DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 8

Twit_Head

Growurown wrote: »

Hello Twitty, nice to see you

Hope you are doing well in your debt free world

It's like living a parallel universe m'dear!
Money is still tight so not resorted to lighting the fire with fivers yet , but a fantastic feeling to look the monthly pay slip and know it's paying for a home, heat, food, fuel, etc and and NOT debt/ interest payments.
Becoming more parsimonious with every month now that it's 'real' money - 'I'm not paying that, for that rubbish!' type thing.
Still think of you all and pop back to read how you are doing.
I'm keeping the champagne on ice for you - hope you all keep your finish line in sight. It's a wonderful feeling to be here.

'Twitty'

paints

Hi there, newbie here. Have recently completed our first year with a DMP with CCCS. Entering into a DMP was the best thing we ever did! Only another 4 years to go (fingers crossed!). During our annual review, I was advised to write to some our our creditors as they are still charging interest. As I understood it there could never be a guarantee that they would accept our offer and freeze interest. We have therefore just accepted that some have and some haven't.
The advice was to write them and say that if they do not accept then we will refer the case to the Financial Ombudsman. I am a little uncomfortable with this, as I don't see us as being in a position to make threats. We do owe them money afterall. Is it worth writing first and appealing to their better nature, or go straight for the 'threat' route? Any advise would be much appreciated.

Standingtall

paints wrote: »

Hi there, newbie here. Have recently completed our first year with a DMP with CCCS. Entering into a DMP was the best thing we ever did! Only another 4 years to go (fingers crossed!). During our annual review, I was advised to write to some our our creditors as they are still charging interest. As I understood it there could never be a guarantee that they would accept our offer and freeze interest. We have therefore just accepted that some have and some haven't.
The advice was to write them and say that if they do not accept then we will refer the case to the Financial Ombudsman. I am a little uncomfortable with this, as I don't see us as being in a position to make threats. We do owe them money afterall. Is it worth writing first and appealing to their better nature, or go straight for the 'threat' route? Any advise would be much appreciated.

Hi there and welcome:). There are various letter templates on the National Debtline website concerning creditors to stop interest. Under their code of practice they are advised to treat you fairly. The letters start with a quest and then there is a follow up one to send if they still do not drop interest or if they simply ignore you. I used the first of these with Santander regarding interest and charges on my overdraft. They not only stopped charging but also apologised and refunded to the start of my DMP. Good luck:)

paints

Standingtall wrote: »

Hi there and welcome:). There are various letter templates on the National Debtline website concerning creditors to stop interest. Under their code of practice they are advised to treat you fairly. The letters start with a quest and then there is a follow up one to send if they still do not drop interest or if they simply ignore you. I used the first of these with Santander regarding interest and charges on my overdraft. They not only stopped charging but also apologised and refunded to the start of my DMP. Good luck:)

Thanks. I felt that the soft approach was the best way to go, then follow it up if no joy. Hope we have a similar result to you.

Time_to_face_the_music

paints wrote: »

During our annual review, I was advised to write to some our our creditors as they are still charging interest. As I understood it there could never be a guarantee that they would accept our offer and freeze interest. We have therefore just accepted that some have and some haven't.
The advice was to write them and say that if they do not accept then we will refer the case to the Financial Ombudsman. I am a little uncomfortable with this, as I don't see us as being in a position to make threats. We do owe them money afterall. Is it worth writing first and appealing to their better nature, or go straight for the 'threat' route? Any advise would be much appreciated.

Hi paints

I'm with Standingtall on this one and think it's definitely worth trying a few letters. We are still paying full interest to a NatWest overdraft, a Lloyds TSB overdraft and to a M&S Personal Reserve account. The remainder of our creditors have either stopped interest completely or reduced it greatly which is very much appreciated but I don't understand the differences within the same banks, i.e. why do NatWest stop interest on a CC but increase it on OD etc :think:

I have recently written to all 3 using a letter template which someone kindly guided me to but now can't remember or find where I got it from . My letters go something like this:

Dear Sir/Madam

Re: Account No: xxxxxxxxxxxx

Thank you for your letter concerning the above account. I am sorry that you feel unable to suspend interest charges on the above account. The majority of our other creditors have agreed to the offer of payment and agreed to suspend any interest charges still accruing. They have accepted that to continue to charge interest would not assist us in our present financial difficulties, and can only serve to increase our total debt.

As you are aware, I have already paid considerable sums in interest to my account. If interest charges continue, the monthly instalments I am paying will not even cover that interest. Also, the cooperation of our other creditors who have agreed to freeze interest already would be put at risk.

