DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 9

Find_The_Real

Good luck with the creditors meeting and I hope it is good news. I found it to be the worst bit out of everything I went through as you are so close to getting it sorted but entirely dependent on the creditors. I do think they are more accepting of an IVA these days at a much lower rate as most get nothing in bankruptcy even with an IPA.

Do pop over to the IVA board as well if you have any questions or just want some support.

Time_to_face_the_music

Hi everyone :hello:

Welcome to all newbies and it's good to see some familiar faces here too. I feel terrible because I haven't popped in for so long but have some bad stuff going on with redundancy situation at work and have been buried under all of that.

Hope everyone has had a good week and is looking forward to the weekend. I know I am :beer:

Bit of news from me today, after 20 months our first debt has been passed to a DCA, Cabot Financial. I don't know why but I was always worried about this happening and really wanted the debts to stay with the original creditor until they were paid off. It was probably silly but having read some things on the forums about aggressive DCAs, I was just petrified of them

Anyway the debt was Lloyds TSB and after 30 minutes on the phone to Cabot, all I can say is ... I would take them over Lloyds TSB any day! So from this month, we pay them the same amount and the interest remains frozen until the end of the debt :j

So for anyone who is also petrified of DCAs, please don't be. I wish this had happened right at the start of our debt and will be delighted if 7 remaining creditors pass us over to Cabot too!

Time_to_face_the_music

LadBroke wrote: »

Hi there,

I am hoping that I am posting this in the right section ?

Due to stupidity on my part CCCS/StepChange had no other choice but to finally close my DMP.

Some of my creditors have requested information such as an "Income - Expenditure" .

I would like to know whether there is an official template as I don't have access to my the items list I issued for the CCCS almost two years ago.

Can someone help me and provide such a list ?

Many thanks in advance :T

Find_The_Real wrote: »

Hello LabBroke and welcome.

One of the best websites for those that are not using one the the main free DMP providers is this one:

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

They offer tons of practical advice and you can also sign up to their free online assisted DMP to help you through it.

It may also be an idea to read through the threads here as well as there are a number of fellow posters who have gone self-managed.

Do make sure that your figures are a reasonable amount to live on without having to struggle through the month as although most people want to throw as much as they can against their debt, generally a DMP can last quite a while and so you should make sure there is enough to live on and also to have a small amount set aside for emergencies each month as there is no credit to fall back on should you need access to money.

Good luck.

We use the NED CAB DMP for our self managed DMP and it is fantastic, best thing we ever did was move to there.

The paperwork is brilliant and the allowances are higher than StepChange (ex CCCS) so it has allowed us to live off our old budget, yet still save to pay off smaller debts.

LadBroke - you have clearly had problems with your DMP in the past and you do need a lot of motivation to run your own plan. No-one here will judge you because we are all in the same boat and we understand the problems associated with being in a DMP.

Why not stick around and join us on this thread for lots of help, advice and support.

jubilee14

Hello TTFM glad to see you 'board' things dont seem quite right without yours and HH advice

Sorry about the redundancy stress and hope it sorts it out for the best what ever outcome.

Enjoy the weekend its been a looong week

Mojo13

Thanks to everyone for their advise. I took the plunge and phoned Stepchange with a couple of questions today, felt like a big step forward.

After filling in my budget plans with them the figure they have come up with will mean it takes just over 19yrs to pay it all back, does this seem a period of time that creditors will accept as it seems so long, I'm happy with that but in peoples experiences is it something they are likely to accept.

I also asked about changng banks and step change said it is possible to stay with Barclays as they have an arrangement with them about not off setting, has anyone done this. I think it will be a lot easier but also felt a complete move might feel better.

Sorry to ramble on

Mo

Find_The_Real

Time_to_face_the_music wrote: »

Hi everyone :hello:

Hi TTFTM

Sorry to hear about your redundancy woes, I hope it all goes ok for you.

Also pleased things went ok with the new DCA. As most people who know me from here, I actually used to like speaking to my DCA's as I only once had a mildly stroppy one who soon changed their tune when I snapped back, so although I know everyone says to only write to them, I find a phone call can sometimes be just as painless.

