky and is now hanging round my neck, I know there's no way I can keep up all of the payments...so I guess being pro-active and doing it myself is definitely better than having a DD returned + bank charges and all that malarkey.

Did anyone else end up feeling relieved and SO much better one day, then in a total panic the next while setting up a DMP? I feel I'm going totally doolalley.

I think that feeling of elation and then panic is pretty typical. I found the start a real emotional rollercoaster and I have heard many other people say the same thing.

I was just saying in another post that I was terrified of cancelling my DDs, so you are definitely not alone with that one!

Stick with it, it does get a lot easier quickly

Time_to_face_the_music

anxious2 wrote: »

Hi all!

This is my first post to this site, despite having lurked for several years. I just want to say that this is the nicest, most supportive thread I have come across on here, I hope you don't mind me joining you

A bit of backstory: I had my first credit card at the age of 18 - I have spent my entire adult life in debt (I'm now 30). My husband's story is similar, and we have several joint debts as well as individual ones. I suppose that's one positive of this whole sorry mess - at least we're in it together! There are many reasons why we are at this point, but it basically comes down to being completely irresponsible

I had my LBM at the start of this week. We were having yet another discussion about how we are going to cope from April, as our tax credits are due to go down and we will no longer have enough to cover the bills. OH was talking about moving money from here and there etc and I just thought: I cannot live like this anymore!! It is SUCH hard work juggling bills like this, and living on a knife edge. I feel totally drained, and there is no sign of it ever getting better. So we had a long chat, and both agreed that things need to change. Last night, we sat down at the computer, and went through Step Change's Debt Remedy. I felt worse by the end of it, but I guess it has to get worse before it gets better! It turns out that we actually owe slightly less than I thought, although our situation is pretty awful all the same.

The outcome of it all was that an IVA was recommended. I feel in my gut that this is not for us. It is so formal and restrictive, I feel like it would increase the worry rather than relieve it. Plus, there is a possibility that I will be made redundant at the end of 2014, so we really need a plan with a degree of flexibility. A DMP seems to be the logical way forward, so we submitted all our info, and are now at the point where we need to start sending statements etc. And now, if it's okay, I have questions!

1. As I mentioned, our tax credits are due to go down in April. Currently, we receive £320 every 4 weeks (2 children), as I earned less in the previous tax year due to maternity leave. As a rough estimate, the new award will be around £120-ish every 4 weeks. When I filled in the Debt Remedy, I used the new amount. However, Step Change need me to send my award notice in, which obviously shows the higher amount. What will happen in this case? It seems a bit silly setting up the DMP, and then having to drop the payment by £200 after the first month.

2. OH gets paid 4-weekly, as do tax credits/child benefit. However, Step Change have re-calculated this over 12 months, meaning that our monthly disposable amount works out at £150 more than it does in real life. This wouldn't be an issue if we had the 13th 'spare' wage/payment saved, but we won't actually receive this 'extra' money until the end of the year. Will Step Change allow us to pay a lower monthly payment until we can include this extra money in our budget?

3. We have no emergency fund. At all. And my car already needs £300 of work doing from the mot advisories! Will it be at all possible for us to wait to start the DMP until April? Would need to be April as I get paid on 15th of the month, so to give us a free month, Step Change would have to collect the direct debit from my March wages, and I understand they only collect on 1st-10th of the month.

OH is VERY uncomfortable with that last one. The ironic thing is, we have always been pretty good with money - no late payments, no overdraft etc., and so to just cancel the direct debits without paying any proper amounts for a couple of months is horrifying!

I can't tell you how amazing it feels to get this all out (although I'm sure you all know!). My brain is going a mile a minute at the moment, and I burst into tears when the Step Change ad came on the TV earlier! Our debt-free date is estimated to be in 7 years 9 months, and I am so, so determined to bring this down, redundancy or not.

Thank you so much for any advice you can give. I apologise for rambling on so much, I will try to keep it shorter next time! I am looking forward to getting through this with all of you, just reading the posts make me feel that I am not alone

Hi anxious and welcome :hello:

My honest advice would be to delay the set up of the DMP until April when everything is settled with your benefits. In the meantime, you can make token payments to your creditors and save for an emergency fund or even save to pay off a small debt if that is a possibility.

Paying 3 months token payments also may have the advantage that your creditors may default you more quickly. If you save the rest of the money and are strict about this, it also gives you a chance to practice your new busget.

You can choose how much you pay as a token, some people send £1, some a little more. If you have debts with your own bank, make sure your money is protected in a new bank account before you start this.

When you do set up the DMP, make sure you are clear with StepChange about the 4 weekly payment or you may find yourself with less money that you think in your budget.

No rambling at all. Perfectly good and valid questions and if you need to know anything else or just want some advice or support, someone here will always help you

Time_to_face_the_music

toots1607 wrote: »

Hi

Havent been here lately, DMP tickty along nicely apart from Dec payment to SC which was not taken due to error. Hard work not spending at xmas though , had to keep so I could do 2 payments in January.

I have a wuestion hopefully someone will be abale to help me.

I have an Overdraft with LLoyds(hardwork)TSB they froze the intest from when I started my DMP until now which is about 2 years ago. They are now saying that they cannot freeze interest but I can ring every month and get it cancelled over the phone. I have been told that if I want it frozen I have to cancel it which means going face to face with someone in my bank which to be honest does not appeal to me and I know most of them. So I asked if they could cancel it over phone as I increased it over the internet and they said no. I wrote to them asked if it was possible to do in writing and again NO. So I wrote a letter of complaint and have received a replying saying:

"Unfortunately,we are unable to freeze interest on your account at this time. Moving forward, you can discuss this with our collections and recoveries centre. And they enclosed a "Getting on top of your finances" booklet for me. Also at the bottom of the letter they said "I trust I've explained the reasons for our decision" well to be honest no.

would love to hear from anyone with any advice.

