DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 9

Growurown

andrar wrote: »

I'm using Payplan and other than me having to prompt them to send out my extra money to creditors when I overpay its all going OK *touch wood*

I pay monthly so not sure about weekly payments. One other thing is that they don't keep your DFD and total debt owed payments exactly up to date so keep on top of this yourself - I just did a quick check and worked out I'm about £700 shy which has added 3 months onto my DFD! Not the most motivating but at least I know now.

Good luck!

Step Change don't keep the balances on your account either. They work on the assumption that all interest and charges have stopped and that all your payment goes towards reducing the debt. They do say though in the paperwork that it is up to the client to keep track of balances and change them as necessary via the website. However some people miss this vital piece of information and find they still owe a lot of money when they thought their debt was paid up. When I had my annual review with Step Change they also asked me whether I had updated my balances, so no excuses for me to say I didn't know!

andrar

Growurown wrote: »

Step Change don't keep the balances on your account either. They work on the assumption that all interest and charges have stopped and that all your payment goes towards reducing the debt. They do say though in the paperwork that it is up to the client to keep track of balances and change them as necessary via the website. However some people miss this vital piece of information and find they still owe a lot of money when they thought their debt was paid up. When I had my annual review with Step Change they also asked me whether I had updated my balances, so no excuses for me to say I didn't know!

Yep, that's exactly what i've just found out! I didn't see this info on the website so missed it but glad I know now and hopefully no more surprises!

kylie_smiley

Hi all. Hope it's ok for me to post. Had a proper, official light bulb moment last night and was awake until about 3am looking at my options. I have built up a fair amount of debt, which I've kind of ignored, but it's getting to the point now where I'm worrying I soon won't be able to make my minimum payments. So I called StepChange this morning after doing their Debt Remedy thingy and they were brilliant.

I think im going to need to go down the road of a DMP, and have sent for the application pack to take the first steps to being debt free. Forgive me for not reading the whole thread before posting, but is there anything I need to know/do urgently now?!

Off to read the rest of the thread now.

Thanks all

Mr_Mink

kylie_smiley wrote: »

Hi all. Hope it's ok for me to post. Had a proper, official light bulb moment last night and was awake until about 3am looking at my options. I have built up a fair amount of debt, which I've kind of ignored, but it's getting to the point now where I'm worrying I soon won't be able to make my minimum payments. So I called StepChange this morning after doing their Debt Remedy thingy and they were brilliant.

I think im going to need to go down the road of a DMP, and have sent for the application pack to take the first steps to being debt free. Forgive me for not reading the whole thread before posting, but is there anything I need to know/do urgently now?!

Off to read the rest of the thread now.

Thanks all

Hi kylie_smiley, I'm quite new to this game too. Started with Payplan 4 months ago. Congrats on making the decision, it's a tough choice but it really is worth it. As a heads up, the first month or two are the worst, after that it all settles down nicely so don't give up if it seems like things are all going wrong (unless of course they are going really wrong but if that happens fix it, not give up), sorry I'm rambling now. As a useful heads up, you'll need a new bank account, could be worth getting one set up now (I don't know about affiliate banks but it can't be with any bank that is one of your creditors) and arrange your income to be sent to the new account.

kylie_smiley

Mr_Mink wrote: »

Hi kylie_smiley, I'm quite new to this game too. Started with Payplan 4 months ago. Congrats on making the decision, it's a tough choice but it really is worth it. As a heads up, the first month or two are the worst, after that it all settles down nicely so don't give up if it seems like things are all going wrong (unless of course they are going really wrong but if that happens fix it, not give up), sorry I'm rambling now. As a useful heads up, you'll need a new bank account, could be worth getting one set up now (I don't know about affiliate banks but it can't be with any bank that is one of your creditors) and arrange your income to be sent to the new account.

Thank you for your reply. Yes. I'm off into town to get that sorted tomorrow morning. No time today now. I think I'm safe with Nationwide or Co-op as my creditors are HSBC, MBNA, Natwest and Barclaycard. Have told a good friend as she is in a similar situation and need to tell another good friend as well to make sure I have a bit of a support network.

jubilee14

HI Kylie-Smiley and welcome. Best advice would be log on hear and ask any questions as there is so much advice.

secondly as well as the bank account set up already mentioned need to arrange token payments to be sent out. Folks recommend doing this at two months i did it with a letter stating i am now in financial difficulty - this is my SC DMP ref no ( you will get that as soon as your DMP is set up) and request they stop interest.

have had varying degrees of success some people get interest frozen some its reduced and some its just a battle ( but thats for another day)

with the money you dont spend on paying creditors put away for an emergency fund as with 1nr failed washing machine and 1 car needing repairs with no cc to fall back on you do need a bit in the pot to help you out on things that just happen.

You may get a few calls when the first payment gets missed but usually that becuase various bank depts dont talk to each other but nearly always it works itself out in 6 - 8 weeks dont panic its normal.

Well done in taking the steps towards DF!

