DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 9

danidav88

debt3by30 wrote: »

thanks everyone.
i sent the step change letter to all creditors (about 8 in total) with a £1 token payment. all cashed the payment.
barclaycard who the majority of debt is with on 2 cards wrote back and said they would freeze interest until they recieve the repayment proposal and they also agreed to only contact in writing so long as i keep in touch with them.
creation (loan and cc) came back with the same.
pounds to pocket sent a yuky letter saying they would sell the debt to a company who use door stop collections. nice. they then suggested a payment plan of 270 a month!!! they are more likely to be getting a tenner a month to be honest. i am going to keep writing to them as the original debt has nearly doubled in recent months due to default fees and interest etc.
very keep ringing 100 times a day. will have to muster up the courage to answer tomorrow.
i am looking forward to actually having money for things like car repairs and tax (sounds stupid) as under step change they allow you small allowences for things like that where previously i would have to rob peter to pay Paul to sort things like that out.
i am worried about the effect on my job but i am close to going on mat leave so hoping i will fall of the radar for a while and during mat leave things will settle down.....

We have a few accounts with shop direct group aka very and they have passed onto a debt recovery company NCO Europe. Very were horrible and had me in tears with anger, I phoned the number that they gave me out of annoyance really and they were lovely took all my details and said very were renowned for being horrible. Payplan have resent payment plan and just awaiting a response. Stick with it

Dani

Constantinople

Hi all,

I've just applied for a DPP (formal Scottish version of a DMP) so hope it's appropriate to post here.

I've done some research on my creditors (everything is still going through StepChange) and from everything I've read it sounds like Halifax can get really nasty, refuse to take reduced payments etc... they're my biggest creditor so my plan is scuppered from the outset if they don't agree and I'm not really sure what the next step would be... anyone got anything positive to say about them? It seems like the most positive outcome would be for them to pass it to a DCA but it's going to be loaded with charges and interest before that happens I guess.. this is £30k worth of debt or so.

Strangely the payday lenders have been fine and have frozen everything.. Halifax will get their money over 3.5 years and some of my loans would have went on that long so I don't see why they'd refuse, but from everything I've read it seems like they will..

Also, reading the other comments here it looks like I may have been a bit tight with my budget.. it's manageable, but I really don't have any contingency if for example an appliance breaks, I need to move (fees etc), have to travel for work and expense things at end of month. Guess there's nothing I can do about this now?

Sorry, just rambling now..

CornishMaid

massivedebts wrote: »

at least doing it this way we are actually paying back what we owe.

I think this is such an important thing and it's been very important to me too. I never went down the route of trying to prove that debts were "unenforceable" or anything like that (although I'm not passing judgement on anyone who does). It's just such a good feeling to be in control and, for me, paying back what I borrowed has been the right choice.

I have been looking back at all my old letters and records of phone calls from creditors today, and remembering the feeling that they would never leave me alone. I set up my own DMP and, yes, the first 6 months or so were tough but once all my creditors were on board and taking me seriously things got much easier. I have very firm about being contacted in writing only, to the point where only last week I received a £20 compensation cheque from a company who I complained to (very politely!) after they phoned me. I even occasionally phone a creditor but always on my terms!

So, to anyone out there taking the first steps - keep going because things can and will get better.

CornishMaid.

P.S. Forgot to say, one thing that I have found really helpful is the OFT Debt Collection Guidance here http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/consultations/OFT664Rev_Debt_collection_g1.pdf
There are lots of things that you can quote in a letter that let creditors know that you are aware of how you should be treated!

Sazzie23

Thanks CornishMaid,

Reassuring and very useful advice

massivedebts

Hey cornishmaid!
I remember you from my early days - well done for getting as far as you have . We still have 2 million years left until out DFD ;-)
MD xx

Equilibrium13

Hi all, those of you who opened a basic Barclays account as advised by StepChange, what do you put down as the branch for the account? Barclays said there is no branch for that sort code and that i can just put down my local branch...?

mon1o

Morning everyone

I feel a bit stressed this morning. Had 2 calls from Barclays this morning already (one was from mercers who i think are the same thing). I answered the phone at the first call and told them I have a review with SC this evening so they will be getting a revised budget soon. They werent happy with this and wanted me to make a payment over the phone as "interest is growing every day" (the guys words not mine!). I said no of course and put the phone down. I have since had another call which I have ignored.

This particular debt is not a small one (just short of £3k) but rather than focus on the smaller ones, part of me wants to somehow get rid of this one first just to stop the hassle! Clearly, its not feasible due to the amount and the fact that I dont have that amount of money just lying around.

Ive got the letters ready to send regarding interest and telephone calls thanks to Fermi and Puzzcat but Im hoping that tonights review will be enough leverage to stop all this. I was feeling so positive, Ive started some challenges on here but feel a bit deflated and fed up

Back_on_budget

mon1o wrote: »

Hi everyone

I started in a DMP with stepchange in 2012. Ive been making my payments and paid nearly £5000 towards my debts. In reality this equates to £2200 of debt cleared due to the fact that some creditors have not stopped the interest accruals. I posted a thread on the board last night because I felt so low about this it just seems like I'm getting nowhere fast. My DFD is estimated as 2019 but even this seems unrealistic at the moment given the amount I need to clear and the length of time its taking.

My advice is to read through this thread. There plenty of inspiration to raise your sprits. Then, once your in a positive mood - start complaining, and don't let it rest. I spent 6 months battling with Lloyds over interest on a loan which meant our balance was gong up each month. Eventually, they caved in, froze interest and refunded all the interest they had added since the start of the DMP.

I didn't quite get as far as the ombudsman, but it was my next step. There's no guarantees, but if the term of your repayment is being drastically extended by interest charges, you have a good reason to appeal.

This particular debt is not a small one (just short of £3k) but rather than focus on the smaller ones, part of me wants to somehow get rid of this one first just to stop the hassle! Clearly, its not feasible due to the amount and the fact that I dont have that amount of money just lying around.

For the DMP to be accepted, all lenders need to have their fair share. If you try to clear one debt first, you risk your other creditors getting grumpy, and charging interest again, or refusing the DMP. I don't have any experience with Halifax, but it might be worth targeting them first with complaint letters. They can't have what you haven't got.

Samjangi

Happy First DMP payment day for all newbies especially my twin Puzzcat. :T
It feels good to have got started. I have a loooooong way to go, but making the first payment feels good. I actually finished the month with some money left in the bank and had to keep reminding myself that this was actual real money and not just an available balance as have lived in overdraft for so long.

Equilibrium13

Samjangi, I feel exactly the same! I've counted my cash over and over again, just can't believe it It's a really nice feeling to see the money in my DMP account online, even better later this month when it will show as being distributed to creditors!

I have heard from only 2 of my creditors so far about the DMP - Vanquis acccepted the plan for 12 months, but have not frozen interest or charges - I need to write to them.

Got a letter from Next Directory today saying they have set up a reduced payment plan and suspended the monthly service charge, but only for 3 months! After this they want me to go back to normal payments. Has anyone had this response before from Next, or anyone else? Do I need to write to them and explain that I don't want to use the account anymore, just pay it off over time? As they obviously want me to get up to date with my payments and then start ordering from them again.

The rest have been eerily quiet! I have my new Barclays basic account up and running, spent the morning changing direct debits for utilities etc over and will sort out my salary being paid in there when at work tomorrow. Time to send off my DMP letters to Barclays and 2 Barclaycards now!