DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 9

catandy

Alchemist207 wrote: »

Hello,

Hope you are all doing well. :j

I am wondering if anyone has any advice regarding what I should do with Aqua. I have been on a DMP since February. They have had communication from Stepchange about it, and I am certain that they are aware of it as I have once phoned their customer service department and their adviser confirmed that they are looking at my proposal and talking to Stepchange.

But ever since they seem to act as if they are completely unaware. They have rejected all of my payments, to which Stepchange said: don't worry, we will keep paying them, you don't need to do anything. They have also just sent me another letter, outlining my balance and arrears, still not acknowledging the DMP and now with an added bonus of a printed guide of how to handle arrears, issued by the FCA.

Should I be writing them another letter, asking for them to take my payments/freeze interest? I feel like "do nothing" is a fair enough approach, but don't want to regret not taking responsibility...

Thanks for any tips

from experience it took 6 months for me, lots of angsty phone calls with them, letters requesting interest be frozen and still got nowhere - well I got passed to their complaints team who explained how if I wasn't happy that I could escalate the problem - which I did.


result - account defaulted and passed to a DCA, interest repaid in full, cheque for alleviating my hurt feelings and me wishing I had done it a lot sooner - moral of the story I think im trying to make - fight them from the start, they were my worst creditor by far and I cant wait for the day when im clear of the debt in its entirety.


good luck with it

Alchemist207

They sound terrible!!
Right - I'll send them a very clear letter with recorded delivery and follow up with a call...hopefully they do not ignore me completely.

Thanks so much for getting back to me. Good luck with everything!!

Sazzie23

*Foolish* wrote: »

Just thought I'd add a little post, I've not been here for a while. My DMP started in June 2013 and although I have met my payment each and every month, it's a struggle, there's not often much money left at the end of the month, but this is down to me and what appears to be an inconsistent approach to budgeting!

On the plus side, I love seeing that I have actually paid off almost £8000 in less than a year! Amazing!
Good luck everyone and if you're just starting that DMP journey, stick at it!

Welcome back (not so) Foolish, £8000 that budgeting can't be so bad:eek:

I think it does get tough, especially when there is a long time still to g on the DMP but you know you can do this, and it will be worth it. Perhaps when you have a review you could make your budget not quite so tight, might help you get over the bumps?

Puzzcat wrote: »

Absolutely, 100%, just wish I'd known about dmp's sooner!!

Me too, and wish I'd realised how much money I didn't need to spend a lot sooner, but I'm getting there now:o

City1 wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

So, would I be correct in thinking that in the event we came into any extra money, we should hold it back until the annual review when our situation may have changed for the better and then look at increasing payments at this point. Could you continue to squirrel money so you had a lump some in for example 10 years time?

Welcome City1, I'd probably consider going self managed at some point although maybe go with stepchange at the start if you need the support. Don't know if we have any self employed DMPers that post, but I think if you have a varied income, go for the minimum that you can provide EVERY month, as reducing payments are not favoured. Then maybe increase payments once a year if you can maintain them, or make occasional lump sum payments. Alternatively you might consider saving for F&F, one of my creditors said I would get good terms on an F&F although I don't have any dosh. I think MB (another poster) got some down to 25%:)

Sazzie23

maxdickinson2003 wrote: »

Has anybody had any experience with Simply Be. I have been on a DMP for the last two years with step change and made consistent and regular payments. I have almost finished paying my debt off with simply be (£3.72 still to pay) and all of a sudden they have decided to take me off my payment plan and threatening me with administration charges for not paying the £3.72. They are due a £5 payment in the next couple of days. When I asked them why they had taken me off my payment plan they said they hadn't that step change had because I had maintained my payments so well I was OK now!!!!! I still owe over £17000 to other creditors so know this is not the case! Unfortunately not able to get through to step change before they closed but will be ringing them in the morning. Im not impressed as I don't think they are being a responsible lender (they are offering me more credit! Obviously I will not be using it!). Any advice welcome

Crikey have they been overdoing the Easter chocolate?
Clearly being ridiculous, maybe SC did get in touch with them as final payment due but no reason to behave in that way.

Think I'd see what SC have to say, but start writing a complaint letter,
And get it posted soon as you can. They probably won't care when they get their money, but it's just rubbish to treat you that way. Have heard some of the other catalogue co'so like little woods and Next etc can be tough to deal with, so probably same policies. Good luck (and good riddance to them)

Growurown

:wave: Hi Sazzie, were you burning the midnight oil last night?

Sazzie23

Hi GUO

Was a little late,:eek: am quite an owl when I don't have to get up in the morning;)

Unlike tomorrow so off to bed....

Pickle29

Hello there
Just a quick update from my last post about the no of phone calls I've bee getting where I don't know the no... I thought it was M&S as they recently defaulted me, well ....
The phone rang again yesterday and I answered ... And it was T mobile offering me an upgrade! The relief was immense, I said no thank you and hung up! LOL. Today I rang stepchange about the MS default and they said it file and do nothing so that's what I did!

This journey is full of ups and downs but it's good to have someone (you) to talk to!

Hey ho Back to the plan :rotfl::rotfl:

spiffyiffy

Hi all,


How do I find out about DMP's and what they are about?


I've read a lot on here and other sites but still trying to get my head around it?


Another thing Do I need to have an agency like Step Change involved? Could I not speak to all my creditors myself and get interest rates and payments reduced myself? (I know it would be a hassle and stress doing it myself)


Thanks


Iftakhar

Time_to_face_the_music

spiffyiffy wrote: »

Hi all,

How do I find out about DMP's and what they are about?

I've read a lot on here and other sites but still trying to get my head around it?

Another thing Do I need to have an agency like Step Change involved? Could I not speak to all my creditors myself and get interest rates and payments reduced myself? (I know it would be a hassle and stress doing it myself)

Thanks

Iftakhar

Hi Iftakhar and welcome :hello:

I would start here with Fermi's great advice:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4228011

Stepchange is a good place to find out about DMPs and their Debt Remedy is totally anonymous if you want it to be:

http://www.stepchange.org/debtremedy.aspx?WT.srch=1&WT.mc_id=200032&WT.seg_1=stepchange%20debt%20remedy&gclid=CPKV0bDY-b0CFScGwwod630Axg

I would personally recommend a self managed DMP and it really is no hassle or stress, it's as easy as using Stepchange and you retain complete control. Please check out the award winning self managed DMP by the NED CAB:

https://nedcab.cabmoney.org.uk/dmp.asp

Please stick around for help, advice and support, that's what we are all about

TTFTM x

spiffyiffy

Thanks Time to Face the Music. A lot to think about there.


Step Change does sound good actually and I've already used their Debt Remedy tool and have an action plan thing sorted.


Could other members of the board who have used Step Change already let me know how they have got on with their plans? and also if these plans have also included their mortgage?


Thanks


Iftakhar