DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 8

Time_to_face_the_music

Twit_Head wrote: »

Two pearls of wisdom to mull over for all on a DMP -
1) Loyalty counts for nowt. Banks are your friends as long as you keep your head down and don't get into trouble. (Loyalty should also not bind you to insurance companies/ utility providers etc.)
2) Your credit rating is shot, so don't bust a gut trying to salvage it.

It's all a mindset change. You can and will live without credit, and the relief (and even pride) of living with what you've got is immeasurable.

Hope you get sorted soon.

'Twitty'

Inspiring message Twitty :T

It reflects everything I feel about being on our DMP. Our life has changed for the better, we sleep at night and don't worry about opening letters or answering phonecalls. Our debts are being paid off, we don't pay a credit card bill then immediately borrow that money again. Four years from now, our money will be our own and we will have learned how to still live well on much less. We will never use credit, I never want a loan or an overdraft or a credit card ever again.

jasperconran

Hi, to all the new dmp peeps!

Well, feeling a bit down at the min. Me and OH have been self managing our dmp since January and things were going great.

But last month I had to drop our payments down to just token payments and this month we can only give each creditor £5:(

I am so :mad: and fed up. Basically (and this is through no fault of our own) we are having to go through an insurance claim for our car and the excess is £350:eek: hence why the token payments. cos we gotta find it. Some dear lovely person, decided to vandalise our car one night whilst it was sat on our driveway!!:mad::eek:

People are scumbags are they not??

So, I know I am now gonna have to write to all our creditors (again) and explain the situation. But what would the best way to word the letters? I mean, do I just tell them about our vandalised car and be honest? not sure how to go about this, cos last year when we had to drop payments a few times, the CCCS dealt with it.

Hope you guys can help thanks

manimibe

It'll be fine - get the letters sent off. Most likely thing to happen is that you'll get some letters back from them in a couple of weeks saying 'righty ho'

Thanks Blushing Rose and apologies for not replying sooner. Only had a few hassles/responses from lloyds tsb cc so far....made our first DMP payment yesterday.

I can honestly say, despite worrying about managing our budget, I feel such a sense of relief and that a weight has been lifted from our shoulders.

greebouk

Hi everyone We have started our DMP with CCCS and I have to tell you, for the first time in a long time I feel I can sleep at night. We still owe a LOT of money, but knowing we are starting to tackle it, makes a big difference. Not that you get much help from the banks and so to my question
We have 2 loans , credit card and overdraft with lloyds.
They have agreed to reduced payments for 6 months, but have not frozen the interest (surprise there!) and they are refusing to accept reduced payments on my overdraft because I am not over the limit! Madness isn't it. I have had to take some money from the overdraft to put in my new account to cover the first months dd's, so hopefully that will encourage them to accept!

As they have not yet refused interest, should I contact them straight away to ask them to do so, or leave it a few months so they can see regular payments are going in? If I do need to write can someone point me in the direction of one of the template letters please. dunce that I am, I cant find it!

It is also a very strange thing to look at a bank account and see that there is no debt on there! We are living within our means, we dont spend what we dont' have and it is becoming quite a challenge with me to see how I can save money! No more, sod it lets have it anyway. Now I find myself thinking, 1) do I really need it 2) do I really want it and 3) if so can I get it anywhere cheaper!
Anyway enough waffling, thanks for any advice etc

Growurown

Time_to_face_the_music wrote: »

It reflects everything I feel about being on our DMP. Our life has changed for the better, we sleep at night and don't worry about opening letters or answering phonecalls. Our debts are being paid off, we don't pay a credit card bill then immediately borrow that money again. Four years from now, our money will be our own and we will have learned how to still live well on much less. We will never use credit, I never want a loan or an overdraft or a credit card ever again.

Same here, despite the default letters and wrecked credit rating I still think it is the best thing we have done too

jasperconran wrote: »

Some dear lovely person, decided to vandalise our car one night whilst it was sat on our driveway!!:mad::eek:

People are scumbags are they not??

This happened to me too some time ago now but you just thing to yourself 'why?' it was a battered old metro for ***** sake. Yes they are scumbags.

manimibe wrote: »

I can honestly say, despite worrying about managing our budget, I feel such a sense of relief and that a weight has been lifted from our shoulders.

Welcome manimibe, congratulations on taking the first step.

Growurown

Twit_Head wrote: »

Aah chocolate!
Can be good for you and a recent study found people eating it on a regular basis could be slimmer.......
So roll on Easter and those eggs :easter:
And keeping the car going on a DMP is a constant worry. Don't be afraid to reduce your payments if you need to for a couple of months.
Having filled up with fuel in the last couple of days, my petrol is now worth more than the car :rotfl:

'Twitty'

Hello Twitty, nice to see you

Hope you are doing well in your debt free world

Growurown

greebouk wrote: »

As they have not yet refused interest, should I contact them straight away to ask them to do so, or leave it a few months so they can see regular payments are going in? If I do need to write can someone point me in the direction of one of the template letters please. dunce that I am, I cant find it!