I am aware that [bank name] subscribes to the Lending Code which states that lenders will consider reducing or suspending interest and charges if these would cause the debt to increase or lead to the repayment term becoming too extended. I also add something here about their customer charter or similar if they have one, NatWest must be sick of me quoting theirs!

I would therefore be grateful if you would reconsider your decision not to freeze the interest. This would mean that the monthly payments I make would actually reduce the balance outstanding to your company.

I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.

Yours faithfully

You've got nothing to lose and possibly a whole lot to gain so give it a go. Oh and do it soon before the stamps go up!

Good luck and well done on where you are already :T

2spicy

Missed DMP Payments to ALL Creditors !!!! ..

Ok, let us explain.....
The Yearly review with Payplan went ahead as usual with no suprises, we even managed to up the repayments a few £££ dispite the ever tightening squeeze on the cost of living.

After the review, it was suggested that instead of the usual Standing Order, that has run without any issues for the last 3 years, changing to a Direct Debit would speed things futher, so, in the interest of streamlining things, the DD was setup.

Last month, we realised our account was unusually in credit at the end of last month, it was only then we realised that the DD had not been claimed.!!
Subsequent corrispondence revealed the payment date had been missed and now we were 1 month in arrears with all our creditors

Needless to say the Direct Debit has now been cancelled, and a good old Standing Order re-setup.

I guess the moral of this is its vital to check that monthly payments are taken in a timely manor.

We havnt had time to contact all our creditors and explain the error, but fingers crossed this "hiccup" does not count against us in our quest to be debt free.

On a separate note, we have just taken out a pre-pay credit card with "Credit Builder" to start rebuilding our credit files

somewhere_up_there

Just starting on my{our] dmp journey.
Payplan mail arrived.setting up your arrangement, and setting up your payments.
Text left from Barclaycard,thought they wanted to speak, was actually just about payments and Easter.

At least this month i will not have to worry where i am going to have to find 1700.00 just to service the credit cards

Total debt 42000.00

Twit_Head

paints wrote: »

. Is it worth writing first and appealing to their better nature, or go straight for the 'threat' route? Any advise would be much appreciated.

Hi
Very much agree with the others. Get those letters written.
But don't think of them as a 'threat' - more an appeal to common sense. When you're doing your best to repay, hefty interest charges aren't going to help. So be clear, be polite and let's hope it works for you!

'Twitty'

Twit_Head

2spicy wrote: »

Missed DMP Payments to ALL Creditors !!!! ..

Last month, we realised our account was unusually in credit at the end of last month, it was only then we realised that the DD had not been claimed.!!
Subsequent corrispondence revealed the payment date had been missed and now we were 1 month in arrears with all our creditors

On a separate note, we have just taken out a pre-pay credit card with "Credit Builder" to start rebuilding our credit files

Sorry to hear about the mess-up 2spicy. Hope it's sorted now.
Am a bit behind now with not reading regularly - has 'Baby Spice' made an appearance yet? (Or perhaps I'm so behind, the child is now attending Uni?)
I was wondering the whys and wherefores of rebuilding your credit file. Are you really that bothered? (No offence intended ) Mine is shot to hell but it's not keeping me awake at night at the moment. I suppose the only thing would be if the car 'died' and had to be replaced (haven't had time to build reasonable savings yet )
Just interested in your thoughts.

'Twitty'

Standingtall

Ah, well, sigh, stamp feet, shrug, sigh!

As stated at some earlier point, I rang up Moorcroft now I have some time off work. I could not make any sense of the statement they sent me and I was not sure if they had frozen interest and stopped charges. They bought a batch of the Egg loans, of which mine was one; it was not in a DMP or arrears at the time, it was simply a loan. Well one month later it was in my DMP, all £500:o

So, since you have probably already guessed I shall put you out of your misery and confirm that interest is still being charged and it is in fact increasing by about £10 a month.:mad:

To be fair the gentlemen I spoke to was very nice. He observed that I was in a DMP with Payplan and told me my balance.

"oh" said I, "are you still adding interest and / or charges then?"

"yes, we are charging interest as you have not asked us to stop doing so":rotfl:

I think this response left me about speechless:rotfl: I mean seriously! Should it not be obvious that I want it stopping! If he had argued and said that they are not obligated to do so then I would have been prepared and ready to argue, send template letters, etc. I know they do not have to. But his response absolutely through me!

So, now I wait for them to respond to my verbal request to freeze interest. I shall give them 14 days then I start the 'polite' letter.

Haven't asked them indeed:rotfl: