Debt Free DIY

lala9

Hello All

Posting this on behalf of a close friend who is planning on a DIY debt management plan. They are currently with one of the companies that charge a monthly % and fed up of giving them alot of money for doing very little it seems. They plan to cancel their current scheme and go it alone. Has anyone got any good advice or done this themselves, are there any pitfalls to be wary of. Any useful advice greatly appreciated.

sickasachip13

Hi,

Your friend is doing absolutely the right thing getting away from a costly company.

If they don't want to go it alone - it's not an easy route - they could consider going with Payplan or CCCS. Both offer, completely free, the DMP service. CCCS is a charity, they have a great website and lovely people. We've been with them for 16months or so and they've been great.

Around here, have a look at the DMP Mutual Support Thread - there's lots of discussions there that could help.

SAAC

orchid2010

We manage our own DMP. Some companies contact us either 6 monthly or yearly for an update and we just send a income & expenditure form which I have set up as a spreadsheet. If we can offer to pay a bit more we do, if not we don't. Others we have not heard from again since we started paying them in 2006.

I NEVER speak to any of them on the phone and only deal with them by letter.:D

lala9

orchid2010 wrote: »

We manage our own DMP. Some companies contact us either 6 monthly or yearly for an update and we just send a income & expenditure form which I have set up as a spreadsheet. If we can offer to pay a bit more we do, if not we don't. Others we have not heard from again since we started paying them in 2006.

I NEVER speak to any of them on the phone and only deal with them by letter.:D

Hi Orchid

Thanks for that. Have all of your debts been handed over to DCAs? Did you get much hassle initially? My friend has been doing this since about Aug 2010, so most of the debts have frozen interest and some with DCAs, and some are still being awkward and charging interest and charges. I think I could have done a better job of this for my friend and done it for free Once we give notice to the DMP company do you think the loan companies will kick up a fuss and demand the full monthly payments, or will they not even realise the changover or even care?

lala9

sickasachip13 wrote: »

Hi,

Your friend is doing absolutely the right thing getting away from a costly company.

If they don't want to go it alone - it's not an easy route - they could consider going with Payplan or CCCS. Both offer, completely free, the DMP service. CCCS is a charity, they have a great website and lovely people. We've been with them for 16months or so and they've been great.

Around here, have a look at the DMP Mutual Support Thread - there's lots of discussions there that could help.

SAAC

Thanks Sickasachip, you are so right, I just wish they had done it earlier, could have saved them about £1800 over time

sickasachip13

Hi Lala,

Well, we live and learn don't we?! You need to prepare her for a lot of hassle from the DMP company - there's been a lot of people coming on here who are trying to get away from these companies and getting all sorts of hassle and scare-tactics to get them to stay. Could be better to go with CCCS or Payplan... then you just do the SOA with them and hand the whole lot over!

SAAC

lala9

Yeah I can imagine you would get some hassle, in their T&Cs it does say you can cancel but need to give 30 days written notice. I remember well over 10 years ago I decided to get rid of Baines and Ernst, I had been with them for almost a year, then came to my senses. They were quite horrible in fact.

sickasachip13

Hi,

How's your pal getting on Lala?

SAAC

lala9

sickasachip13 wrote: »

Hi,

How's your pal getting on Lala?

SAAC

Hi Sickasachip

Sorry only just noticed your response. This week they have told GP that they no longer need their services and actually to our surprise they were ok about it, tried to make him stay but didn't try anything underhand. Basically we are going to use the £75 which we were paying GP an distribute this proportionate to the debt to the creditors. We intend to write to them explaining this and hope they accept our offer, bit scary.

JoV

Hi i'm in the same situation, currently with B&E and they are charging £35 a month for management fees so I telephoned them to say I wanted to cancel, been with them for about 3 years now, no problems but just figured I could use that £35 to pay off debts. I have received a letter from Halifax CC to say they will carry on accepting £37 per month and will review in 6 months, Provident I have phoned and they said they will accept the same as DMP £10 per month (only little balance) and Barclaycard CC sent a letter saying if you are no longer on DMP give us a ring and we will be happy to discuss. So far so good fingers crossed that those companies will be fine.

I do however owe £666 (evil) council tax and dont know where to start. Woman on phone just said pay what you can until you receive a final reminder and then give them a ring to see what they can sort out.
x

lala9

JoV wrote: »

Hi i'm in the same situation, currently with B&E and they are charging £35 a month for management fees so I telephoned them to say I wanted to cancel, been with them for about 3 years now, no problems but just figured I could use that £35 to pay off debts. I have received a letter from Halifax CC to say they will carry on accepting £37 per month and will review in 6 months, Provident I have phoned and they said they will accept the same as DMP £10 per month (only little balance) and Barclaycard CC sent a letter saying if you are no longer on DMP give us a ring and we will be happy to discuss. So far so good fingers crossed that those companies will be fine.

I do however owe £666 (evil) council tax and dont know where to start. Woman on phone just said pay what you can until you receive a final reminder and then give them a ring to see what they can sort out.
x

Hi JoV

Glad to hear that things seem to be going ok so far for you. It's rather daunting isn't it. My partner is having a bit of a stress about it. I've heard council tax folk can be a bit of a nightmare but I'm sure you'll sort it out, good luck!