DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 9

Still_skint

Hi Ann

I had all the same concerns as you had. Up to now I have never defaulted on any payment but there comes a point when you just can't keep it up anymore. I reached a point where I was left with £100 a month disposable income having paid off my credit cards. I could keep paying this but my debt is likely to get bigger and there will come a time when I just won't have enough money to pay them anymore.
I tried to get a loan to consolidate my debts but no one would lend me anymore money so I have decided to go along the DMP route.
Okay, so you may get default notices and your credit rating will be rock bottom but so what. If you're like me you can't get credit anyway. If I continued to pay interest I would be paying forever and would never make a dent in the debt. I would take it to the grave. At least this way I may be able to get rid of it within 5 years. Good luck with whatever path you take.

debtfree77

AnnM48 wrote: »

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!!

First of all dont panic !! you have taken the hardest step, and your are now dealing with it which is awesome. My situtation sounds similar to yours, for over 2 years i used credit to meet essential bills etc etc and just like you i read these forums and kept wondering should I , shouldn't I etc etc. Taking the plunge was the best decision i made.

The talk of defaults etc etc always worried me but personally i would rather default and pay back what i can afford rather than struggle for the next 6 years and still have the debt to pay back.

As for phone calls i wouldn't worry i haven't had one !!:) I know other have but you could always write to the creditors asking for comunication my mail only, this has worked for some.

They guys and gals here are great and always offer good advice and support.

Still_skint

Just completed the final step with payplan. First payment comes out on 18th June 13. Wish me luck.
In the meantime 2 or 3 of my creditors will not have received any payment. What should I do about that ?

debtfree77

Still_skint wrote: »

Just completed the final step with payplan. First payment comes out on 18th June 13. Wish me luck.
In the meantime 2 or 3 of my creditors will not have received any payment. What should I do about that ?

Hi Still Skint, I would defo get some form off token payment off to them. A postal order or cheque for a £1 would do, just to show you are paying back something.

Time_to_face_the_music

AnnM48 wrote: »

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!!

Hi Ann and welcome :hello:

I think many of us come here with a feeling of failure and wondering how on earth we ended up in this situation. I know I buried my head in the sand for far too long and truly believed there was no solution to our financial issues. Reading this forum and then particularly this thread made me realise there was an answer and, perhaps most importantly, that there were lots of other people in our situation.

You sound like you have had a real light bulb moment (LBM) and it's a horrible experience but it's the turning point for many people, so please look at this as a positive step and you are now on your way to sorting this out. You are very brave to have gone to your HR department and you only have to share your financial situation now with who you choose. We will always be here to listen, help, advise and support you.

My honest opinion about the caravan may not be the right one but I know I would keep it. Being on a DMP is not easy at times and hopefully that caravan will help you and your family have short escapes at very little cost.

Don't worry too much about the phone calls, if you do get them, they stop quite quickly and you can always have a "script" ready:

"I am on a DMP with StepChange, my reference number is *******. Please contact StepChange as they are authorised to deal with you"

and put the phone down, then breathe .......

AnnM48

Thanks for the support!! It's so reassuring to know other people have been through, and are going through the same! I just opened a new basic bank acc today to switch my dds to, even felt worried doing that as they said they do a credit search! Hopefully it all comes back ok! Thanks for the advice about the caravan, I would love to hang onto it, just don't know how else to free up cash to add to the dmp. Still have some work to do to get it all under way, but hopefully heading in right direction!
Step change also mentioned the possibility of switching mtge to int only for a while... But I don't understand how that would help? Surely that would put my payments up at a later date?

antonic

Took my first step towards enjoying my DF future today.

I paid the deposit for my D-Day Battlefield tour in Normandy next year with my Dad

Now only 5 days to my final payment.

Growurown

AnnM48 wrote: »

Thanks for the support!! It's so reassuring to know other people have been through, and are going through the same! I just opened a new basic bank acc today to switch my dds to, even felt worried doing that as they said they do a credit search! Hopefully it all comes back ok! Thanks for the advice about the caravan, I would love to hang onto it, just don't know how else to free up cash to add to the dmp. Still have some work to do to get it all under way, but hopefully heading in right direction!
Step change also mentioned the possibility of switching mtge to int only for a while... But I don't understand how that would help? Surely that would put my payments up at a later date?

Hi Ann, I'm with TTFTM on keeping the caravan. We haven't had a holiday for years now, only managed the odd weekend away and as you say the kids love it then I would keep it. I opted to pay less off my debts to have a better standard of living and less stress. Some people like to pay everything towards their debts and live frugally but ultimately are debt free earlier. It's up to you really which way you want to run your DMP but I think the super frugal option would be difficult with children.

Growurown

antonic wrote: »

Took my first step towards enjoying my DF future today.

I paid the deposit for my D-Day Battlefield tour in Normandy next year with my Dad

Now only 5 days to my final payment.

I bet you can't wait to be debt free antonic. Are you going to celebrate on your first debt free day? Bet it felt good to book your long awaited tour. Congratulations:T

bertman

I got a letter from Fortis yesterday suggesting a face to face meeting with them at their offices to discuss our position, trouble was they are in London and we are well north of Watford! I rang them today and explained that we are with SC and on a DMP. They were really good and asked for the usual statement of affairs to be sent to them which SC are doing.
The guy on the phone said as we have been paying for almost a year we probably wouldn't hear from them again until the debt was cleared. Yet again SC have won the day for us!!