Thanks for reading this.

Lloyds TSB are the bank that likes to confuse us! I have had at least one letter from them every day this week and none of them say the same thing.

Do you still have access to an online account with Lloyds TSB? I do and have found I get great service by making an online complaint each time. This seems to get you a personal complaint handler who gives you an access code to speak to them each time you have an issue. If you don't have access to this, let me know and I will find a good telephone number they gave me recently.

If you get no joy with Lloyds TSB, you can always take your complaint to the FOS

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm

Time_to_face_the_music

Mossop01 wrote: »

Hiya we have recently set up our dmp through stepchange, our first payment is due on 1st march, i have set letters to all creditors and currently making token payments, starting to feel a little freaked out now the letters are flooding in, some days im really positive and others im terrified, im sure the guilt will start to ease once my creditors start to get iffy about the token payments. Its going to be a long hard slog (7 yrs 2 months) but worth it in the end, i keep reading everyones posts and its so encouraging to know that we are not alone, im going to try to do a signature about my debt but being a technophobe this might take me a while!

Hi Mossop and welcome :hello:

The first few weeks are a bit rough but it all soon setttles down once the creditors realise they are getting paid by StepChange.

I used to look at our DFD and think oh that is such a long time but this way there is light at the end of the tunnel. Before we started this debt free journey, I could see us ending up retired or even dying still in a mountain of debt.

It is inspiring to update your signature each month so give it a go

Hopelessly_Hopeful

smcshane wrote: »

Hi All.

Haven't posted for a while but reading everyday. It is really nice to see the newbies being offered so much support, I know it was this thread which allowed me to come to terms with my situation and deal with it.
Anyway plodding along with a real possibility of cracking it this year but if not certainly next year.

Main reason for the post was to just pass on some info for anyone who has debts with Cabot. I requested a full and final last year and was told they would never give one to someone with such a low balance and when I was told the same again later in the year I just decided to carry on paying my monthly payment.

Well I then got a call yesterday from them (I always return calls from creditors after the advice here made me strong enough to do it) saying they would be able to reduce my payments by a month if I could pay over the next three months. I know it's not much of a reduction but at least it's something and means I will have cleared in three rather than the six I had planned.

I can only presume that they are trying to get some small debts shifted from their books for year end!!!!

May be useful for anyone who is with them and has a lowish debt to see if they can get any reduction.

As you may gather I am now self managing my DMP and clearing the remainder in the usual snowball fashion.

Keep smiling old and new alike and use this place for support as there really are so many nice people here.
Take care

Sx

Nice to hear from you. Glad the self managed is working out for you. Have you been asked for a review or had any other hassle?

HHx

Hopelessly_Hopeful

Julie67 wrote: »

Good morning all,

Hope you don't mind me joining you. Finally plucked up the courage to phone SC yesterday and we are starting our DMP from March.
Today I'm going to begin gathering all the paperwork they have requested, but I just have a few questions if anyone can help

My dh is Self Employed and they have asked for proof of income. We don't have a separate business account he just pays what he earns into our joint account, quite often cash, do I just send our bank statements? ( this is a new account not linked to any debts)

I forgot one unsecured debt yesterday do I just ring and add it on?

It took quite a while to persuade my other half that this was the way forward. He is ashamed at the mess we are in, but I've managed to persuade him that the only way to begin moving forward is to admit that we can't cope any longer and begin managing on a budget, instead of paying the first thing that comes along, robbing Peter to pay Paul and ending up having to use more credit just to survive.
Sorry I digress, his main concern is that the debt is going to go up because we are not paying the minimum payment, have you found this to be the case?
We have tried a self managed DMP but didn't follow it through and ended up back in the debt trap, but I know this is different. I feel like we are at rock bottom and the only way is up.


One final question, some of the credit cards were taken out in the last 6 months, I know how stupid but just us trying to survive and thinking we would manage somehow:o I did ask the SC advisor and she said it didn't matter, I'm just worried they won't accept the reduced payments as they are quite recent debts.

Sorry for all the questions, I will probably have more every day. This thread has been a lifeline to be honest. I don't think I would have had the courage to go ahead with this without the support on here. So a big thank you.
It's strange today but for the first time in a long time I feel a sense of getting things sorted, even though it will be a long haul. I will update my signature with an exact amount once I have it.

Thanks again J

Morning and welcome

Sounds like you are doing really well.

Would it be easier for DH to have a seperate account?

Re the relatively recent credit cards, usually a sympton of the debt crisis so most accept it. Occassionally we see them say no for a few month because of recent spending. Clearly this is easier to defend if there are sensibe transactions on and not
lots of debits to Hotel Chocolat!

Good luck with your start up

HHx
HHx

Hopelessly_Hopeful

Time_to_face_the_music wrote: »

CCCS, as StepChange used to be known, provided us with a template letter to send to our creditors. Does anyone know if they still do this?

We made all token payments online via pay a bill on the Co-Op bank website. Some people prefer to send a postal order or a cheque but I think either way is fine.

Great idea about the ongoing list to help other people just starting out :T



You are not being a pain! Your questions are much more sensible than mine were

CCCS were fine with bank statements were we didn't have recent bills so am sure it will be fine for pay too.

They are very pro-active and quick at letting you know if they need anything else but what you are sending sounds just fine.

Doh wish Id have thought about doing tokens online. Sounds so obvious now but never considered it and went to two different post offices for the PO as was embarrased at asking for 12!

HHx