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  • julesu83
    julesu83 Posts: 5 Forumite
    I am in the process of setting up a DMP with StepChange but was wondering about the type of debt they deal with. I have several pay day loans (I know, I know). Do StepChange talk to them as well? I assume they do as it was on their debtor list options?!
    Total Debt: £13,271. StepChange Approx. DFD June 2021...if cleared sooner I'm buying the :beer:
  • *Foolish*
    *Foolish* Posts: 165 Forumite
    julesu83 wrote: »
    I am in the process of setting up a DMP with StepChange but was wondering about the type of debt they deal with. I have several pay day loans (I know, I know). Do StepChange talk to them as well? I assume they do as it was on their debtor list options?!

    Yeah they do, I have a few included in mine! :o
    First DMP payment 10/06/13
    Debt Free approx Jan 2018
    Starting debt: £50,013 :eek::eek:
    Current debt £39,128.41

    :eek:
  • JohnLuther
    JohnLuther Posts: 16 Forumite
    Please help!! Vanquis debt. Suicidal. Hello.
    In December 2012 i got a letter saying "you have been pre selected for a vanquis card". Now... i had been declared bankrupt in 2009. So ofcourse i never expected to ever get offered a card.
    I have NO bank account, ive been unemployed since 2007, aged 40 live with my parents and i own nothing in the way of property a car or anything. Even this PC is on finance via my parents.
    I get benefits that are paid directly into my mothes bank account... Recently applied for a basic HSBC bank account and was refused....

    Anyway... i got the call in december from Vanquis... and i did tell them i was unemployed had no bank account etc. yet i still got the "congratulations you now have a card with £1000 etc etc"

    You know the next bit..... within a few weeks ive drawn it all out .

    Now so far ive only made two payments one of 72 and one of 26. I thought by now id be employed etc etc.....im gettin calls from them every day and now IMPACT COLLECTIONS letters.
    Its the calls that are driving me suicidal. I have to leave the phone unplugged 24/7.

    I did tell em a 3 weeks ago id be able to pay £25 a week... but when your on job seekers ..try living £25 minus a week.

    Anyway.... sorry for the rant folks but can someone just tell me if there is any way i can get the payments to an abolute minimum so i dont do myself in.. i have severe anxiety problems and cant sleep cos i think they might turn up at the house ...which would cause my father to have a heart attack.... he worries about the slightest thing i cant tell my folks i owe on a card...
    the payment is now around £1300 .. i know its not a crazy huge amount..but it is when you are living on jobseeks allowance.

    I need to know if it would be better if i just called them and told them to forward my debt to someone else so at least they wouldnt phone me at 8 am every day.....
    Is that a better idea? then at least i can start to negotiate with someone else from scratch... I fear Vanquis will never leave me alone. I tell my folks that my name is on a mailing list and to ignore these vanquis calls cos its just offers of insurance etc... honestly im in a total mess.

    I am sorry to go on but i really do need someone to tell me that maybe im worrying over nothing. I actually didnt worry this bad several years ago when i owed over 30 grand on various cards etc....

    please help me...

    again apologies for my erratic post.

    Is it better if i just wait till they summons me to court?

    I would prefere ANYTHING than have the phone ringing . It has me on edge so much. Any time i plug it in...i panic thinking its going to ring.

    Please can anyone tell me what i can do to at aleast stop them calling/

    How much should they accept as minimum monthy payments under my circumstances.

    And were they right to give me a card in the first place when i told the guy on the phone i didnt have a bank account.

    Thankyou...

    PS. the last payment of £26 was made only 3 weeks ago... i had agreed over the phone to pay £25 a week cos i trhought i could manage it..but i just couldnt.. now i got a letter saying i owe minimum £119...
    Also...as i have no account i have to pay at Barclays over the counter which then takes several days to clear... so my dilema is even if i make a payment i get calls every day till it clears.

    Really... i know its my fault. i just need some advice .

    thanks again.
  • System
    System Posts: 178,346 Community Admin
    10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    sharp82 wrote: »
    Hoping for a little advice...

    My current unsecured debt is just under £8k.

    Income = £1589
    Expenditure (ex unsecured debt) = £1568

    3 credit cards, 2 payday loans and a catalogue make up my debt.

