Dmp?

klfairy

A variety of events have conspired against my OH and I in the last few weeks, meaning our income has dropped by about half. Things may well pick up, but I can't bank on it.

I googled "IVA" and ended up being contacted by Vincent Bond who proposed a DMP. On paper this seems like a great idea because it could "save" us a couple of hundred pounds (or more) per month. My OH is not at all keen on it. He's of the "it'll be fiiiiiine" school of thought. He's worried about our credit rating (mine is just about ok, his is pretty shot already) and what happens if we want to go onto a fixed rate mortgage instead of the standard variable one.

I can't seem to find out what the real-life consequences of a DMP are, whether OH is right to be worried.

Ideally what I want to do is to reduce the outgoings dramatically for now and then when everything is more stable/more money coming in we can then pay more.

BlushingRose

Firstly, don;t go to a fee paying company if you decide to do a DMP, use one of the charities x

Secondly, why not post up a statement of affairs so that the lovely people here can help with your outgoings and point to places that you might be able to cut down to save money?

eyeopener2

Don't touch Vincent Bond.

Go to CCCS or Payplan or National Debtline for advice.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/562271

Look at this, read the boards and for DMP fun and games have a look here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3284382

and here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3723081

antonic

I recommend Payplan - see my sig for details why

[Deleted User]

I agree with the above, never pay for the service, you can use a free provider or go it alone!

It will "shoot" your credit report as you say, BUT if you are going to end up in a mess anyway, this may be the better option.

If you can avoid it then do, but if you are going to miss payments then you may as well just take the DMP.

I decided not to take a DMP and target debts by asking for reduced payment amounts, moving things around. I have had some arrangement to pays put on my c-report (as with a DMP) but I have been able to pick and choose how to do this and if I want to overpay and get back on the agreed terms I can - I also found that even when I was back on agreed terms some creditors kept interest reduced or frozen for me.

HTH and good luck - I am sure you will be just fine now you have taken some advice! :-)

klfairy

Thanks

I've been on the phone to the CCCS. I am so fed up though. I sorted out our finances really well at the end of last year and everything was going really well. We've all but paid off one credit card, working on other bits and bobs, have a proper budget and everything, then the rug has been firmly pulled from under our feet and I'm very worried that everything is about to go horribly wrong. It hasn't happened - yet - but in a few weeks it could very well be a big big nightmare. I'm trying to pre-empt the mess.

I've just applied for a new joint account with the Co-op but been turned down. Grrr. Need to get a new account somewhere we don't have debts and obviously would rather avoid NatWest right now.

[Deleted User]

So have you decided to go with CCCS now?

I don't know how to get accounts when you are being declined to be honest, I just know the linked banks to avoid.

Ebz

Hi klfairy,

When you applied to the Coop, did you apply for a Cashminder account? That's their basic bank account, it means no overdraft etc and is the one recommended if you decide to go on a DMP as it has no credit facilities. You need to ring and speak to them in order to set this up, unfortunately you can't do it online, but the number's on their website. It's just if you applied for a 'normal' account with an overdraft facility, that might be why you were declined. Hope this helps!

Just been setting up new accounts with them for myself and my hubby as we're about to enter a DMP.

Ebz

klfairy

Yes I had accidentally applied for a "normal" account. Presumably they won't be there at this time (or in about half an hour when I've got DS settled). I'll phone tomorrow when I get home from work. I'd rather go with Co-op if I can, seeing as they're supposed to be the goodish guys.

Urgh. All such a headache. I'm quite tempted by a DMP of some kind so I know it's all taken care of, rather than juggling and hoping for the best. Everything was fine and comfortable and in hand until just a couple of weeks ago; it's been non-stop worry since then and I've had enough of it!

BlushingRose

As I said above, why not post a SOA which might help for a while as well, then we can see what's going on

klfairy

It's difficult with a SOA at the moment because I don't actually know how much we've got coming in. I can only guess and I don't know how accurate my guesses are. I did one at the end of last year and have got a lot sorted since then, but honestly, this isn't a budgetting/switch service providers kind of situation, sadly.