DMP and maternity

Lemondrop

I've been on a DMP for two and a half years and have paid off around 18K, roughly a third of my total debt, spread over around 10 creditors. Now I'm pregnant with my first child (unplanned but not unwanted) - not a great time to have a baby when money is so tight, but that's nature for you. I would love to take a year off to spend with my new baby but sadly I can't afford to take much maternity leave because of my financial position. I earn more than my partner so can't rely on him for support. As I earn a decent salary, I don't think I will be entitled to any benefits other than standard child benefit. I've worked out that even for the modest time I am planning to take off all my surplus income will be wiped out - which means no DMP payment. Has anyone else experienced this and what happened with your creditors? I read somewhere that if you offer a token amount of even £1 a month to 'show willing' creditors will accept your temporary change in circumstances. Obviously this is a big worry for me. I would really like to hear others' experience and also any general tips or information about how to manage when on maternity leave and in debt! Any replies are much appreciated.

Mooglet71

Gosh I could have written that almost word for word except this is my second baby. We were told we couldn't have any more children which ironically led to depression and me spending money = my debt.

My husband is a student so this is a bit of curve ball.
Have you spoken to your DMP provider? Do you get any mat pay from work. I have worked out that I will be able to take 6 months off, but no more than that. I would love to take a year but it's just not possible financially.

For me the biggest headache is going to be childcare at £927 per month (including my older daughter's after school club)

I have no idea how we will manage! Any ideas from anyone else gratefully received!

Nickyj

Hi. I too am pregnant with my second child. Lemondrop, I can't help with your situation I'm afraid but I'm sure someone will be able to shortly.
Mooglet71 - does the company you work for provide the childcare vouchers? I used these for my sons nursery fees, it wasn't a huge amount but every little helps as they say!

Depth_Charge

Lemondrop wrote: »

I've been on a DMP for two and a half years and have paid off around 18K, roughly a third of my total debt, spread over around 10 creditors. Now I'm pregnant with my first child (unplanned but not unwanted) - not a great time to have a baby when money is so tight, but that's nature for you. I would love to take a year off to spend with my new baby but sadly I can't afford to take much maternity leave because of my financial position. I earn more than my partner so can't rely on him for support. As I earn a decent salary, I don't think I will be entitled to any benefits other than standard child benefit. I've worked out that even for the modest time I am planning to take off all my surplus income will be wiped out - which means no DMP payment. Has anyone else experienced this and what happened with your creditors? I read somewhere that if you offer a token amount of even £1 a month to 'show willing' creditors will accept your temporary change in circumstances. Obviously this is a big worry for me. I would really like to hear others' experience and also any general tips or information about how to manage when on maternity leave and in debt! Any replies are much appreciated.

Hi

You can only pay what you can afford and creditors you would hope will understand this and accept the offers as outlined on a Financial Statement if they are in line with recognised trigger figures.

Any amended Financial Statement would clearly show that your circumstances will have changed and that should clearly speak for itself.

Your creditors will have a log of your previous payment record and ought to be sympathetic to your situation as any normal sensible human being or organisation should be or what is the point of people trying to do their best to pay their debts.

The problem is that a Debt Management Plan is a informal arrangement which again speaks for itself and maybe there are people and organisations out there that are not in the real world and cannot work out simple mathematics etc but there are guidelines that creditors are supposed to follow so......

You may get all the creditors to play it fair so to speak but then again some may not and the with the number of creditors you mention my hunch would be that there could be one or two quirks along the way.

There is also the usual recovery actions / procedures that creditors can 'get up to' so to speak such as collection agencies, CCJ's & charging orders (if applicable) etc.

If you keep your creditors fully informed then thats basically all you can do and see what happens.

If you are not fully up on Debt Management Plans (pros & cons etc) then it be wise to read up and prepare as knowledge is power in this game especially if you end up having to deal with calls from creditors or their confederates along the way.

Are you handling your own DMP or using a charity / company?

If you are using a charity or company then one would hope they would deal with things for you but this may not be exactly how it will work if we are talking about very small pro-rata or token offers / payments

Citizens Advice guide on Debt Management Plans link below that may help

http://mymoney.nedcab.org.uk/moneyadvice/remedy_4.asp

Best wishes and keep us informed if you can.

peteuk

I was going to suggest what depth charge has said....

Up date your fianancle statement and then this will be used to work out your DMP. Ours has changed a couple of times, with moving house (due to my work) then my OH being unemployed for a period.

If your DMP is will an organisation then contact them they will be able to help.

Child tax credit is set up to assist people to return to work, after having babies. Contact them you may be able to claim something. They also take into account child care costs (must be with a registered child minder or care provider) if you dont ask, you dont get! they may say no! but its worth looking at. I am sure I have seen a online calculator for what you may be entitled to claim.

Good luck!

Pete

Willing2Learn

Hi,

I've got nothing new to add on the advice or support front.

I did however want to wish Lemondrop, Mooglet and Nickyj good luck with your pregnancies!!! It's like a baby-boomer thread! (Felt wrong to just read without commenting)

Depth_Charge

Willing2Learn wrote: »

Hi,

I've got nothing new to add on the advice or support front.

I did however want to wish Lemondrop, Mooglet and Nickyj good luck with your pregnancies!!! It's like a baby-boomer thread! (Felt wrong to just read without commenting)

Hi Willing2Learn

Yes, I'll second this post