DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 9

iwantafreshstart

hi all

long time no see. i have been plodding along with my dmp and last month paid off my first creditor. it feels so good to see one knocked off the list!

i do have a quick question for anyone who may have been in this situation before...my direct debit comes out on 10th of the month but in April it would be really helpful to me if i could pay on 11th just this once due to an unexpected expense this month. i thought id ask here before i ring them and i dont want my payment to be late to the creditors.

thanks in advance if anyone has paid a day late before and can just let me know it if was ok.

lastly for all you newbies out there, starting my dmp was the best thing i ever did so hang in there because once its all up and running the sense of relief is immense

gettingontop

Hi Guys,

I'm after a bit of help/advice...

I'm 9 months into my DMP with stepchange and everything seems to be going well - until I got a statement from one of my creditors....

They haven't frozen the interest and because of the reduced payments I'm making to them, the debt has grown from £7k to £14k!!!

Are they obliged to freeze the interest? Is there anything I can do?

According to my DMP I'm meant to be debt free in 5.5years - this statement says I have 127 monthly payments to go!!

Any help and/or avice would be MUCH appreciated!

Ta

Puzzcat

gettingontop wrote: »

Hi Guys,

I'm after a bit of help/advice...

I'm 9 months into my DMP with stepchange and everything seems to be going well - until I got a statement from one of my creditors....

They haven't frozen the interest and because of the reduced payments I'm making to them, the debt has grown from £7k to £14k!!!

Are they obliged to freeze the interest? Is there anything I can do?

According to my DMP I'm meant to be debt free in 5.5years - this statement says I have 127 monthly payments to go!!

Any help and/or avice would be MUCH appreciated!

Ta

Hi,


Unfortunately the creditors are not obliged to freeze interest, have you made any contact with them? if not the first thing to do would be to send them a letter requesting they freeze/reduce interest and ask if they will refund some/all of what you have already paid. A template you can adapt is on page 115 of this thread. If you have already written to them and had a response you can complain to the FOS who will investigate and hopefully get the problem sorted.


Good Luck.
Puzz.

Sazzie23

gettingontop wrote: »

Hi Guys,

I'm after a bit of help/advice...

I'm 9 months into my DMP with stepchange and everything seems to be going well - until I got a statement from one of my creditors....

They haven't frozen the interest and because of the reduced payments I'm making to them, the debt has grown from £7k to £14k!!!

Are they obliged to freeze the interest? Is there anything I can do?

According to my DMP I'm meant to be debt free in 5.5years - this statement says I have 127 monthly payments to go!!

Any help and/or avice would be MUCH appreciated!

Ta

Same as Puzz, it's a voluntary agreement but there are some guidelines they are supposed to follow. Bumping the amount owing by 100% would seem pretty unreasonable.:mad:
Check back a few pages for complaint templates.

Sazzie23

Hi newbies and returners

Sorry I'm really busy at the moment and can't give you much help but hopefully HH to TTfTm will be along soon to give their usual fabbie advice, or MB, haven't heard from him in a while

RebelRed

Hey everyone!

I've been very quiet recently but not much to report. First dmp payment left my account on the 10th and should have been passed onto creditors yesterday! Had a bit of a nightmare regarding council tax and working tax so have reduced my dmp amount just for two months to get back on top!

So far Next, Vanquis, Natwest, Barclaycard and Capital One have all accepted the dmp and completely stopped or really reduced the interest which I'm very grateful for. They've been really helpful and understanding.
Barclays, Littlewoods, Very and Isme are still claiming they haven't received the paperwork so Stepchange keep sending new ones out. I also have the shop direct ones calling/texing me on a daily basis which is a bit of a nightmare, I've only got mysepf to blame for it though! There's also my New Look store card but haven't heard anything from them?!

All in all I think it's going well. For tye first time in ages we have a bank account in credit and we're actually buying things with our own money. It's a great feeling!

I hope everyone else is doing well x

Suseka

iwantafreshstart wrote: »

hi all

i do have a quick question for anyone who may have been in this situation before...my direct debit comes out on 10th of the month but in April it would be really helpful to me if i could pay on 11th just this once due to an unexpected expense this month. i thought id ask here before i ring them and i dont want my payment to be late to the creditors.

I suggest you call your DMP providers because I think if you plan to alter the payment date on a direct debit you usually have to give banks a minimum of 14 days notice. Could you delay that unexpected expense for that one day?

gettingontop wrote: »

Hi Guys,

I'm after a bit of help/advice...

I'm 9 months into my DMP with stepchange and everything seems to be going well - until I got a statement from one of my creditors....

They haven't frozen the interest and because of the reduced payments I'm making to them, the debt has grown from £7k to £14k!!!......

As some have already said, creditors are under no legal obligation to freeze or reduce interest -although many do. It seems a very steep hike (50%) in 9 months, so I would check that out. Then send them one of the template letters and escalate to the FoS if needs be.

RebelRed wrote: »

Hey everyone!

I've been very quiet recently but not much to report. First dmp payment left my account on the 10th and should have been passed onto creditors yesterday! Had a bit of a nightmare regarding council tax and working tax so have reduced my dmp amount just for two months to get back on top!

So far Next, Vanquis, Natwest, Barclaycard and Capital One have all accepted the dmp and completely stopped or really reduced the interest which I'm very grateful for. They've been really helpful and understanding.
Barclays, Littlewoods, Very and Isme are still claiming they haven't received the paperwork so Stepchange keep sending new ones out. I also have the shop direct ones calling/texing me on a daily basis which is a bit of a nightmare, I've only got mysepf to blame for it though! There's also my New Look store card but haven't heard anything from them?!

Great news... always a good feeling when things start to come together and I hope all the others fall in line regarding interest charges.

Jetsetwilly_3

Hello everyone. After years of burying my head in the sand I finally took the plunge to sort my life out.. It got to the point where I was terrified of opening letters.. I have a decent job but by the time I paid all my CC's, Loans, Overdraft charges etc I would have been better off on the dole..

My total debt is £32k

The final straw came when a week after I was paid. I checked my bank account and had £3.77 in the account to last me all month.. I was almost in tears _pale_

I looked around and found Stepchange and since I packed in smoking 6 months ago it's the second best thing I've done in my life (Actually I guess third as if I don't mention getting married to my lovely wife there'll be murder! )

They were absolutely brilliant.. I've had a few phone calls and warning letters but everytime I phone SC they are reassuring and very friendly people who seem to have MY interests at heart..

I start my first payment in a few days and according to my online account I should be debt free in 5 years (which is actually shorted than the loan I foolishly took out to consolidate all my creditors!!!!)

It really is a fantastic feeling knowing that I can sleep at night.. Not worry anymore (it was depressing the hell out of me) and know that there is finally light at the end of the tunnel.

:beer::T:T

Time_to_face_the_music

anniec19 wrote: »

Just found this thread and wow....really positive comments that make me feel less worried and ashamed of my debt....thank you all for sharing x

ferry wrote: »

Hi Guys I need a bit of help and support.
I'm just about to start my DFW journey though I've been on these boards for a fair while. but feeling a abit anxious about it.In around a huuuuge 10k worth of unsecured debt at the moment I may actually have the MSE's first unsolveable debt problem!
Made my first step today by writing to Barclays to freeze interest on an ever increasing OD balance due to all their monthly charges.
Next stop Stepchange.
I guess the real thing eating me is actually having to go through this at all.Was doing great up til October last year when i lost my job and now the savings have gone.Luckily I am back temping for a while so we'll see what happens from there.Its amazing how life changes when something unexpected creeps up on you. I'll certainly be teaching my kids the value of having something nested away to fall back on

I am married but will attempt this alone as my wife has her own worries at the moment plus the debt built up is all mine.Shes great and will be supporting me all the way.
I've already posted about this but I'm concerned about come re-mortgage time(next year) and it seems I might have to stay with my current lender for the forseeable future.-I wonder if SC can advise on this too?
Also my IFA is also a close friend so I guess at some point I will need to pour the beans to him but will deal with that once the time comes.
Looking foward to 'speaking' with some of you for some much love 'n support!

I guess I also wanted to ask if a DMP was the right way to go for you guys - need a bit of encouragement in what is a daunting journey never having been in a position to deal with anything like this before...
F x

Jetsetwilly wrote: »

Hello everyone. After years of burying my head in the sand I finally took the plunge to sort my life out.. It got to the point where I was terrified of opening letters.. I have a decent job but by the time I paid all my CC's, Loans, Overdraft charges etc I would have been better off on the dole..

My total debt is £32k

The final straw came when a week after I was paid. I checked my bank account and had £3.77 in the account to last me all month.. I was almost in tears _pale_

I looked around and found Stepchange and since I packed in smoking 6 months ago it's the second best thing I've done in my life (Actually I guess third as if I don't mention getting married to my lovely wife there'll be murder! )

They were absolutely brilliant.. I've had a few phone calls and warning letters but everytime I phone SC they are reassuring and very friendly people who seem to have MY interests at heart..

I start my first payment in a few days and according to my online account I should be debt free in 5 years (which is actually shorted than the loan I foolishly took out to consolidate all my creditors!!!!)

It really is a fantastic feeling knowing that I can sleep at night.. Not worry anymore (it was depressing the hell out of me) and know that there is finally light at the end of the tunnel.

:beer::T:T

Hi and welcome to annie, ferry and Jetsetwilly :hello:

This thread is all about support from people who are in the same position as you, or have been in the past. If you need any advice or help, or just need a shoulder to cry on or an ear to bend if you are having a bad day, someone here will always try and help you.

TTFTM x

Time_to_face_the_music

gettingontop wrote: »

Hi Guys,

I'm after a bit of help/advice...

I'm 9 months into my DMP with stepchange and everything seems to be going well - until I got a statement from one of my creditors....

They haven't frozen the interest and because of the reduced payments I'm making to them, the debt has grown from £7k to £14k!!!

Are they obliged to freeze the interest? Is there anything I can do?

According to my DMP I'm meant to be debt free in 5.5years - this statement says I have 127 monthly payments to go!!

Any help and/or avice would be MUCH appreciated!

Ta

You need to fight this ASAP.

Have you ever written a letter of complaint to the creditor? If not, do it today and get it in the post tomorrow, 1st class recorded delivery. If you can't find the template, just yell and I will post it again.

If you do not get the response you want, i.e. interest frozen and previous interest paid fully refunded, go on to make a complaint to the FOS but you need to give the creditor a chance to respond first.

Have you checked your other statements and ensured any other creditors have stopped interest? One of the best pieces of advice given to me about a DMP was while you hand over your money to Stepchange etc to pass on to your creditors, you really need to remember it is still your debt and it's up to you to keep up to date with your true balances and to fight interest.

TTFTM x