DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 9

Kate_fixing_it

blisteringblue wrote: »

I'm sure if you speak to SC they will know what is best? There is a box in the budget form for Education Fees? Also as its not ongoing and only short-term with a better salary afterwards it should help you with debts in the long-term. I really would echo what HH says not to pay it on your card. The 1st point you are agreeing to with a DMP with SC is not to use any more credit.

Thank you both for the responses. This isn't what I wanted to hear but I really appreciate the honesty. I will do exactly as advised and contact the finance company to discuss it later today.

Thank you for saving me from a new pile of potential trouble

I absolutely love this thread, feels like a great big hug and it's a wonderful help to me.

Kate x

Meatloaf1981

Sazzie23 wrote: »

Meatloaf, I'm concerned, the DMP process is meant to make the payments manageable and by fair to all the creditors. I'm sure you've done the sums and can see how to stump up the cash for the credit union but does it leave you in a bad place in terms of the other creditors?

Knowing what I've learnt from the amazing folk on this thread, I'd stick it out a bit more with the credit union, it's a credit agreement same as any other, with the same rights to go to court or dca and I'm sure solicitors would tell them that. The only issue that might be is that they take the money straight out of your wages so this might affect the repayments, but I'd still go back to them or check with step change or national debtline about your rights in this sort of case? Just don't want to see you get stick in a hole with no ladder:eek:

Hi, thanks for the response. I'm trying to work out lower payments with them alone. At the moment, every other one of my creditors is slowly coming on board and the union loan is being dealt with separately. Fortunately it is done via direct debit rather than out of my salary direct. Thus far, no one else is objecting.

NewcastlePaul

NewcastlePaul wrote: »

Thank you.
Really chuffed.

9 years down and was looking like another 10 and a half.
Suddenly its down to 7 because of PPI claims.

I do find my DMP manageable and for anyone doing one for the first time it does get easier. I see all the posts about phone calls and letters and I had all them back in the date.

Because mine has been running so long I only get statements every 6 months or letters every 12 months to say that they have received current Stepchange budget and will be continuing.

Also all Interest has now been frozen.

Its a tough journey (which I expected as it was my own fault) but it gets easier. I promise

PPI Claims now standing at 27k (with 2 left to reply)
Details here

Looking like 5 years off my DMP (More if i can negotiate some discounted f&f settlements with the cash)

A long road, deservedly so as my own fault. but definate light at the end of the tunnel. After 9 years on DMP. 11 years looked another long slog. Now its 5 or 6 :j

Puzzcat

Well done NewcastlePaul bet your well chuffed...!!!:T


I have today received my own little achievement a letter from Creation stating a refund of £327.95 will hit my account next month and interest set to 3%... So I should drop into the 57k's in April....:D


So worth those letters and stamps.. and of course a huge thank you to the FOS and the lovely posters on here who without sharing this type of information I would never have known how to manage my dmp. :T


Happy Monday Everyone..
Love Puzz.xx

thehistorygirl

Hi all

Not posted for a while but my DMP is up and running now and I have made my first payment to Payplan. Just one dampener though and not sure what I should do about it. When I stopped using my old bank account there was a DD for the house insurance that still went through. It was a new DD and apparently, according the company I took the insurance out with, I couldn't change the bank account details until after the first payment had gone out of my account. I thought that I had left enough money in there to cover it one final time, but with the interest and other charges the bank took this payment was refused and another charge was applied. This took my over my OD limit. I then paid the o/s insurance amount directly online as the company wrote to me and told me the payment had been refused and that I would be able to pay this one online. In the meantime, the insurance company applied to the bank again for the payment which was paid, but took me over the OD limit again and I was charged for the privilege of them paying it. I have not heard anything else from the bank until Friday, when they wrote to me with a list of charges they have applied totalling nearly £200!! This has doubled my OD with them. Should I write to them about my DMP and see if there is anyway I can relcaim these charges. They seem totally disproportionate as the DD was only for £7.56. They do know this as they have written to me again today as Payplan have yet to forward my payment proposal to them. The bank is NatWest btw. Are they likely to freeze charges now they are aware that I am in a DMP? Not sure what I should be doing.

Puzzcat

thehistorygirl wrote: »

Hi all

Not posted for a while but my DMP is up and running now and I have made my first payment to Payplan. Just one dampener though and not sure what I should do about it. When I stopped using my old bank account there was a DD for the house insurance that still went through. It was a new DD and apparently, according the company I took the insurance out with, I couldn't change the bank account details until after the first payment had gone out of my account. I thought that I had left enough money in there to cover it one final time, but with the interest and other charges the bank took this payment was refused and another charge was applied. This took my over my OD limit. I then paid the o/s insurance amount directly online as the company wrote to me and told me the payment had been refused and that I would be able to pay this one online. In the meantime, the insurance company applied to the bank again for the payment which was paid, but took me over the OD limit again and I was charged for the privilege of them paying it. I have not heard anything else from the bank until Friday, when they wrote to me with a list of charges they have applied totalling nearly £200!! This has doubled my OD with them. Should I write to them about my DMP and see if there is anyway I can relcaim these charges. They seem totally disproportionate as the DD was only for £7.56. They do know this as they have written to me again today as Payplan have yet to forward my payment proposal to them. The bank is NatWest btw. Are they likely to freeze charges now they are aware that I am in a DMP? Not sure what I should be doing.

No harm in writing and asking.... I have 3 accounts with Natwest and they have frozen interest on the od and cc. The loan is just being paid off slower than it was no extra added on.


Make sure you put in the letter that you are on a dmp with SC and include your ref number.
Puzz.

thehistorygirl

I have two accounts with Nat West and luckily one is a Graduate account so no interest anyway. The other only had an OD of £200 so the interest was not much anyway. It is however an Advantage Gold which has a fee of £15 a month. I'm going to write to them to state that I want this downgraded to a normal fee-less current account as I can live without the supposed benefits it gives me. I'm just really p***ed off that they are such a bunch of thieving gits as my account literally went a couple of quid over my OD limit! I will write and see what they say, although I reckon it'll be a no. I'm also going to ring the insurance company and see where I stand regarding the extra DD as it was their mistake after all. In the whole grand scheme of things it only adds another month to my DMP anyway.

Kate_fixing_it

After all the dithering I've been to the co-op bank in my lunch break (as per the original plan) got specific details of what ID to use and an appointment tomorrow. Account will be set up by the end of the week.

I'm climbing the walls with pain but I think that's a lot to do with stress. Every little thing I do towards this is helping and once again I'm mentally exhausted. Looking forward to climbing into bed tonight, one day closer to this all being sorted.

Thank you again for the advice and support.

Kate x

Chatterbox20

Hi Newcastle Paul, well done with your PPI claims.

Thank you for the reassurance that it gets easier. Quick question, no need to answer if you don't want to, but have your creditors taken further action such as CCJs? I wondered how long you could stay on a DMP before they would take further action if at all.

Chatterbox20

Flutterby83

Hi all, glad to hear you're all having progress!

Well, after making 'that' call today, I got told by the guy at Step Change that bankruptcy is the only way forward for me!! I've not got my head stuck in the sand, very far from it infact, but I think the way he did my income and expenditure was completely wrong - he added 'extras' in where I don't pay them out (and probably never will!) and after coming to the conclusion that I had £183 a month spare, promptly threw that into the food allowance and declared the only way forward was to find the court fee and declare myself bankrupt! I disagree and have done my own I&E, which I will send to creditors with a covering letter and try to do a DMP myself. My question is; has anyone else done this? Ultimately the debt is still mine even if SC were involved so I assume I'm just cutting out the middle-man by doing this? Please don't think that I'm not taking SC's advice, I just think that bankruptcy is a far more drastic move than a DMP and when I mentioned one, the guy instantly dismissed it saying that he would only entertain the idea if I could find another £200 a month income, whereas due to my own calculations I could afford to do £241 a month and that's with me being alot more generous with my budget than what I am now! If I can't do this and it fails then he may be right but surely I have to try all other avenues first?