DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 9

ananewman_2

Growurown wrote: »

Hi
I would ditch this lot straight away. If you don't want to go it alone then go with one of the free DMP providers like Step Change or Pay Plan.

Write to them cancelling the agreement. I don't know how much notice you will have to give them but that should be stated in the agreement when you signed up with them.

If you want to go it alone then write to all your creditors (or phone if you are brave enough) to tell them what you are doing. You can always use CAB NED DMP as TTFTM suggested.

Thank you so much. Do you know if there is a template letter I could copy and add my own words to? Im going to give them one months notice and get my next payment out of the way and then write and confirm this to the creditors. Im so fed up with Churchwoods charges and unhelpfulness. I might as well do it on my own and pay a bit extra to get it all sorted.

Hopelessly_Hopeful

debtfree77 wrote: »

Hi All,

Welcome Dizzydi, Still Skint and Keeping calm on your DMP journey. After reading a your posts, thought i would tell you how im doing (as it seem im approx 6 weeks in front of you). I felt exactlty the same as you i was worried for the letters, phone calls and the possibility of a visits regarding my debts. After i posted the initial letters i was scared of answering the telephone, opening mail etc etc, but now after loads of forum reading and help from stepchange i realise there is no need to worry anymore. I have a structured plan in place and my debts will be paid.:) On the note of calls and mail, i have had 0 calls regarding my debts and the only letters i have had are standard ones, missing payment, default notices etc etc which were expected. So honestlty dont worry about it, its only money .

This forum is amazing though loads of help and support here !.

On a positive note i had a PPI claim for my Barclays CA & OD and they paid out £3000 , managed to clear my OD and put some on my CC. 1 debt paid !! :T

Wise words and fantastic news on the PPI!

HHx

Hopelessly_Hopeful

Deleted_User wrote: »

Thank you so much. Do you know if there is a template letter I could copy and add my own words to? Im going to give them one months notice and get my next payment out of the way and then write and confirm this to the creditors. Im so fed up with Churchwoods charges and unhelpfulness. I might as well do it on my own and pay a bit extra to get it all sorted.

Hi and welcome

Are you contractually obliged to give them one months notice? I'd stop the payment today! Have you checked your terms and conditions to see if you gave them the authority to change payments and increase their fees without prior notice? Sounds like it could be a case for complaining to the FOS to me?

HHx

Hopelessly_Hopeful

Deleted_User wrote: »

Thank you so much. Do you know if there is a template letter I could copy and add my own words to? Im going to give them one months notice and get my next payment out of the way and then write and confirm this to the creditors. Im so fed up with Churchwoods charges and unhelpfulness. I might as well do it on my own and pay a bit extra to get it all sorted.

You can just write and say you want to cancel! they have an email address on their homepage.

You might want to point out they are contradicting their first two core values!
Core Values

• Operate with absolute ethics and integrity at all times.
• Hold ourselves accountable to clients, owners, the public, and employees

Have just dug out a few references from their terms and conditions for you to quote against


Recancellation

Afterthe cooling-off period envisaged in condition 1.3, you may end this Agreementat any timeby giving us two weeks' notice in accordance with condition 7. In thesecircumstances wewill be entitled to retain the Set up Fee and any Monthly Management Feesproperly incurred up to the date of termination.

Re them changing the payments

Wherethe original estimates in your Personal Illustration differ from the finalpayments due underthe Debt Management Plan revised balances and timescales will be provided,where requested.


3.11 We will keep you regularly updated of ourdealings with your Creditors.

HHx

Time_to_face_the_music

Deleted_User wrote: »

Hi
I have had a plan with churchwood for about 4 years now. Im getting a bit annoyed as they send payments to my creditors late and have been reducing the amounts they pay to them without my knowledge. I then find out when the creditors call me to ask me why the payments are lower.

Would it be better if i pay them directly myself. I am a bit annoyed that out of the £173 I pay £50 of it is taken as a charge for their fee.

I am seriously considering taking on the payments again myself as it might be easier. How would i cancel the agreement with churchwood and how would i contact the creditors to tell them what i am doing?

Hi Deleted_User :hello:

It looks like HH has given out all the good advice you need already so I just want to welcome you to the thread. Please stick around if you need any help, advice or support

nextyeartina

Hi. I just wanted to tell you how wonderful & understanding Stepchange have been. I've been worrying myself sick since last week because of the reduction in my tax credits, housing benefit & council tax. I finally found the courage today to ring Stepchange to explain my income has dropped by £160 per month. I was expecting them to drop me from the dmp. Instead they've reviewed my budget and reduced my monthly payments from £154 to £88. I can't explain the relief I feel . Thank you Stepchange & thank you to all the lovely people who give out such good advice on here.

Tina x

Time_to_face_the_music

nextyeartina wrote: »

Hi. I just wanted to tell you how wonderful & understanding Stepchange have been. I've been worrying myself sick since last week because of the reduction in my tax credits, housing benefit & council tax. I finally found the courage today to ring Stepchange to explain my income has dropped by £160 per month. I was expecting them to drop me from the dmp. Instead they've reviewed my budget and reduced my monthly payments from £154 to £88. I can't explain the relief I feel . Thank you Stepchange & thank you to all the lovely people who give out such good advice on here.

Tina x

Well done for sorting it out Tina :T

You can only pay what you can afford and creditors need to accept that

savvykaz

Hi all,
Just to say that today I received a letter from Nationwide saying that they are considering applying to the courts for a CCJ and that if I own any property they may issue a charging order on it , my debt to them is only £2,500 so I hope they decide against it.

Hopelessly_Hopeful

savvykaz wrote: »

Hi all,
Just to say that today I received a letter from Nationwide saying that they are considering applying to the courts for a CCJ and that if I own any property they may issue a charging order on it , my debt to them is only £2,500 so I hope they decide against it.

Hi

Sorry to hear about your woes.

Don't forget the may, may is not will! It's rare that these things get to court. If it did go the judge would look at what is 'reasonable'. Make sure you are seen in this light by writing to them now with a summary of your situation, that you didn't just ignore it, you sought advice, agreed a repayment plan, have been paying it, made xx progress and are committed to paying it off. Have they stopped interest? If so thank them if not complain etc. Sent it recorded delivery.

Please let us know how you get on.

HHx

AnnM48

Hi all,
I,ve been following this thread for a few weeks after speaking to stepchange and trying to get my head out of the sand to decide what to do. Think I am going to go ahead with DMP and my head is in a muddle. After completing my budget I was really shocked that we only had £100 left to pay off my £18k credit card bills on a DMP. I can't believe how badly I have budgeted over the years. I think this is the only way forward for us, but feel so anxious about it. I work for a bank who are part of my creditors so was worried about my job. Spoke to HR today and they said they are fine with DMP and no one else will know, I was really worried my manager would find out as at the moment I am still really embarrassed and not ready to share with anyone!
My husband and I also have two HP agreements one for a car and one for a touring caravan. The car will be paid in four years freeing some more cash for the DMP , but the caravan is a stupid HP for about another 8 years!! I am torn weather to try and sell it to break even and free £100 a month now for DMP, but at the same time that is all we do for a holiday and our kids love it. What do you think is the best to do? any advice is welcome!
Also after reading some posts here I have strated to panic about receiving phone calls etc from creditors as I thought they didn't contact you once stepchange got involved. I haven't actually defaulted on anything at all yet, but each month using credit to meet essential bills in order to be able to meet all my payments, so I have never had a default notice in my life... but worried now!!!!
Any help appreciated!!