DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 9

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Time_to_face_the_music wrote: »

When NatWest ignored me, I dropped their payment to £1 a month until they decided to play ball and default my OH. I think it took 4 months but we got the default, interest stopped and all previous interest/charges etc refunded.

We struggled with NatWest and the FOS but after a lot of hassle and fighting eventually won the case on the grounds that NatWest were treating two accounts differently. What is the FOS's justification for rejecting your complaint? And how do you think GP will get interest stopped if the FOS have said they can't do anything?

Sorry if I came across as bossy but I hate to see anyone wasting money on something they can get for free or easily do themselves

No need to apologise, I can see where you're coming from.

The two cases weren't to do with the actual debts themselves so it wasn't based on them dropping interest or anything. I've done the token 1 pound payment thing and they threw their toys out the pram at first, then once they realised I wasn't budging they went silent on me for 12 months, then picked it up again with an 'annual review'. My complaints were stemmed upon two things, the first was that they'd sold my debt to a dca when they'd told me they wouldn't, when I initially complained they didn't budge and eventually with the FOS on their case they told me they'd bought the debt back, but I had a look at the DCA company they'd supposedly sold it to and it was one of their in-house ones anyway. So they just transferred it back so FOS couldn't do anything.

The second was to do with the package account fiasco that the banks were dragged over hot coals regarding, they basically stuck two fingers up at me and said 'you're not getting anything back, nyah nyah'. I was expecting that outcome anyway, so that one wasn't as much of a blow.

Whether or not GP can add any gravitas to my dealings with them remain to be seen. If it doesn't work, I'll dump GP right away. If it does, then I'm willing to hang with them for a short while and see what develops, with a view to trimming as much off my overall costs as quickly and effectively as possible.

Hopelessly_Hopeful

jubilee14 wrote: »

Hi all - i did a seperate post on the forum but didnt get many replies apart from Puzcat - thanks

Just wanting views on whether i should contact hfx on repaying the credit card - they have been threatening to default me for the past few months and got a letter saying i had no arrangement although they are still charging me the reduced 11% pa. i had contested this to freeze interest way back and missed the 6 month window to complain to FOS.

So while i am still paying money via DMP each month its only taking just over £20 off a $10k + debt a month so ideally want to be defaulted.

Concern is if i do contact them i go continue with this which keeps pushing my DFD right out. But if i dont they try and take legal action and put something like a charging order on me.

any views would help thanks all.

Hi

Lots of us had a dreadful time with hellifex. After I went to FOS they refunded me interest and then reduced the rate a little.

Hope that helps

HHx

Sazzie23

Hopelessly_Hopeful wrote: »

Hi

Lots of us had a dreadful time with hellifex. After I went to FOS they refunded me interest and then reduced the rate a little.

Hope that helps

HHx

HBOS:mad: :mad: defo my most problematic. Still fighting the massive interest that are charging me I didn't realise until yesterday that they are part of the lloyds group. Don't seem to hear so many complaints about Lloyds.

Jubilee14 - how can they say you have no arrangement when they have reduced the interest ? Suggest you keep fighting it, they can't get what you don't have. :eek:

Hope everyone had a good and anxiety free bank holiday. Off to the dentist again

Growurown

Halifax have been my worst creditor to deal with too. They are the only one still charging interest albeit at a reduced rate on OH's credit card and fees on the two joint bank accounts. They won't stop interest because we are paying too much, although the debt is coming down. Fortunately we aren't in the position of interest and fees pushing the debt up every month. We took them to the FOS too and got a refund on some of the charges, but they still charging interest.

heart2014

Hello all

I'm new here and would like a bit of reassurance I suppose. My first dmp payment comes out on the 10th may; so far heard nothing from my creditors which makes me slightly nervous. The payment each month has started off low but will definitely increase as the months and years go on. This worries me as I really want my dmp to be accepted but concerned it won't due to low starting payment. My largest creditor is Halifax and after reading some negative things about them on here I asked a lady at step change and she said halifax tend to pass on debts to their internal collections agency if payment is low each month which I'm trying to be optimistic about as I know they can be better to deal with.

I feel miles better than I did for signing up to the dmp but still have down days. My biggest fears are the worst case scenarios - like a CCJ or creditor forcing you bankrupt. In your experience how likely are these scenarios? I'm committed to paying back what I owe and just want that chance. I know a CCJ will at the end of the day be just what you can afford but it scares me that if you default on one (which I obviously would hope not to do) then you can have the bailiffs at your door.

I need to just focus on a day at a time and I want to say what an inspiration you all are on this thread. It is truly amazing what you have all achieved.