I guess there is no harm in asking them to reduce interest straight away. You aren't going to lose anything by asking. The National Debtline have lots of letter templates. I have copied the link - hope it works.


http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/debt_advice.php#6

jasperconran

jasperconran wrote: »

Hi, to all the new dmp peeps!

Well, feeling a bit down at the min. Me and OH have been self managing our dmp since January and things were going great.

But last month I had to drop our payments down to just token payments and this month we can only give each creditor £5:(

I am so :mad: and fed up. Basically (and this is through no fault of our own) we are having to go through an insurance claim for our car and the excess is £350:eek: hence why the token payments. cos we gotta find it. Some dear lovely person, decided to vandalise our car one night whilst it was sat on our driveway!!:mad::eek:

People are scumbags are they not??

So, I know I am now gonna have to write to all our creditors (again) and explain the situation. But what would the best way to word the letters? I mean, do I just tell them about our vandalised car and be honest? not sure how to go about this, cos last year when we had to drop payments a few times, the CCCS dealt with it.

Hope you guys can help thanks

*BUMP* anyone?? I have to be honest, Moorgate have now taken over both mine and OH's MBNA account. and they are now harrassing me about mine, I am getting so many phone calls. its getting me down. I have just sent them an email and a letter requesting that they dont do this.

This is the most stressed I have felt in a long time, and I am starting to feel overwhelmed and panic is setting in. I dont know if I can cope for much longer.

I have explained that we have small mortgage arrears and council tax arrears which are far more important, right? I have never, ever, had arrears before ever with our priority debts. I feel like giving up!:(

Growurown

jasperconran wrote: »

So, I know I am now gonna have to write to all our creditors (again) and explain the situation. But what would the best way to word the letters? I mean, do I just tell them about our vandalised car and be honest? not sure how to go about this, cos last year when we had to drop payments a few times, the CCCS dealt with it

jasperconran wrote: »

*BUMP* anyone?? I have to be honest, Moorgate have now taken over both mine and OH's MBNA account. and they are now harrassing me about mine, I am getting so many phone calls. its getting me down. I have just sent them an email and a letter requesting that they dont do this.

This is the most stressed I have felt in a long time, and I am starting to feel overwhelmed and panic is setting in. I dont know if I can cope for much longer.

I have explained that we have small mortgage arrears and council tax arrears which are far more important, right? I have never, ever, had arrears before ever with our priority debts. I feel like giving up!:(

Hi Jasper
Sorry to hear that things are going a bit pete tong. I can't see why you shouldn't tell your creditors the truth about the car, write to them and maybe include a copy of the invoice for the cost of repairs.

Can I ask why you chose to leave CCCS and do your own DMP? I'm with CCCS and find it reassuring to know that they are there to help out when things get difficult.

I think you just have to stick to your guns with Moorgate. It is their job to get as much money out of you as possible and they will hassle you. It is a tactic that works otherwise they wouldn't do it. Have a look at Payplan's website

http://www.payplan.com/debt-library/bailiffs-harassment.php

and I found a sample letter on this thread

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1393423

You should be able to edit this to suit your purposes.

Twit_Head

jasperconran wrote: »

*BUMP* anyone?? I have to be honest, Moorgate have now taken over both mine and OH's MBNA account. and they are now harrassing me about mine, I am getting so many phone calls. its getting me down. I have just sent them an email and a letter requesting that they dont do this.

This is the most stressed I have felt in a long time, and I am starting to feel overwhelmed and panic is setting in. I dont know if I can cope for much longer.

I have explained that we have small mortgage arrears and council tax arrears which are far more important, right? I have never, ever, had arrears before ever with our priority debts. I feel like giving up!:(

Hi JC
Sorry you've got it so tough at the moment. Completely agree with GrowYourOwn re:the car. Lay it on the line and be firm that this was criminal damage done to your property. Therefore through no fault of your own, you are having to absorb this financial kick in the teeth without a comfort cushion to fall back on. (And what kind of a pea brain does a person have to possess to find entertainment in mindless destruction??? )
Would also follow the links and advice re: harassment etc. Yes you owe them money, but they have no legal right to hound you beyond reasonable contact.
Lastly, what I really want to say is DON'T GIVE UP! You have come so far to let it all go now.
Remember this is your future, so get through this bit, and be back on track again. Keep a mental picture in your head of the vandals and Moorgate being subjected to all sorts of horrendous, nasty things but never let the b*st*rds grind you down!

'Twitty'