DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 9

blisteringblue

Just had the text from stepchange. We are active and a go.

1st payment 1st April, tokens till then.

_party_

Monkeyballs

RebelRed wrote: »

I've just come to let off some steam. Received a letter from isme today demanding payment and if I couldn't pay to phone asap, which I did. I was spoken too like a criminal, she made me feel so ashamed demanding to know why we were using sc and when I told her if she wanted that information she could use my ref and phone sc herself she went crazy! Anyway I put the phone down in tears and phoned sc who have advised me to ignore all contact from them now as they won't be dealing with sc direct anyway. Big learning curve for me today........:undecided

Hi Red,

I had a similar experience with Very when I entered my DMP. I called to pass on my SC DMP ref. and the woman I spoke to demanded the goods back (which I could do as I'd bought them a year ago and had since sold them to feed a gambling problem).

I was very open and explained the situation and she seemed to lose the plot entirely and accused me of stealing? I just laughed (it was a nervous laugh I admit) and asked for her name as I planned to report her at which point she mentioned doorstep collection and to expect something in the post and hung up on me!

I was terrified and immediately called Step Change where the guy gave a bit of a "knowing sigh" and told me that a lot of people are surprised who are the better creditors to agree a DMP with...

He then went on to tell me that the person was wrong to tell me whet they did, if I do get anything to let them know ASAP but to basically ignore them as SC deal with people much more senior than the lovely charming woman I spoke to (established contacts I guess) and they will accept reduced payments but may not stop interest so the debt could go up before it goes down...

Feeling much more confident I did nothing else to contact Very and on my next statement sure enough, the reduced payment was accepted and I've had no hassle since

Very, isme and other associated catalogue companies spend a lot of money to advertise and make themselves appear friendly so the last thing they want is bad publicity so I wouldn't worry about it chuck

My advice is to contact your creditors, it's a positive experience because you know they have the details which will give you some comfort and let any negative responses roll of you back like water off a duck

Oh, and post and rant and update us all as often as you like!

Good luck

MB

Suseka

Hey all,

Picking up on the post from Red and MBs re treatment from certain creditors. Its pretty tough when creditors take that tack and frankly the best course of action is to put the phone down and block the number (if you have that facility). It took around 4 - 6 weeks after starting the DMP for the calls to die down and eventually disappear. We still get letters from time to time asking for full payment -but they appear to be computer generated ones.

It doesn't matter how much you owe a creditor, or why your situation is how it is... creditors should remain professional and treat you like any other customer. If they don't its down to their own bad manners and lack of common decency and in those instances you have the moral highground

Puzzcat

RebelRed wrote: »

Just wanting a little bit of advice please

I've sent letters to my creditors with token payments attached. It explains my Situation and that sc are working with me. I've just received an email from Very saying they need me to call them asap to discuss my account. I know they've received the letter as my token payment is showing on my account. Knowing this should I ignore the email or call them? Tia

Puzzcat wrote: »

I personally rang anyone who requested me too or who rang, and just reiterated I was entering a dmp with sc and gave them the ref number. At the end of the day it's up to you I found that although token payments were cashed so letters had been received not all departments spoke to one another.

RebelRed wrote: »

I've just come to let off some steam. Received a letter from isme today demanding payment and if I couldn't pay to phone asap, which I did. I was spoken too like a criminal, she made me feel so ashamed demanding to know why we were using sc and when I told her if she wanted that information she could use my ref and phone sc herself she went crazy! Anyway I put the phone down in tears and phoned sc who have advised me to ignore all contact from them now as they won't be dealing with sc direct anyway. Big learning curve for me today........:undecided

Hi RR, Sorry I threw you a curved ball here then encouraging you to speak to your creditors. I did not receive that sort of abuse when I spoke to any of mine... Don't let them get you down, your on your way up now.. and just the debts can go down... xx

Monkeyballs

Hi,

I stand by the advice to call your creditors even though it's not always a pleasant experience...

In my opinion it is putting the power into your hands which I think is important, especially during the early stages when you might get follow up calls, letters or emails.

Everyone I called I recorded the date, time, name of the person I spoke to and any comments made by them. I then sent an email summary of all of this to Step Change for awareness.

Regardless of what the person on the end of the line says you just need to remain polite and simply pass on the message "I am entering into a DMP with Step Change, the reference is XYZ and their number is 123 and they will be in touch shortly with an offer of payment".

You may need to tweak it a little if you need to make a token payment for the first month but it's still you telling them politely and calmly what is going to happen.

If they argue, apologise and simply tell them again and reiterate that you are doing this because of your financial situation.

I personally found this very empowering - of course others here would disagree...

MB

alyxzandra

Just a bit of a report on how things are going here. Well, one creditor just got paid off today by a full and final settlement! I have another one who will be paid off next week if and only if they will accept a full and final settlement. They said no to it today, but was told to ask next week. Ok, will do.

Creation had added a £100 "admin" fee to a £500 debt when we first went on the DMP. I wrote a complaint using the template letter on this thread and guess what??? They removed the £100 fee as a "goodwill gesture", but ensured they upheld the reason for the fee. Whatever.

Still fighting with K and Co to remove the £400 interest they added onto a £500 debt and they do not seem to know what they are doing. So, am completing the form to the financial omnbudsman.