    Have been on the stepchange site, and they have suggested that I apply for a DRO. I have two worries with this.

    1. Future employers may check my credit file, and I get rejected for jobs. Do many employers check this? I currently work in IT, and am unlikely to apply for a job in a financial institution?

    2. My car. At face value, my car is probably worth £3k. However, its pretty knackered due to poor maintenance, and has a couple of large dents which require panels to be replaced as oppose to being beaten out. I'd be lucky to get £1000 for it on the market. How/who decides on how much your car is worth? I dont want to pay the £90 application fee, to only be rejected because of my car

    Hi and welcome to the forum:)

    It sounds like you would benefit from some free and impartial advice.

    If you’ve already been through Debt Remedy and it suggested a DRO, you should have a phone number in your pack which you can call and they’ll have access to all your details.

    We can’t really comment on future employment, this is down the individual organisation you apply for. Insolvency does affect some professions but if you’re unlikely to apply for jobs in financial services you may not be affected.

    In regards the car, you can have this independently valued yourself to reflect the condition of the vehicle.

    I’d recommend you give the number in your pack a call.
    I hope this helps.

    Kind regards,

    Mat
    This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com
  • System
    System Posts: 178,346 Community Admin
    10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    julesu83 wrote: »
    I am in the process of setting up a DMP with StepChange but was wondering about the type of debt they deal with. I have several pay day loans (I know, I know). Do StepChange talk to them as well? I assume they do as it was on their debtor list options?!

    Hi and welcome to the forum:)

    Glad to hear you’ve come to us for help.

    Yes, we do deal with payday loan debts, just let us know the details.

    I hope this helps.

    Kind regards,

    Mat
    This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com
  • System
    System Posts: 178,346 Community Admin
    10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    JohnLuther wrote: »
    Please help!! Vanquis debt. Suicidal. Hello.
    In December 2012 i got a letter saying "you have been pre selected for a vanquis card". Now... i had been declared bankrupt in 2009. So ofcourse i never expected to ever get offered a card.
    I have NO bank account, ive been unemployed since 2007, aged 40 live with my parents and i own nothing in the way of property a car or anything. Even this PC is on finance via my parents.
    I get benefits that are paid directly into my mothes bank account... Recently applied for a basic HSBC bank account and was refused....

    Anyway... i got the call in december from Vanquis... and i did tell them i was unemployed had no bank account etc. yet i still got the "congratulations you now have a card with £1000 etc etc"

    You know the next bit..... within a few weeks ive drawn it all out .

    Now so far ive only made two payments one of 72 and one of 26. I thought by now id be employed etc etc.....im gettin calls from them every day and now IMPACT COLLECTIONS letters.
    Its the calls that are driving me suicidal. I have to leave the phone unplugged 24/7.

    I did tell em a 3 weeks ago id be able to pay £25 a week... but when your on job seekers ..try living £25 minus a week.

    Anyway.... sorry for the rant folks but can someone just tell me if there is any way i can get the payments to an abolute minimum so i dont do myself in.. i have severe anxiety problems and cant sleep cos i think they might turn up at the house ...which would cause my father to have a heart attack.... he worries about the slightest thing i cant tell my folks i owe on a card...
    the payment is now around £1300 .. i know its not a crazy huge amount..but it is when you are living on jobseeks allowance.

    I need to know if it would be better if i just called them and told them to forward my debt to someone else so at least they wouldnt phone me at 8 am every day.....
    Is that a better idea? then at least i can start to negotiate with someone else from scratch... I fear Vanquis will never leave me alone. I tell my folks that my name is on a mailing list and to ignore these vanquis calls cos its just offers of insurance etc... honestly im in a total mess.

    I am sorry to go on but i really do need someone to tell me that maybe im worrying over nothing. I actually didnt worry this bad several years ago when i owed over 30 grand on various cards etc....

    please help me...

    again apologies for my erratic post.

    Is it better if i just wait till they summons me to court?

    I would prefere ANYTHING than have the phone ringing . It has me on edge so much. Any time i plug it in...i panic thinking its going to ring.

    Please can anyone tell me what i can do to at aleast stop them calling/

    How much should they accept as minimum monthy payments under my circumstances.