Puzzcat

heart2014 wrote: »

Hello all

I'm new here and would like a bit of reassurance I suppose. My first dmp payment comes out on the 10th may; so far heard nothing from my creditors which makes me slightly nervous. The payment each month has started off low but will definitely increase as the months and years go on. This worries me as I really want my dmp to be accepted but concerned it won't due to low starting payment. My largest creditor is Halifax and after reading some negative things about them on here I asked a lady at step change and she said halifax tend to pass on debts to their internal collections agency if payment is low each month which I'm trying to be optimistic about as I know they can be better to deal with.

I feel miles better than I did for signing up to the dmp but still have down days. My biggest fears are the worst case scenarios - like a CCJ or creditor forcing you bankrupt. In your experience how likely are these scenarios? I'm committed to paying back what I owe and just want that chance. I know a CCJ will at the end of the day be just what you can afford but it scares me that if you default on one (which I obviously would hope not to do) then you can have the bailiffs at your door.

I need to just focus on a day at a time and I want to say what an inspiration you all are on this thread. It is truly amazing what you have all achieved.

Hi Heart2014 and welcome to our wonderful thread... If you have the time do try and read back from the beginning..ish.. There is a whole host of information on here which will reassure you that you are definately doing the right thing...


As for Halifax well they were my best creditor so far.. my debt was passed to DCA within the first 4 months and they defaulted me as well which is an advantage as this falls off your credit report 6 years from when you receive it..They have not charged me any interest or charges apart from during the inital set up which is quite usual and to be expected!


I have seen a few posts about ccj's but they appear to be few and far between so I wouldn't worry about what may or may not happen and just concentrate on the here and now.


As soon as you are not paying the contractural minimum payment you will have defaulted on the debt, however that doesn't mean that the creditor will actually default you.. this is what most of us want so that the default clock starts ticking.. I think 4 or 5 of mine have now and i'm in my 7th month of my dmp.


Good luck and do come back and keep posting to let us know how you are getting on.


Love Puzz. x

Growurown

heart2014 wrote: »

Hello all

:hello: Hi, welcome to the DMP mutual support thread!

heart2014 wrote: »

I'm new here and would like a bit of reassurance I suppose. My first dmp payment comes out on the 10th may; so far heard nothing from my creditors which makes me slightly nervous.

Don't worry, lots of my creditors didn't get in touch either. The first I knew that they knew was when I received my statement!

heart2014 wrote: »

My biggest fears are the worst case scenarios - like a CCJ or creditor forcing you bankrupt. In your experience how likely are these scenarios? I'm committed to paying back what I owe and just want that chance. I know a CCJ will at the end of the day be just what you can afford but it scares me that if you default on one (which I obviously would hope not to do) then you can have the bailiffs at your door.

I need to just focus on a day at a time and I want to say what an inspiration you all are on this thread. It is truly amazing what you have all achieved.

I would say that CCJ, bailiffs or bankrupty are very, very unlikely. If you read through the thread you will see that there are very few people who have experienced this. If you keep in contact with your creditors and keep making regular payments you shouldn't have any problems. I had a small debt with my Halifax CC and that was soon passed onto a DCA, but OHs Halifax CC had quite a large amount on it and that is still with the Halifax.

Things will settle down quite soon and then you will almost forget you are on a DMP! Keep us posted with your progress, and there will be lots of help here if you have any problems.

Growurown

:wave: Hello there DMPers. I know we all like ticking off those milestones! Here are my milestones for April: - one more creditor paid in full, my total amount owing just scraping in under the £20,000 mark and owing every creditor less than £3,000 now. Still a way to go but getting there steadily!

Kate_fixing_it

Growurown wrote: »

:wave: Hello there DMPers. I know we all like ticking off those milestones! Here are my milestones for April: - one more creditor paid in full, my total amount owing just scraping in under the £20,000 mark and owing every creditor less than £3,000 now. Still a way to go but getting there steadily!

Fantastic Growurown :beer:

I love seeing the successes on here, makes me a little jealous (I want it too and NOW ) but also pushes my motivation and determination on to get myself debt free.

Kate x

vix1977

Hi all,


I am shortly to be setting up a DMP with Stepchange. just trying to change banks first before sending my paperwork back. I was just wondering should I contact my creditors (or let Stepchange deal with it) as up until now we have managed the minimum payments but I don't think I can do that anymore! What would you recommend as a token payment and do I just pay the token payment as normal i.e. when I would normally pay them the minimum payment? Also does anybody have a template letter explaining that I am entering into a DMP? I'm not that confident at writing letters so don't feel I can create one myself!!
Thanks in advance!