DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 9

Time_to_face_the_music

Coinmachine wrote: »

It shows how when stressed over all this you can make silly mistakes. Further to my posts yesterday, when I filled in my Debt Remedy Plan I listed a personal loan under secured debt rather than unsecured. having now re-done the plan it has increased my monthly payment and reduced the length of the DMP from 14 to 7 years! Much better!

That can be your first milestone, let's celebrate! :j

gig11

Thanks ttfm I think I will take your advice and let sleeping dogs lie. The Dmp is going well and although I dont post very often I check this forum several times a week. I have learnt a lot from it and will continue to "lurk". My debt has just gone below £20,000 it was the best christmas present ever.Aiming to be debt free in approx 2 years it would be sooner if it wasnt for Marks and Spencer.

Time_to_face_the_music

gig11 wrote: »

Thanks ttfm I think I will take your advice and let sleeping dogs lie. The Dmp is going well and although I dont post very often I check this forum several times a week. I have learnt a lot from it and will continue to "lurk". My debt has just gone below £20,000 it was the best christmas present ever.Aiming to be debt free in approx 2 years it would be sooner if it wasnt for Marks and Spencer.

Below £20,000 is a brilliant milestone, well done :T


The M&S really is a tough one, I ended up paying them extra each month in addition to the DMP payment, just to get the debt paid and the least amount of interest charged.


Hope you join us a bit more often and please just ask if you need any more advice

On_that_log_road

Hi Everyone,

I've had a couple of days off work and a little time to think about this thread. The first thought that pops into my head is... This is an absolutely fantastic forum!!!!!!. As I've said in previous posts I've 'lurked' for a while now. I know from experience that debt is an awful place to be in and, I've still a long way to go myself before I can experience that 'debt free' feeling.

This thread is full of great advice, support and encouragement for those new to the DMP. I've noticed though, there are often 'NEWBIES' (like myself!) wanting to know 'what it's all about' and 'Is it right for me?'

There are a lot of good people on here that have far more knowledge and experience than me, However, although I am new to posting on here, I am in the fortunate position to be now four years into my DMP. As I type we are on page 181 of part 9 in this thread so LOTS OF INFORMATION!!!!!

To help those new to DMP's I thought it may be helpful to share my experience. I am not going to go into depth about the level of my debt only to say that before I contacted my DMP provider (For me it's Step change (SC) or the CCCS as was), I was in a very dark place and could see no way forward. Luckily I confided in a friend who pointed me in the right direction.

I contacted SC and, literally within minutes, I knew my friend had given me the most important financial advice of my life (so far!!!) The person from SC I spoke with was understanding, friendly, knowledgeable, re-assuring and, most importantly to me, non-judgemental.

For those Just starting out on the DMP journey:

Your DMP provider WILL help and will not mind you 'mithering' them. Especially when first starting out, you will probably have loads of thoughts and 'what ifs' floating about in your head. The chances are, they will have heard the same question many times before and would be able to set your mind at rest quickly


You will most likely to be contacted by all of your creditors. DO NOT WORRY. They will send official letters. But READ them. I was initially tempted to revert to burying my head in the sand which was the norm for me for a long time. BUT.... after staring at them for a while, I opened them and every single one of them were writing to acknowledge my initial letter advising them of my difficulties and that they would be in touch in due course after the DMP provider had contacted them.


You are likely to be sent official default notices from your creditor. DO NOT WORRY. It seems strange but this is a GOOD thing. The chances are, having gone this far and engaged in a DMP , you are committed to paying your debts until they are cleared and you are aware that it is going to take some time to do this. The earlier the creditor defaults your account the better as the default status stays on the credit record for six years from the time it is registered. It is better that it is registered at a very early stage of your DMP rather then be years down the line.

I hope this post has been helpful to other Newbies and I apologise for 'going on' with myself.!!!!

NewcastlePaul

Hello everyone.
I joined forum tonight as originally was seeking advice about reclaiming PPI (9 creditors have verified that I had it on account)

When saying my hello's I was said this is a good place to be if you have a DMP so here I am.

Original debt due to a dodgy break up, consolidation, flat move and refurnishing and a rather horrid gambling addiction that I'm not particularly proud of was just under £109,000

That was 8 years ago and I have hit my lowest point and now am getting back to where I want to be. Got a long long way to go but on the right track. Next month my debt will be under 60k and estimated Debt free date of late 2025.

I live in a council flat and have no assets but didn't consider Bankruptcy as I got myself into this mess and want to do the right thing plus I wouldn't want to go public with friends and work.


Hopefully this will be reduced by
a) a PPI refund
b) pay going up and bills going down (ok maybe not)

Long way down, longer to go but Im comfortable with my life.
Ok so I'm single again and don't have lavish nights out or a car but plenty of people without debt struggle to run both.

Close family know of my situation as do a couple of ex girlfriends.
Dating I find is the hardest. Can't do the couples holidays or weekends away and decided to come clean.

Anyways I'm going off track.
Approaching my 9th year on a DMP and its totally hassle free.
Was terrifying at first but if you're new to it I promise it gets easier.

I don't even talk to creditors.
They accepted the DMP and payments are made and they are happy. If I get a letter to say someone has sold or transferred a debt I email Stepchange and they do the admin.
I just do my annual review every March and thats pretty much it.

I hope to be around here a bit more nowadays.
After all it costs nothing to type and the support can be invaluable.

