DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 9

Hopelessly_Hopeful

lindsayr2403 wrote: »

Barclaycard have frozen my interest on my DMP - all my creditors have… guess I'm lucky then…. Perhaps a call to them (when you are feeling up to it - i know how you feel about that!)

Great news.


Just so you are away some creditors add interest later and claim you are no longer in financial difficulty. That's the downside of DMPs being informal. Squirrel any extra away for rainy day .


HHX

Monkeyballs

Time_to_face_the_music wrote: »

I lost a case against M&S with the FOS. This was the beginning of the breakdown with StepChange (then CCCS) as M&S wrote and told us if we reduced the payment to them, they would stop interest. StepChange said they could not do this as it was not a fair payment blah blah and because M&S had offered us this option the FOS could not do anything.


I should have pulled out of the StepChange DMP at this stage and changed all my payments but did not have the confidence to do it, so instead threw every spare penny at the M&S debt to pay it off ASAP. Given my time again and with the knowledge I have now, I am certain that my actions would have been very different in starting up a DMP.

Morning Ttftm,

That's an interesting one because if I had been in your situation then after speaking to SC I think I'd have done the same so it is definitely something for me to bear in mind in the future...

When I originally set up my DMP the emphasis on them was very much about keeping it fair to the creditors (they even gave me the formula they use to work out their distribution of payments which I've since forgotten) and told me that most creditors would use a similar formula and if it was not fair then some may not agree to their offers?

I guess now I'm wondering how accurate that information was...

That said, I'm quite lucky with my creditors as all but Barclaycard have frozen interest and charges and %age wise I can see the largest repayments going to the largest debts so on paper it looks right

I think what I may do is start trying to make an overpayment to Barclaycard (which I only just found out recently I was allowed to do) each month which doesn't massively eat into my budget each month to offset their interest charges.

It is all quite confusing because you would think that all creditors would have to cooperate and terms would be the same regardless of the creditor and that pink fluffy unicorns would come each morning to whisk me off to neverland LOL

All that aside, I still have to doff my cap to Step Change who have really helped me hugely and provide a great, free service.

I just hope that someone nice at Barclaycard comes back to me and says they will reduce my interest to 0% it could happen...

Laters!

MB

Time_to_face_the_music

Monkeyballs wrote: »

Morning Ttftm,

That's an interesting one because if I had been in your situation then after speaking to SC I think I'd have done the same so it is definitely something for me to bear in mind in the future...

When I originally set up my DMP the emphasis on them was very much about keeping it fair to the creditors (they even gave me the formula they use to work out their distribution of payments which I've since forgotten) and told me that most creditors would use a similar formula and if it was not fair then some may not agree to their offers?

I guess now I'm wondering how accurate that information was...

That said, I'm quite lucky with my creditors as all but Barclaycard have frozen interest and charges and %age wise I can see the largest repayments going to the largest debts so on paper it looks right

I think what I may do is start trying to make an overpayment to Barclaycard (which I only just found out recently I was allowed to do) each month which doesn't massively eat into my budget each month to offset their interest charges.

It is all quite confusing because you would think that all creditors would have to cooperate and terms would be the same regardless of the creditor and that pink fluffy unicorns would come each morning to whisk me off to neverland LOL

All that aside, I still have to doff my cap to Step Change who have really helped me hugely and provide a great, free service.

I just hope that someone nice at Barclaycard comes back to me and says they will reduce my interest to 0% it could happen...

Laters!

MB

The formula that StepChange use for their distribution of payments seems to be different to that used by any other DMP provider. Theirs is based on monthly minimum payment, others I have checked are all based on total debt. This can cause problems as different creditors have different minimum monthly payments and we ended up with a £5000 debt and a £10,000 debt both getting the same payment each month. This is where the problem comes in about creditors not believing you are in financial difficulty! When we changed to self managed, our payments to creditors changed drastically and some only received half of what they had been getting. We thought this may cause a huge problem but they didn't turn a hair because the payment was then based on the total debt owed. I hope this makes sense but if it doesn't let me know and I will try and show you some examples.


Re being allowed to make overpayments, I did this and there was nothing in my DMP agreement to say I couldn't but this may have changed in 2 years. Having said that, I still would do it anyway if a creditor was charging me interest

Growurown

Time_to_face_the_music wrote: »

I lost a case against M&S with the FOS. This was the beginning of the breakdown with StepChange (then CCCS) as M&S wrote and told us if we reduced the payment to them, they would stop interest. StepChange said they could not do this as it was not a fair payment blah blah and because M&S had offered us this option the FOS could not do anything.


I should have pulled out of the StepChange DMP at this stage and changed all my payments but did not have the confidence to do it, so instead threw every spare penny at the M&S debt to pay it off ASAP. Given my time again and with the knowledge I have now, I am certain that my actions would have been very different in starting up a DMP.

Halifax have told us that if we reduced our payment then interest would stop. Unfortunately our SC payment to them is more than the minimum payment would have been, so they are still charging us. We could be in the same boat as you then TTFTM and not get charges reduced.

I have been thinking about changing from SC, or maybe just taking OH's debts out of the SC plan as the Halifax CC is in his name. I'll see what the FOS come back with first I think before I make any decision.

debtdawg

Feeling a bit fed up today, I think it's this continual rain etc. We've been waiting on DH's student finance as well so we can work out what for where iykwim, since Christmas. That will hit tomorrow, so hopefully I will feel a bit better then. Unfortunately due to a lot of unexpected bills from October last year onwards we're not straight and have to use this payment to get straight and then a chunk of it needs to go towards a different car.
We have to upgrade to a 7 seater due to expecting the fourth and final mini debtdawg in a few months. I like our current car, we've had it for two years and not had any problems with it, but we have to change, which is stressing me out. We can't afford to buy then sell our car privately, so are at the mercy of px garage prices. Today we spoke to 3 garages and our px value differed from £1000, £1300 and £1800/£2000 depending on when they see it. Luckily the most generous garage have the cheaper 7 seater, but we're still going to need to put a chunk of his student finance towards it, which means extremely tight belts until April and the next instalment. There is no point changing our DMP payment to accommodate this as we'd add on so much extra time and I just can't face years going onto our DFD.

