DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 8

ianmak

scared-sick wrote: »

Got a bit stressed yeaterday. initially i was happy as got letters from 2 creditors saying they had accepted reduced payments however they both required payment before 8th april. So I rang cccs and explained that these letters said they accepted but If I failed to keep up the agreed repayments then the agreement would be cancelled. The companies are never going to get paid on the 8th with cccs so I was worried.

Cccs told be that by the date of the letters, this offer was only made due to MY initial letters and that cccs had only just sent their official letters out the day before. So she said not to worry and it was just a crossover. I asked if I should ring the companies as a courtesy and tell them this. cccs said you can if you want but dont get into any financial talk with them or agree any payments.

So started off with the first one. Told them I wont be paying by the 8th and that cccs pay creditors on the 25th. Woman said oh well this means you will have breached your agreement and it will be cancelled. Tried to explain again to her but she said nothing she could do. She tried to get me to make a payment then and there. I said I needed to go back to cccs and get some advice from them. I came off the phone exhausted!

I know I probably shouldnt, but I have decided to leave it and see what happens. I know cccs have sent the letters out and in them they specifically say they pay on the 25th and lots of these creditors regularly deal with them so the companies know this. Also, I now realise these companies have given me THEIR offer of a reduced payment not what cccs are telling them they are going to get. So i am leaving them to it for now. I have decided I will take up the battle again once the dmp payments start going out.

Sorry about the long winded post, but sometimes it makes me feel better to get it off my chest!! Sorry!

I think sending your own letters out does confuse matters! I sent token payments with a giro slip and left it at that, and relied on PayPlan to inform creditors. I answered calls from my creditors and referred them to PayPlan.

That doesn't really help you, but all I can say is leave it to CCCS, or ring again and hope you speak to someone different!

ianmak

scared-sick wrote: »

That sounds delicious...thanks. I love pasta and sauce, so simple but yummy!!



Thank you thats great, I will definitely have a look into that. I really need to learn some more shopping control!!



I should try aldi more as their fruit and veg is always advertised cheaper and people I know who shop there say its better quality too. i need to get out of the convenience habbit of getting everything under one roof!!

The recipes are a bit, er basic, so splash the cash on herbs and spices from your local indian shop to make them a bit more tasty!

BlushingRose

scared-sick wrote: »

T
I should try aldi more as their fruit and veg is always advertised cheaper and people I know who shop there say its better quality too. i need to get out of the convenience habbit of getting everything under one roof!!

yeah as I say, we shop at Aldi and Asda - Aldi is where we get the most of our shopping, just Asda for the stuff we can't get really.

BlushingRose

scared-sick wrote: »

I know I probably shouldnt, but I have decided to leave it and see what happens.

That's exactly what you should do

Superkings

Hi everyone,
Apologies if I am in the wrong place or should be in a different section. I've just registered tonight and organised a call with Payplan (calling me tomorrow) I'm hoping to organise a DMP for payday loans which has gone out of control. Yes I am a plonker. Could you guys hopefully put my mind to rest and give me any advice. My main worry is the payday loan people calling my work if they aren't happy about the repayment plans - are they allowed to? I assume I have to change my bank - do I have to go to a new bank or can I ask my curent bank to change my details? Sorry if these are stupid questions. ANy help / advice would be appreciated. Thanks

ianmak

Superkings wrote: »

Hi everyone,
Apologies if I am in the wrong place or should be in a different section. I've just registered tonight and organised a call with Payplan (calling me tomorrow) I'm hoping to organise a DMP for payday loans which has gone out of control. Yes I am a plonker. Could you guys hopefully put my mind to rest and give me any advice. My main worry is the payday loan people calling my work if they aren't happy about the repayment plans - are they allowed to? I assume I have to change my bank - do I have to go to a new bank or can I ask my curent bank to change my details? Sorry if these are stupid questions. ANy help / advice would be appreciated. Thanks

How do and welcome!

You'll only need to change bank accounts if you have any debt linked to your bank account (overdrafts, credit cards etc). Also remember if you have any other unsecured debts, they will all need to be included in the DMP too.

I've heard the PayDay people can be a bit awkward, but hopefully someone else will be along with experience in that regard.

Please don't panic, have a look through this thread, and try PayPlan's website and https://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk for further info.

Superkings

Hi there.
Thank you. Payplan are calling me tomorrow and I've got a list ready of everything I owe ready. Just really nervous - been a total girl and cried the whole night. Are there other options you think I should look at other than a DMP? Trying to avoid taking out more money like a consolidated loan. Sorry meant to ask will Payplan contact people for me? I am no good at dealing with these people I get scared then agree to things then can't follow through.

