Anyone on a DMP with CCCS?

mmecholet

having had my head in the sand for too long I have, after spending many hours reading through various threads on here finally just filled in the online form for CCCS and am awaiting my pack to be emailed to me for the next steps.
Many thanks to all on here, without this site, goodness knows how much longer I would have tried to ignore the bloomin obvious.
Feel better for having taken the first step; particular thanks to saltnvinegar, you wrote it all so well and made it seem less scary to deal with.

Good luck to all on DMP's

Rochdale_Guy

Good luck mmecholet

I noticed on the latest CCCS statement I have, that it's upto me to update the balances owed?

Eh?

Well, I'm certainly not spending anymore on the cards, they are all cut up, but some of the creditors are still charging me interest, and I will be over my limit on a few of them soon due to them keeping charging me

How do people manage to stay sane when certain creditors keep adding interest and your balances keep GROWING even though you are now on a DMP, and you're living like a hermit and not spending on the cards anymore?

It's so demoralising

david1066

go bankrupt asap
borrow a car
start again

Time_to_face_the_music

Rochdale_Guy wrote: »

Good luck mmecholet

I noticed on the latest CCCS statement I have, that it's upto me to update the balances owed?

Eh?

Well, I'm certainly not spending anymore on the cards, they are all cut up, but some of the creditors are still charging me interest, and I will be over my limit on a few of them soon due to them keeping charging me

How do people manage to stay sane when certain creditors keep adding interest and your balances keep GROWING even though you are now on a DMP, and you're living like a hermit and not spending on the cards anymore?

It's so demoralising

Hi Rochdale_Guy

Have you written to each of your creditors explaining you are on a DMP and asking them to freeze the interest? Some will do it automatically after a couple of months but if they don't, try a letter, it's worth it for just the cost of stamp ... but buy the stamps now before they go up on the 30th.

CCCS do a lot of work but you need to be pro-active too and keeping your balances up to date on the CCCS website is important. If any of your debts change hands, e.g. move to a credit collection agency etc, you also need to change that on the website.

The way we look at it is that the debts are ours, we are the ones who took out the cards, loans etc and spent the money so it's our responsibility to look after the money that is being paid now. CCCS is the middle man who actually makes the payments but we keep control. Getting involved is part of the mindset change that is needed to be on a DMP, doing nothing and wanting CCCS to do it all could be seen as still burying one's head in the sand. We had our lightbulb moment and now we need to keep that lightbulb burning brightly :idea:

If you need any help with the letters, let me know and I will copy and paste the one I use here, or you can find it on the DMP Mutual Support thread.

Good luck

lxpeanut

Rochdale_Guy wrote: »

How do people manage to stay sane when certain creditors keep adding interest and your balances keep GROWING even though you are now on a DMP, and you're living like a hermit and not spending on the cards anymore?

It's so demoralising

Honestly it gets better once they have defaulted the debt. Unfortunatly most banks like to add to the debt first. The good news is you can usually negotiate this off the debt when you are near the end. Stick with it.

wendy1950

Hi
First time on here,
I am in the process of helping my sister in law and her husband to sort out their debt,
They were called into their bank TSB years ago as they had to write a few post dated cheques, and offered a loan to help tide them over, well 10 years later after being called in each year to consolidate the loan and extend the overdraft they cannot cope any more, they are on a fairly low wage with one son at home, they owe £20,000.00 in total, mostly to TSB in a loan and overdrafts and with just a £1400 owe to Argos, I have been on to CCCS and the forms should be with her today we are going to fill them in and get them sent back straight away CCCS say it should be set up for 1st May, all good so far they will have to pay £200 per month for 99 months:eek:but hopefully will pay more as the time goes on,
I am not sure exactley what to do now, CCCS are sending the letter for us to send to the bank and Argos, she has opened another bank account and moving DD's over to this but as she has gone into an unauthorised overdraft now TSB have sent a letter saying they will be charging £5.00 per day for this, my SIL is obviously hoping interest on the debts will stop or it will never be paid off, but until CCCS contact them it will be adding up like mad, does this settle down?
She is much too scared and upset to phone the bank or call in to cancel any DDs they may pay, so could she do a letter to the branch cancelling them all as of today and drop it in, would this work?
she has been very upset and not well from the worry of all this and has only just asked me for help so I am sorting most of it for her until I can try and build up her confidence to handle these things again.
They have no CCards no CCJ's or late payments or arrears on anything up to now although this month may be different while we get the DD's sorted.
I have seen mentioned a letter on here to repeat re phone calls etc as said she cannot speak to anyone as she just cries, if she has scripted things to say she would be better when I am not there.
Sorry so much to ask at first (more to come I fear)
Hopefully someone can give me a little more info
Thank you
Wendy