Adds2708

Hey everyone! Thought i'd post here as I've just set up a DMP with Valour FM..
Basically, I've got around 6 grands worth of debt with various credit cards and loans(also an unpaid orange phone bill from last year which I forgot about!) so I've set up a DMP with valour who have seemed brilliant, they said they'd contact all the creditors etc but is there anything I need to do in the mean time other than just make the payments?

Time_to_face_the_music

Adds2708 wrote: »

Hey everyone! Thought i'd post here as I've just set up a DMP with Valour FM..
Basically, I've got around 6 grands worth of debt with various credit cards and loans(also an unpaid orange phone bill from last year which I forgot about!) so I've set up a DMP with valour who have seemed brilliant, they said they'd contact all the creditors etc but is there anything I need to do in the mean time other than just make the payments?

Hi and welcome Adds2708 :hello:

Have you paid any money to Valour yet? Or signed anything? Did they make their terms and conditions clear?

"Initial Fee means the initial fee used to cover the costs reaching an agreement with your creditors and setting up your management programme. This fee is 100% of your first payment and 85% of your second payment. The 15% of your second payment will be distributed to your creditors within 5 days of receipt of your second payment subject to our normal minimum distribution fee.
Monthly Fee means the monthly Fee payable for our Services. This is an amount equal to 17.5% of your Monthly Payment, subject to a minimum of £32.99 and a maximum of £100. This minimum payment distribution fee will be charged every time payments are distributed to your creditors.
Annual Review Fee means the fee we charge to cover the formal review of your account that we make periodically every twelve months from the time that you enter onto a Debt Management Plan. This is £29.99 and will be taken out of every twelfth monthly payment."

StepChange or Payplan will offer you an identical service for free. If you have not paid or signed anything, please contact Valour and cancel immediately. Then check out this thread:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4228011

Time_to_face_the_music

andrar wrote: »

Just found this thread and very happy I did too! Started my DMP with Payplan end of last year and find it annoying sometimes that each time I overpay I have to remind them to pay the extra to my creditors or it just sits there.

Other than that so far so good, how'd everyone else getting along??

Mr_Mink wrote: »

Hello all

Me and my OH started our DMP with Payplan a couple of months ago with Payplan. Must say it was the best decision we ever made (can actually sleep at night these days :-) ). Just wondering if anyone else has had dealings with Payplan? They seemed pretty good to us so far and ironed out the few little issues we had.

Anyway, though I'd chime in to say good luck to everyone. Reading through this thread has inspired me to work out our DFD and sell a few bits to try and bring it a bit closer.

kylie_smiley wrote: »

Hi all. Hope it's ok for me to post. Had a proper, official light bulb moment last night and was awake until about 3am looking at my options. I have built up a fair amount of debt, which I've kind of ignored, but it's getting to the point now where I'm worrying I soon won't be able to make my minimum payments. So I called StepChange this morning after doing their Debt Remedy thingy and they were brilliant.

I think im going to need to go down the road of a DMP, and have sent for the application pack to take the first steps to being debt free. Forgive me for not reading the whole thread before posting, but is there anything I need to know/do urgently now?!

Off to read the rest of the thread now.

Thanks all

Hi and welcome to andrar, Mr Mink and kylie_smiley :hello:

It's great to have you all here and hope you use this thread for advice, help, experience and the wonderful mutual support.

Any questions, please shout out. There is always someone here will try and help

kylie_smiley

jubilee14 wrote: »

HI Kylie-Smiley and welcome. Best advice would be log on hear and ask any questions as there is so much advice.

secondly as well as the bank account set up already mentioned need to arrange token payments to be sent out. Folks recommend doing this at two months i did it with a letter stating i am now in financial difficulty - this is my SC DMP ref no ( you will get that as soon as your DMP is set up) and request they stop interest.

have had varying degrees of success some people get interest frozen some its reduced and some its just a battle ( but thats for another day)

with the money you dont spend on paying creditors put away for an emergency fund as with 1nr failed washing machine and 1 car needing repairs with no cc to fall back on you do need a bit in the pot to help you out on things that just happen.

You may get a few calls when the first payment gets missed but usually that becuase various bank depts dont talk to each other but nearly always it works itself out in 6 - 8 weeks dont panic its normal.

Well done in taking the steps towards DF!

Thank you so much for this. I'm off to Co-Op tomorrow after I call SC tomorrow and ask a few more (silly) questions. I sent for the application, and have received it via email...this doesn't mean it is set up yet, does it? I'm worried it's set up already and so I won't be able the move the pennies in my account to the new one!

Also, I have a payment due at the end of this month for one of my creditors, it's set up as a direct debit - as are the others. What should I do about that? Pay as normal, or not pay? I'm asking here and I'm also asking at SC - they must get so many silly questions!

I'm feeling a bit more positive about the steps I have taken after speaking to two of my best friends, and just want to get the ball rolling and get things set up.

What happens after it's all set up? I send the letters off and wait?