Time_to_face_the_music

bhg wrote: »

The CCCS have certain limits on what you can spend under certain budget headings. To gain a little leeway you need to push these limits a bit harder. Petrol costs are difficult to gauge, but nobody ever questioned how far I had to travel to work. It was about three miles but could just as easily been 20. You might consider whether you need to budget for some things that you haven't previously considered. Contact lenses cost about £35 per month per person. Dental work isn't cheap either. If a child under 8 needs orthodontic work the NHS won't cover it. Pre-school and after-school care adds up!! Be creative, but not greedy!;)

Our petrol costs were already outside CCCS limits and we had to have a special dispensation to cover this for £280 a month. Of course, with all the fuel price rises this is now too low just 2 months later but we will see if we can absorb it until it gets too high to manage.

We don't have any school age children so can't add anything in that area but I don't remember putting anything down for dentist/opticians so I will have to check that out next time. We both desperately need new specs and can't afford them at the moment.

I assume I will have to leave all of these to our next budget review which is 10 months off. Our payment is extremely high but we expected that due to the amount we earn and our debts and I really don't want to reduce it to keep our debt free date ASAP. I may get a small pay rise but doubt OH will as his teacher's pay has been frozen already

Thanks very much for the suggestions, there is food for thought for next year :T

PinotGrigio41

bhg wrote: »

Just thought I'd come on and share a little of our story. In April 2008 I did some some sums and we were supplementing our wages to the tune of about £400 per month with further debt. I then sat down and worked out that our £100,000 mortgage was now nearly £250,000 due to further borrowing as the value rose, and we had an additional £68,000 in unsecured borrowing. It was a mess. The hardest thing was explaining it all to my wife. We went on a DMP with CCCS and although the stress of dealing with the calls and the letters was gone, the reality of working hard, earning good money, and living on the CCCS budget was very difficult to adjust to. Over about six months we learnt to bend the truth a little with our budget and created 'our budget' and 'CCCS budget' which meant we could enjoy a few modest luxuries and life got much better. I began dealing with some creditors myself instead of CCCS and was able to target specific debts and pay them off more quickly, and as these got settled I would move onto the next. Last summer I finished with CCCS altogether and began to manage my own finances/debts again with many lessons learnt. I am now down to my last £11,000 of unsecured debt and hope to have this gone in 12 months. We both have credit cards for emergencies and use them responsibly. I am looking forward to the date in approximately three years when the defaults are taken off my credit file and I can get a good deal on car finance again. I feel that I can now go out and use credit sensibly and responsibly as a tool to help me in life rather than as a way to finance my life. It's been a tough journey but it's the support the CCCS gave me really helped, as did keeping a keen eye on my position and not just letting CCCS do it all for me. If you are in the first years of a DMP I know it can look really grim but keep in there, keep a little back for treats, and take my word for the fact that it really does get better.

Its great to hear your story, thankyou for posting. Best of luck with that last £11,000 !

AmyV_2

Superkings wrote: »

Hi everyone,
Apologies if I am in the wrong place or should be in a different section. I've just registered tonight and organised a call with Payplan (calling me tomorrow) I'm hoping to organise a DMP for payday loans which has gone out of control. Yes I am a plonker. Could you guys hopefully put my mind to rest and give me any advice. My main worry is the payday loan people calling my work if they aren't happy about the repayment plans - are they allowed to? I assume I have to change my bank - do I have to go to a new bank or can I ask my curent bank to change my details? Sorry if these are stupid questions. ANy help / advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Hi Superkings

This is from the PayPlan site:-


Debt Collection Harassment

There are several laws which cover harassment of debtors by creditors as well as recognised guidelines which set out what is considered unreasonable behaviour by creditors.

Administration of Justice Act 1970

My creditors keep calling me at work and late into the evening - are they allowed to do this and how would you advise I deal with it?

The Administration of Justice Act 1970 S.40 makes it a Criminal Offence for a creditor or a creditor's agent (often a debt collection agency) to make demands (for money), which are aimed at causing 'alarm, distress or humiliation, because of their frequency or publicity or manner'. Equally, a creditor will be committing an offence if they falsely imply that non-payment of the debt will lead to criminal proceedings; or the creditor pretends to be someone they are not e.g. a court official or bailiff. It is also an offence to send a person a document which looks like it has been sent from a court.
The Protection from Harassment Act 1997

If you feel you are subject to Debt Collection Harassment then this too could be classed as a criminal offence. Harassment can be verbal or in writing and would include making repeated calls to your workplace or in anti social hours. The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 makes it a Criminal Offence for any person to pursue a course of action "which they know, or ought to know, amounts to harassment of another person".

* * *
Also... from what I remember, when people phoned at the beginning of our DMP my husband told them he wanted them to delete our phone number and contact him by letter and he would reply. He followed this up in writing. I think there is some Data Protection act rule which says they have to comply with your request.

Hope that helps a bit!