Sorry, just a bit down in the dumps today!

Puzzcat

Puzzcat wrote: »

Happy new year all...


A few quick questions if you don't mind....


I have today received a letter from Halifax informing me that they have passed my debt over to Apex DCA.. that was quick...!


So questions..


Am I right in thinking that once sold to a DCA interest cannot be charged?


The balance appears to have increased by £35ish is this normal when sold on? I don't know if this balance includes the last SC payment on the the 25th or not...


I will contact SC on monday to inform them of the change of who to pay my pennies to...


I know there have been previous comments about interest being charged once previous minimum payments are met, in this case they are actually getting £48 when the previous minimum was £70 so am hoping that as it has now changed ownership they won't be able to charge interest when it hits that point..?


Much Love Puzz. x

update re the above...


I have spoken to a lovely man at Apex this morning who has confirmed that now the debt is with them there will be no interest charged..:T This was my Halifax cc, I closed it about 2 years ago and despite paying over £1800 to it, it only reduced by £300ish.. so happy it will now be going down...


I have update the transfer online with SC so hopefully the changeover will go smoothly.. I also had the figures wrong and it actually reduced £19..

Monkeyballs

Monkeyballs wrote: »

I've been doing some reading and have just emailed a couple of F&F offers to two of my creditors, they're only small but my brother is willing to give me £250 at the end of Jan from his annual bonus so long as I can prove to him that it is being used to repay off a (or several) debts in their entirety...

I have offered Capquest £100 against an outstanding balance of £280 and Welcome Finance £80 against a balance of £170 and with the remainder I can repay my Barclays overdraft...

Update...

Boo! I have just been contacted by Welcome Finance and told that my offer has been rejected as my account is "not applicable" which I'm guessing to mean that I've not missed a payment and I'm not as bad a debtor as I thought in their eyes LOL

Oh well, was worth a shot - not a big deal and it will be repaid totally in about 5 months anyway

Now I just need Capquest to reply...

Laters!

MB

Monkeyballs

Boo number 2!!!

I just called Capquest and spoke to a chap there who advised that my account balance is actually higher than I thought due to a standard fee which they applied when the debt was passed to them and that they are only handling the debt which means any offer can take up to three months to process due to a backlog but they have (as standard) the ability to offer a 25% reduction from the debt.

Since WFS have said no I'm half considering it but that's probably because I just feeling a bit hacked off at the moment

Oh well, back to the drawing board...

MB

Time_to_face_the_music

debtdawg wrote: »

Feeling a bit fed up today, I think it's this continual rain etc. We've been waiting on DH's student finance as well so we can work out what for where iykwim, since Christmas. That will hit tomorrow, so hopefully I will feel a bit better then. Unfortunately due to a lot of unexpected bills from October last year onwards we're not straight and have to use this payment to get straight and then a chunk of it needs to go towards a different car.
We have to upgrade to a 7 seater due to expecting the fourth and final mini debtdawg in a few months. I like our current car, we've had it for two years and not had any problems with it, but we have to change, which is stressing me out. We can't afford to buy then sell our car privately, so are at the mercy of px garage prices. Today we spoke to 3 garages and our px value differed from £1000, £1300 and £1800/£2000 depending on when they see it. Luckily the most generous garage have the cheaper 7 seater, but we're still going to need to put a chunk of his student finance towards it, which means extremely tight belts until April and the next instalment. There is no point changing our DMP payment to accommodate this as we'd add on so much extra time and I just can't face years going onto our DFD.

Sorry, just a bit down in the dumps today!

Sorry to hear you were feeling down in the dumps and hope things start to get better soon. I used this thread for lots of emotional, as well as financial support, so please pop in if you do need a shoulder to cry on or an ear to bend. We all in the same boat, or have been, so people really do know how you feel.


TTFTM x

Time_to_face_the_music

Puzzcat wrote: »

update re the above...

I have spoken to a lovely man at Apex this morning who has confirmed that now the debt is with them there will be no interest charged..:T This was my Halifax cc, I closed it about 2 years ago and despite paying over £1800 to it, it only reduced by £300ish.. so happy it will now be going down...

I have update the transfer online with SC so hopefully the changeover will go smoothly.. I also had the figures wrong and it actually reduced £19..

Great news Puzz :T

Monkeyballs wrote: »

Update...

Boo! I have just been contacted by Welcome Finance and told that my offer has been rejected as my account is "not applicable" which I'm guessing to mean that I've not missed a payment and I'm not as bad a debtor as I thought in their eyes LOL

Oh well, was worth a shot - not a big deal and it will be repaid totally in about 5 months anyway

Now I just need Capquest to reply...

Laters!

MB

Monkeyballs wrote: »

Boo number 2!!!

I just called Capquest and spoke to a chap there who advised that my account balance is actually higher than I thought due to a standard fee which they applied when the debt was passed to them and that they are only handling the debt which means any offer can take up to three months to process due to a backlog but they have (as standard) the ability to offer a 25% reduction from the debt.

Since WFS have said no I'm half considering it but that's probably because I just feeling a bit hacked off at the moment

Oh well, back to the drawing board...

MB

Sorry it's not all good news today MB but bear in mind if a creditor or DCA offers 25% discount immediately, there is probably a lot more on the table if you can afford it and care to push your luck for a F&F .......