    And were they right to give me a card in the first place when i told the guy on the phone i didnt have a bank account.

    Thankyou...

    PS. the last payment of £26 was made only 3 weeks ago... i had agreed over the phone to pay £25 a week cos i trhought i could manage it..but i just couldnt.. now i got a letter saying i owe minimum £119...
    Also...as i have no account i have to pay at Barclays over the counter which then takes several days to clear... so my dilema is even if i make a payment i get calls every day till it clears.

    Really... i know its my fault. i just need some advice .

    thanks again.

    Hi JohnLuther,

    I hope you don't mind me jumping in. I wanted to try and put your mind at ease.

    Firstly to stop the phone calls you could ask them in writing to only contact you by letter. You should send this recorded delivery from a Post Office so you can track receipt of it. After that they shouldn't continue to phone you.

    A credit card debt is an unsecured credit debt. It is a non-priority debt so you only need to repay the credit card in monthly payments that you can afford. From your JobSeekers you should only be paying what you have left once you've paid all your living costs. Even if this is a very small 'good will gesture' payment until you're back in work. £25 every month is almost certainly too high.

    To see how much you can afford you could use our confidential online debt advice tool Debt Remedy

    - you enter your budget details and it would tell you the best way to deal with the debt. It can send you your budget that you can forward to Vanquis - they will then be able to see why you cannot afford £25 per month.

    If you would prefer to speak to one of our debt advisors over the phone you can also contact us

    Ignoring the debt so that it goes to court is not the best way to deal with it. You just need some help to see how much to offer. We can help you with that.

    I hope this helps,

    Thanks,
    Jess
    This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com
  • JohnLuther
    JohnLuther Posts: 16 Forumite
    Thanks. i can afford to pay 25 a month no problem but i thought id be abkle to manage £25 a week... and it just wasnt possible. now they are on to me with letters and calls cos i missed the last 2 weeks afters doing this agreement plan over the phone.

    still had no statement from them either. just 2 IMPACT DEMAND letters.

    if i call them i dunno if they will accept me offering smaller amount and thats what worries me cos they can be really off hand sometimes .

    im gonna call the stepchange helpline soon though. thankyou.
  • Tea_biscuits
    Tea_biscuits Posts: 102 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Hi,

    My husband and I have been in a DMP for a number of years now. Due to having a car on finance I'm under the impression we can't have an IVA depending on the value of the car. What I'd like to do is have a DMP with a company who don't charge for the service we have been paying for years and it doesn't feel as though we are really getting anywhere with it. Can anyone tell me of a good company who don't charge for offering their services. I've just started a new job and can probably up our payments a little but I'm keen to move from the current DMP company.

    Any advice would be much appreciated.

    Thank you.
  • JohnLuther
    JohnLuther Posts: 16 Forumite
    just spoke to stepchange. :j

    the relief is actually unbelievable.

    thanks everyone x :A
  • kaybt
    kaybt Posts: 5 Forumite
    A debt advisor advised us to get an iva. Not sure if charity led one hence why i am calling for backup ideas. Waiting for your one advised on here to call back but that wont b till tues.

    V v v approx figures are

    In 1800.00 per month in wage . 135.00 child benefit

    Got hp car 235.00 pm o/s 8.000 approx
    Cc x 3 about 150 ish to pay out pm still awaiting min paqyment.balance of about 6/7000.00
    Loan 184.0pm 8000.00 o/s
    Studio catalogue 10.00 pm 86.00 os
    Argos 30.00 pm 900 os
    Sofa 76.pm with about 450.00 left (yay)
    Littlewoods 60 pm 2500.00 o/s

    Owe british gas 565.00
    Think thats it

    Then regular bills off my heas this id v rough as not near comp

    Rent 600
    Ct 116
    Tv 12.12
    Water 30
    SKY 26.00
    CAR INS 60.00
    Electric phone and broadband 100.00



    Will check and edit another post to make more accurate but... what would u do? Basically we have lost my income hence the struggle am currently on mat leave and mat pay has ended but will cost me to go backaswell as two under two so will need to pay for childcare which is at least half my wage if one goes to my moms xx

    What is a dmp please and if we take out this iva. After six years.. whats our records going ti be like and if we do di it will we be allowed ti save without that being taken away?
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