Paul

ps if anyone has had an experience of claiming PPI whilst on a DMP then please feel free to check my post on other forum. Cheers

Sazzie23

Hi Paul:wave:

Thanks for coming over here and sharing, I'd like to think this thread is one of the brighter sides in that dark world of debt. (Fee free DMP providers being another light in that dark world - hopefully shining another light at the end of the tunnel).

I'm not yet in a position to date (far to complicated for this post) but I have thought about what will happen when I am free to rejoin the singles world again, but maybe I'll be in a different place financially when that happens.

MB Thanks for that good advice, I got another notice of default this week...my NY resolution last year was to open all the mail I received after the DMP started, and I have managed to achieve that.:D

This year its keep up the spreadsheets and make sure I have clarity on what my costs and debts are. :eek:

Pickle29

Hi just wanted to say thanks to the last few posts, this forum is great and full of information. I love reading other peoples stories, hints, tips and knowing that I'm not alone and someone somewhere has been through what I'm going through!

I don't post often, it just seems when I have a question, but I read it daily! I am so grateful to each and everyone of you!

The point about keeping a spreadsheet is so useful. I started my spreadsheet last week and was so disappointed about the interest etc (and my starting balances not being as I first thought!) but after reading everything on here, I have written to the creditors that haven't frozen interest and waiting responses. Santander who were the worst at the beginning have now agreed to accept DMP and freeze charges! Yay!

GE money who are smallest debt are still charging daily interest and only send me annual statements so I don't know where I am with thm, i have threatened them with FOS - watch this space

With regard to defaults2/7 have defaulted me so far (3 months in!) 2 have sent me arrears notices, do I just wait and see what happens or do I contact them to ask me? I know that sounds strange!

I think debt is such a lonely place to be but with this forum I really feel that I can get through this

Thanks for reading/helping x

Coinmachine

Couldnt agree more Pickle, I have been reading your posts and I am like you just starting out on the DMP route and have had many a stressful day as I know you have too.

Every time I have posted here everyone has been so nice and given such great advice it has helped me no end as in the stress it is easy to misunderstand parts of the process as I have done - thinking my DMP would be twice the length of time that it will be!! - being just one.

I will post here as and when I can and am happy for anyone to PM me or ask through here, anyone who might also be starting out, it really helps to share experiences I think.

Pickle29 wrote: »

Hi just wanted to say thanks to the last few posts, this forum is great and full of information. I love reading other peoples stories, hints, tips and knowing that I'm not alone and someone somewhere has been through what I'm going through!

I don't post often, it just seems when I have a question, but I read it daily! I am so grateful to each and everyone of you!

The point about keeping a spreadsheet is so useful. I started my spreadsheet last week and was so disappointed about the interest etc (and my starting balances not being as I first thought!) but after reading everything on here, I have written to the creditors that haven't frozen interest and waiting responses. Santander who were the worst at the beginning have now agreed to accept DMP and freeze charges! Yay!

GE money who are smallest debt are still charging daily interest and only send me annual statements so I don't know where I am with thm, i have threatened them with FOS - watch this space

With regard to defaults2/7 have defaulted me so far (3 months in!) 2 have sent me arrears notices, do I just wait and see what happens or do I contact them to ask me? I know that sounds strange!

I think debt is such a lonely place to be but with this forum I really feel that I can get through this

Thanks for reading/helping x

schmalf

Hi Paul, welcome to the board and thanks for your story, hearing about other peoples experiences are so useful to us newbies who are just starting out on our DMP journeys.

Coinmachine thats great news about your little mistake on the debt remedy tool!! Bet that has made you feel so much more positive already about starting out on a DMP.

Question from me, today I had a notice of default from Halifax - my first DMP payment will reach creditors on the 25th Feb - do I just ignore it or should I phone / write to them. They know about the DMP, have my ref number and agreed to stop interest and charges while waiting for SC contact (which they have had). Do I need to tell SC about it?

Also had a statement from Barclaycard yesterday and a small bit of writing on it that said the debt was now being handled by Mercers (so small you could easily have not noticed it!), again, shall I just ignore this for now until the first payment goes out? The payment details on the statement are the same as before and I know that Mercers are in house so shall I just wait and see what happens on the 25th?

Puzzcat

schmalf wrote: »

Hi Paul, welcome to the board and thanks for your story, hearing about other peoples experiences are so useful to us newbies who are just starting out on our DMP journeys.

Coinmachine thats great news about your little mistake on the debt remedy tool!! Bet that has made you feel so much more positive already about starting out on a DMP.

Question from me, today I had a notice of default from Halifax - my first DMP payment will reach creditors on the 25th Feb - do I just ignore it or should I phone / write to them. They know about the DMP, have my ref number and agreed to stop interest and charges while waiting for SC contact (which they have had). Do I need to tell SC about it?

Also had a statement from Barclaycard yesterday and a small bit of writing on it that said the debt was now being handled by Mercers (so small you could easily have not noticed it!), again, shall I just ignore this for now until the first payment goes out? The payment details on the statement are the same as before and I know that Mercers are in house so shall I just wait and see what happens on the 25th?

Hi Schmalf,


Point 1, notice of default... I 've been collecting these and haven't made any contact with the creditors so would say ignore...


Point 2, If the account details are the same I don't think you would need to change anything so unless someone on here says otherwise I would leave it all as it is.


Puzz.