DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 9

2spicy

Remember folks, its all a game ( yes, Seriously it is ).
All they want is their money back and all you want to do is pay them back.
Dont rush into giving every last penny to your creditors, keep a little back if you can ... Play the "income and expenditure" spreadsheet to your advantage.

Dont have a pet ? then tell them you do ... that £20 a month for a haircut or £15 for glasses can be useful for putting aside for presents, or a nice piece of meat for a Sunday roast (even a bottle of cheap wine to remind yourself your human)

You need to communicate with them, make sure they understand they cannot bully you and, with agreements in place for all parties, you'll be debt free in no time, with your head held high knowing your a better person.

As Ive said before, Were all here because weve all careless with our finances in one way or another. lets remember there is a light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how long that tunnel is

Monkeyballs

Morning all,

I've been a bit absent from this thread for a wee while now for one reason or another so have been having a catch up just now

So, here is some important stuff to consider:

1. If any of your debts are PDL's then make sure that you have cancelled the CPA (Continuous Payment Authority) with both them and with your bank.

2. I always advise that you contact your creditors to pass on the DMP ref and details yourself, get the ball rolling and you'll probably be surprised by how receptive some of the people you are worrying about actually are... Makes those early days a lot less stressful.

3. Following on from point 2 above, bizarrely the experience of contacting the creditors who I assumed would be horrible was without exception easier than those who I thought would be easy! So the guy I spoke to at Wonga was really nice while the person at Very talked to me like I was a thief... Scrap your expectations, you are setting up an alternative repayment plan - it's not personal

4. Remember!!! When SC contact your creditors they are probably working with well known contacts and not the person you get at the end of the phone just because some nasty piece of work on the phone (hi lady at Very) says "no pay me my money" it doesn't mean that the person SC contact will do the same it'll be ok

5. Keep SC informed in any changes to debts/creditors. If you get a letter saying a debt has been passed to a DCA then great! DCA's are generally fairly easy to work with call them to pass on your DMP details so they can freeze the account and then contact your DMP provider (SC for example) with details so they can contact the DCA and set up payment to them instead...

6. This bit is annoying - a lot of creditors seem to just go silent, neither confirming or rejecting a DMP if this happens don't worry because your DMP provider will have contacted them and will be making payments as per agreement. If you get anything in the post or receive a call then refer them to your DMP provider giving them your DMP ref and a contact number so they can call them to discuss on your behalf.

7. Token payments - if you feel the need or if your DMP provider suggests it then £1 is enough. If a creditor says it isn't then refer them to your DMP provider and send the £1 anyway with a letter once again confirming the details of your DMP.

8. If you can't make a full payment one month and it's just a one off (car needs to be repaired, boiler is broken, etc) then contact your DMP provider asap to let them know as it's not the end of the world and they will contact your creditors to let them know that the payment for that month will be reduced - they may ask you to do the same, don't be afraid just stick to the facts and re-iterate that it's a one off

9. Probably stating the obvious but don't take out any more debt while you're on the DMP.

10. Don't be scared help and support is all over the place, either on this forum or through your DMP provider or CAB or through other debt charities so shout out! Posting on this forum and getting a flood of support is a great feeling because you're not on your own

11. Important - It's still your debt! Your DMP provider is doing the dirty work but you still need to make sure that they have the correct information to work with so keep checking your statements and making sure that you challenge any interest or charges yourself and keeping your actual debt balance updated with your provider to avoid any unwanted surprises towards the end... It also gives you the confidence of being in control and some creditors seem to take note (DCA's in particular) and occasionally make early settlement offers (which aren't to be afraid of, they can offer - you don't need to reply to or accept them )

Good luck all!

MB

spendaholic

Sazzie23 wrote: »

I would write a standard letter to all creditors explaining situation, making a token payment if you can, and telling them you are moving to SC with account ref etc. I think SC are quite harsh if you don't pay them unless you get a reduce payment pre-authorised, so making sure your budget is accurate is probably worthwhile.

Hope this helps

Come back for more advice on getting interest cut etc (once the initial situation is sorted out).

Thank you. Yes, I think I'll do that. :j

SC haven't suggested I do, but I think I will, as I've been trying to contact most of them - I just can't contact those the old company has all the information for.

Puzzcat

Some good informative posts here. Just on point 5 of mb's post, my Halifax moved to a dca very quickly and I just rang them (apex), they were lovely and then I amended the details online on my dmp account to change who the payment goes to.

schmalf

Hi all, had a default notice from nasty HSBC today (my first one!). A bit nervous of it as they sound so horrible, assume I just ignore it and carry on regardless with the DMP payments? Should I let SC know or wait until HSBC pass the debt on (assume this is what will happen?) No mention of the DMP at all, they truly are aholes over at HSBC aren't they? can't believe I banked with them for sooooo long!!!! Thanks, Schmalf x

schmalf

PS Sazzie my Virgin / MBNA account is back online too now x

Monkeyballs

schmalf wrote: »

Hi all, had a default notice from nasty HSBC today (my first one!). A bit nervous of it as they sound so horrible, assume I just ignore it and carry on regardless with the DMP payments? Should I let SC know or wait until HSBC pass the debt on (assume this is what will happen?) No mention of the DMP at all, they truly are aholes over at HSBC aren't they? can't believe I banked with them for sooooo long!!!! Thanks, Schmalf x

Hey Schmalf (Ha, I don't know why but your name reminded me of the TV series ALF LOL),

And I bet you thought that they'd be friendly and understanding... This is what I meant in my post

Pay it no mind, it's good that it has gone to default as it's kicked of a 6 year countdown to it dropping off your credit file

It's up to you as to whether or not you let SC know, personally I've been pinging them emails when I get default notices to keep them in the loop but thats all.

I'm not sure how HSBC deal with defaulted accounts, it doesn't automatically mean they will sell it on as they may have their own colleactions team who handle this (someone else will confirm this I'm sure).

It'll all be ok hun

MB

Sazzie23

schmalf wrote: »

PS Sazzie my Virgin / MBNA account is back online too now x

Hi Scmalf,

I wonder where they went ? But at least they are back now, didn't hear any outcry so maybe it was just ours that flew away :rotfl:

Sazzie23

schmalf wrote: »

Hi all, had a default notice from nasty HSBC today (my first one!). A bit nervous of it as they sound so horrible, assume I just ignore it and carry on regardless with the DMP payments? Should I let SC know or wait until HSBC pass the debt on (assume this is what will happen?) No mention of the DMP at all, they truly are aholes over at HSBC aren't they? can't believe I banked with them for sooooo long!!!! Thanks, Schmalf x

Was it the actual default, or the..if you don't pay we will issue a default, .....I've had a few of them that come to nothing, I think they are automatically generated.

Don't worry, carry on paying & email SC to tell them, otherwise it's all good!

Sazzie23

Quote from MB. 11. Important - It's still your debt! Your DMP provider is doing the dirty work but you still need to make sure that they have the correct information to work with so keep checking your statements and making sure that you challenge any interest or charges yourself and keeping your actual debt balance updated with your provider to avoid any unwanted surprises towards the end... It also gives you the confidence of being in control and some creditors seem to take note (DCA's in particular) and occasionally make early settlement offers (which aren't to be afraid of, they can offer - you don't need to reply to or accept them )


Just wanted to reiterate this point, even though SC - or other plan providers - will do the best they can for you, there is usually still more you can do for yourself. I would never have know this until I came to this thread, so I'm very grateful to everyone who contributes.