Mojo13 wrote: »

Thanks to everyone for their advise. I took the plunge and phoned Stepchange with a couple of questions today, felt like a big step forward.

After filling in my budget plans with them the figure they have come up with will mean it takes just over 19yrs to pay it all back, does this seem a period of time that creditors will accept as it seems so long, I'm happy with that but in peoples experiences is it something they are likely to accept.

I also asked about changng banks and step change said it is possible to stay with Barclays as they have an arrangement with them about not off setting, has anyone done this. I think it will be a lot easier but also felt a complete move might feel better.

Sorry to ramble on

Mo

Good luck with the DMP. Regardless of the advice of SC I would always move my account to a bank where I don't have any debts just incase they decide to offset. As they are saying it may be 19 years to pay this off, it may be an idea to have a look at other options depending on assets and amount owed whilst you are in a DMP. I used this route as a stepping stone whilst I did a lot of research in IVA/Bankruptcy to decide what to do as mine was saying 27 years which I think is too long in just my own opinion.

Good luck to all the other newbies as well that are thinking or just starting a DMP.

Samjangi

Update from me. New bank account sorted. Almost all DDs switched over. Stepchange payment comes out on 1st November. Waiting to start hearing from creditors. We feel so much better already and there is definitely less stress between us. 6 out of 9 of our credit accounts are with Santander!! So it will be interesting to see what happens there as far as interest goes.
The support and encouragement on here is great. I just wish we had done this sooner instead of struggling on for so long.

Murphy2011

Quick question, been on our SC DMP for a year now (yay!) & due for our review. There has been a death in the family in the last week which may have an impact on where one of my stepchildren lives (currently with us) & this decision would make a big difference on DMP payment. Will SC expect me to do review now but then maybe have to change it again in a month or 2 or can I delay review until we know what is happening, also how would creditors look at this as I have already had a few of the review is due letters, would I need to contact them individually as well? Sorry to be a pain, all help appreciated!

Hopelessly_Hopeful

Mojo13 wrote: »

Thanks to everyone for their advise. I took the plunge and phoned Stepchange with a couple of questions today, felt like a big step forward.

After filling in my budget plans with them the figure they have come up with will mean it takes just over 19yrs to pay it all back, does this seem a period of time that creditors will accept as it seems so long, I'm happy with that but in peoples experiences is it something they are likely to accept.

I also asked about changng banks and step change said it is possible to stay with Barclays as they have an arrangement with them about not off setting, has anyone done this. I think it will be a lot easier but also felt a complete move might feel better.

Sorry to ramble on

Mo

Hi and welcome

It's all personal choice and the important thing is to find a solution that suits you.

My own view is that 19 years is too long. Never mind the creditors - do you want to live with that for all that time? My choice for anything over 8 years would be to look at an IVA or bankruptcy. How much do you owe?

HHx

Hopelessly_Hopeful

Time_to_face_the_music wrote: »

Hi everyone :hello:

Welcome to all newbies and it's good to see some familiar faces here too. I feel terrible because I haven't popped in for so long but have some bad stuff going on with redundancy situation at work and have been buried under all of that.

Hope everyone has had a good week and is looking forward to the weekend. I know I am :beer:

Bit of news from me today, after 20 months our first debt has been passed to a DCA, Cabot Financial. I don't know why but I was always worried about this happening and really wanted the debts to stay with the original creditor until they were paid off. It was probably silly but having read some things on the forums about aggressive DCAs, I was just petrified of them

Anyway the debt was Lloyds TSB and after 30 minutes on the phone to Cabot, all I can say is ... I would take them over Lloyds TSB any day! So from this month, we pay them the same amount and the interest remains frozen until the end of the debt :j

So for anyone who is also petrified of DCAs, please don't be. I wish this had happened right at the start of our debt and will be delighted if 7 remaining creditors pass us over to Cabot too!

Big hugs twin. That said we KNOW you can do it.

Great news on the interest though, well done.

HHx