We are using the money we save from not paying council tax for 2 months to offer F+F's on small balances. And we are finally below the £40,000 mark. Not bad considering at one time it was £60,000!

For all the people who are struggling with debt, please consider a debt management plan. I wish we did it a few years earlier as we would have been clearing our debt before 2019. It was tough for the first 6 months and took time to adjust, but the relief and seeing the balances go down is fantastic.

Do not be put off by the rubbish from the collection agencies and when they try to be sneaky and start charging interest when they stopped it, make sure you call them up and challenge it. I've had charges and interested reversed on 4 debts. And remember you are doing something about your debt and hold your head up high for tackling them.

RebelRed

Monkeyballs wrote: »

Hi Red,

I had a similar experience with Very when I entered my DMP. I called to pass on my SC DMP ref. and the woman I spoke to demanded the goods back (which I could do as I'd bought them a year ago and had since sold them to feed a gambling problem).

I was very open and explained the situation and she seemed to lose the plot entirely and accused me of stealing? I just laughed (it was a nervous laugh I admit) and asked for her name as I planned to report her at which point she mentioned doorstep collection and to expect something in the post and hung up on me!

I was terrified and immediately called Step Change where the guy gave a bit of a "knowing sigh" and told me that a lot of people are surprised who are the better creditors to agree a DMP with...

He then went on to tell me that the person was wrong to tell me whet they did, if I do get anything to let them know ASAP but to basically ignore them as SC deal with people much more senior than the lovely charming woman I spoke to (established contacts I guess) and they will accept reduced payments but may not stop interest so the debt could go up before it goes down...

Feeling much more confident I did nothing else to contact Very and on my next statement sure enough, the reduced payment was accepted and I've had no hassle since

Very, isme and other associated catalogue companies spend a lot of money to advertise and make themselves appear friendly so the last thing they want is bad publicity so I wouldn't worry about it chuck

My advice is to contact your creditors, it's a positive experience because you know they have the details which will give you some comfort and let any negative responses roll of you back like water off a duck

Oh, and post and rant and update us all as often as you like!

Good luck

MB

Thank you so much MB. Your advice has been gratefully received! I'm sorry you went through the same but I'm pleased you're able to tell me what they're really like! Is your dmp with them or did it go to NDR?

RebelRed

Puzzcat wrote: »

Hi RR, Sorry I threw you a curved ball here then encouraging you to speak to your creditors. I did not receive that sort of abuse when I spoke to any of mine... Don't let them get you down, your on your way up now.. and just the debts can go down... xx

Hey Puzz! I'm pleased you told me to contact them, I feel I've done everything expected of me for now. They have a written explanation of my situation and my sc ref from myself and I have always called when they've asked so they can't accuse me of avoiding them. I can't really do anymore (I don't thick?!) Thanks again x

Monkeyballs

RebelRed wrote: »

Thank you so much MB. Your advice has been gratefully received! I'm sorry you went through the same but I'm pleased you're able to tell me what they're really like! Is your dmp with them or did it go to NDR?

No worries Red

Very was one of the first creditors I contacted as I thought they would be one of the friendlier ones... LOL, who knew?!?! :rotfl:

They haven't passed my debt on so it's still with Very, to be fair most of my creditors have kept the debts (but then again, maybe not too much of a surprise as most are getting about 75% of the minimum anyway) the only exceptions being Orange/T Mobile/EE.

I had 5 contracts because I was getting a contract and selling the phones/gifts to gamble (not one of my finer moments but it's all behind me now) and they dragged their heels in doing anything until about 5 months after entering the DMP they sent me a letter for each contract telling me that I'd been ignoring them (huh?) and that the remaining contract values were being passed to their DCA... As it turns out, each debt was sold to a different DCA and all have been fine about accepting the DMP and have on occasion dropped me letters with settlement offers which I would love to accept but I just don't have the cash

Still, all in good time

MB

RebelRed

Monkeyballs wrote: »

No worries Red

Very was one of the first creditors I contacted as I thought they would be one of the friendlier ones... LOL, who knew?!?! :rotfl:

They haven't passed my debt on so it's still with Very, to be fair most of my creditors have kept the debts (but then again, maybe not too much of a surprise as most are getting about 75% of the minimum anyway) the only exceptions being Orange/T Mobile/EE.

I had 5 contracts because I was getting a contract and selling the phones/gifts to gamble (not one of my finer moments but it's all behind me now) and they dragged their heels in doing anything until about 5 months after entering the DMP they sent me a letter for each contract telling me that I'd been ignoring them (huh?) and that the remaining contract values were being passed to their DCA... As it turns out, each debt was sold to a different DCA and all have been fine about accepting the DMP and have on occasion dropped me letters with settlement offers which I would love to accept but I just don't have the cash

Still, all in good time

MB

I was the same MB! I thought the cc companies would be the worst but they've been lovely! lol
I spoke to Next this morning as they sent me an email saying I needed to pay £300 to bring my account up to date and she was so lovely. She even said she was sorry to hear we were struggling and even though they probably get told to say it, it was really nice.

It sounds like you've had a really tough time but I'm pleased to hear everything is going well for you now