lxpeanut

unfotunatly charges andninterest will be added at first and its very stressfull. Once they reach a certain limit they will default the debt and then no more will be added. At that point write to the bank to claim charges back using the template on this site for claiming them back due to financial dificult. As for the DD's she shouldn't need to contact the bank at all does her new bank offer a switching service if they do they'll handle it for her. If not contact the companies setting up new dd's with the new account.

rubyjam

Hi wendy1950

Your Sister in Law doesn't have to speak to anyone. The only people I ever speak to over the phone are CCCS and I communicate to everyone else by letter - my DMP is running fine. In the beginning I received phone calls - but before the caller is allowed to discuss anything your sister in law has to confirm her identity ie date of birth, address etc. I just told the callers that I do not give out personal details over the telephone and to write to me and I will respond then. Some tried to get me to confirm my address - again I refused to give it over the telephone (if they are who they say they are then they would have my address anyway). They soon get the message.

Re cancelling Direct Debits - can your sister in law do this online?

Re bank charges/interest. Keep on writing letters, don't be disheartened and stay proactive. Eventually all my creditors stopped charges. As others have said in above posts, don't let her bury her head in the sand, even though CCCS will now be making payments on her behalf and handling the paperwork she is still responsible for her own debt should keep on top of it. Keep all letters in a file and update balances on CCCS online.

On a DMP your Sister is Law is likely to default and the bank will send letters that on first read are very scary, but please remember they are are usually generated automatically, everyone gets these so tell your Sister in Law not to worry. CCCS are very helpful and a quick phone call or email will reasure her and tell her what to do about them.

It sounds like over the years TSB have been lending her money she really couldn't afford which has made the whole situation worse. I wonder could she claim back some of their charges?

BlushingRose

Rochdale_Guy wrote: »

Good luck mmecholet

I noticed on the latest CCCS statement I have, that it's upto me to update the balances owed?

Eh?

Yes, you go onto their website and keep the balances up to date. The CCCS assume all interest to be frozen on their balances so you need to pop in and make sure that their details tally up with yours.

BlushingRose

wendy1950 wrote: »

Hi
First time on here,
I am in the process of helping my sister in law and her husband to sort out their debt,
They were called into their bank TSB years ago as they had to write a few post dated cheques, and offered a loan to help tide them over, well 10 years later after being called in each year to consolidate the loan and extend the overdraft they cannot cope any more, they are on a fairly low wage with one son at home, they owe £20,000.00 in total, mostly to TSB in a loan and overdrafts and with just a £1400 owe to Argos, I have been on to CCCS and the forms should be with her today we are going to fill them in and get them sent back straight away CCCS say it should be set up for 1st May, all good so far they will have to pay £200 per month for 99 months:eek:but hopefully will pay more as the time goes on,
I am not sure exactley what to do now, CCCS are sending the letter for us to send to the bank and Argos, she has opened another bank account and moving DD's over to this but as she has gone into an unauthorised overdraft now TSB have sent a letter saying they will be charging £5.00 per day for this, my SIL is obviously hoping interest on the debts will stop or it will never be paid off, but until CCCS contact them it will be adding up like mad, does this settle down?
She is much too scared and upset to phone the bank or call in to cancel any DDs they may pay, so could she do a letter to the branch cancelling them all as of today and drop it in, would this work?
she has been very upset and not well from the worry of all this and has only just asked me for help so I am sorting most of it for her until I can try and build up her confidence to handle these things again.
They have no CCards no CCJ's or late payments or arrears on anything up to now although this month may be different while we get the DD's sorted.
I have seen mentioned a letter on here to repeat re phone calls etc as said she cannot speak to anyone as she just cries, if she has scripted things to say she would be better when I am not there.
Sorry so much to ask at first (more to come I fear)
Hopefully someone can give me a little more info
Thank you
Wendy

Hiya Wendy - you might be better posting in the 'DMP support thread'