DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 9

Kate_fixing_it

Just realised I came on here to celebrate a little success and totally forgot!

Today I paid off the vanquis card it was originally going to be part of the DMP but the balance was very low and as I've been making token payments to the others while the DMP was set up I was able to scrape together the £81 to clear it

DH also made his last IVA payment last week so that's in the process of being closed too.

My memory and concentration are terrible right now - blame the painkillers

Kate x

Powered_By_Pies

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.

Hey Heart,

I think I'm in a similar position as you are at the moment, stepping into the world of DMP's for the first time and cautious about all the aspects. My first payment went out at the end of April and so far I've only heard from one creditor, but I didn't manage to take the call and since then they've gone quiet on me again.

I'm calling it the calm before the storm, but two points to note about your CCJ and bankruptcy queries:

1. CCJ's, despite sounding ominous and threatening, don't seem to be the life-ending scenario's that some of these creditors will make you believe. Yes it's not nice to get one and it sits on your credit file and makes it very difficult to obtain credit whilst it's on there, but realistically, the idea of a DMP is that you can budget accordingly without all your monthly wages disappearing into the ether before you've even seen it land in your bank account, and realistically shouldn't need to apply for further credit anyway.

In a bizarre way, a CCJ could actually do some good - if the creditor pushes for it and it goes to court, chances are it's because they want a higher rate of repayment than your budget says you can afford. Once a judge stamps the CCJ agreement, it becomes legally binding, meaning as long as you maintain the payments, the creditors can't do anything, as far as I know. Plus a judge would be realistic with the situation - they're not going to order you to make monthly payments knowing it's likely to start another debt spiral, as that's a no-win situation for anyone.

2. Bankruptcy. I'd highly doubt any of your creditors will push for that unless they're mentally insane or have taken a look at your budget plan and decided that somehow, they'll never see the debt repaid even if they left it running for x number of years. If you're made bankrupt, it likely means their debt is wiped, so they'd lose everything. Any sane creditor would rather see a little of something spread over a longer term that results in the debt repaid, than a whole lot of nothing and a minus figure in their charts.

It's a tentative period when it's first set up - I have no idea how my creditors will react so at the moment I'm not sure what to prepare for - just remember that a DMP provider's been through it all before with varying cases of all sorts of difficulty levels, so they should have the knowledge needed to help you out.

Good luck!

Time_to_face_the_music

Hi and welcome to heart2014 and vix1977 :hello:

You both seem to have got great advice already so I will just say please ask if you need any help and stick around for the support.

Brilliant news from GUO and Kate - well done to both of you and to Kate's OH too :j

Oh I love to celebrate on this thread .... bring on the next milestone please

Heffi1

Copied over from the Loans board on advice from Tixy.

Hi everyone,

I have a question and wondered if anyone could help with some advice please?

A Lloyds loan was and is being paid as part of a DMP, the payments for this account are as follows:

Original Amount - £509.99
Reduced Amount - £147.95

Now no payments have been missed, but as you can see they are at a reduced rate, due to financial difficulties. The reason I am posting is that the statement has turned up and Lloyds are charging between £250.00 and £280.00 per month in interest (15.58% from the statement), so the total has in fact been increasing, even though this is handled by Step Change, I am concerned that the loan at this rate will never be finished.

Is there a template letter about that I can use to talk to Lloyds and ask them to stop the interest and give a chance for the debt to be repaid.

Many thanks for any help you can give.

Time_to_face_the_music

Heffi1 wrote: »

Copied over from the Loans board on advice from Tixy.

Hi everyone,

I have a question and wondered if anyone could help with some advice please?

A Lloyds loan was and is being paid as part of a DMP, the payments for this account are as follows:

Original Amount - £509.99
Reduced Amount - £147.95

Now no payments have been missed, but as you can see they are at a reduced rate, due to financial difficulties. The reason I am posting is that the statement has turned up and Lloyds are charging between £250.00 and £280.00 per month in interest (15.58% from the statement), so the total has in fact been increasing, even though this is handled by Step Change, I am concerned that the loan at this rate will never be finished.

Is there a template letter about that I can use to talk to Lloyds and ask them to stop the interest and give a chance for the debt to be repaid.

Many thanks for any help you can give.

Try something like this, customising it for Lloyds:

You

Date

Them

Dear Sir/Madam

Re: [Creditor name] account No: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Thank you for your letter/statement concerning the above account. I am sorry that you feel unable to suspend interest/charges on the above account.

As you are aware, I/we am/are in a DMP with XXXXXXXX, reference number XXXXXXXX. The majority of my/our other creditors have agreed to the offer of payment and agreed to suspend any interest charges still accruing. They have accepted that to continue to charge interest would not assist us in my/our present financial difficulties, and can only serve to increase my/our total debt.

I/we have already paid considerable sums in interest to my/our account. If interest charges continue, the monthly instalments I/we am/are paying will not even cover that interest. Also, the cooperation of my/our other creditors who have agreed to freeze interest already would be put at risk.

I am aware that XXXXXXX subscribes to the Lending Code which states that lenders will consider reducing or suspending interest and charges if these would cause the debt to increase or lead to the repayment term becoming too extended. I would therefore be grateful if you would reconsider your decision not to freeze the interest. This would mean that the monthly payments I/we make would actually reduce the balance outstanding to your company.

Please consider this letter as a complaint about the interest charges you are continuing to apply to my account. I would like to see these stopped immediately and previous interest charges refunded.

If you are unable to help me with this issue, I will have no alternative but to take this case to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.

Yours faithfully

You

Heffi1

Very many thanks I will get that into the post tomorrow and let you know how I get on.

Time_to_face_the_music

Heffi1 wrote: »

Very many thanks I will get that into the post tomorrow and let you know how I get on.

If you need any more help or advice or just a bit of moral support, please pop in and see us

Heffi1

I will, I am very impressed with the speed you responded, I shall definitely be back

Sazzie23

Heffi1 wrote: »

I will, I am very impressed with the speed you responded, I shall definitely be back

Hi Heffi and welcome to the thread - good luck with that letter.

Welcome to the other newbies here too,

Just though it might be a good time to reminder DMPers new and old that DMP providers like SC may manage your debt repayments, but the debt still belongs to you (insert your name here) and you (yes the one reading this) should make sure you check your balances with creditors and make every effort too get interest reduced as SC won't do this for you. The balances shown in SC (not sure about other DMP groups) are what your balance would be if interest is frozen, so the DFD (where we all want to be) will be incorrect if interest is still being applied.:eek:

There are quite a few spreadsheet users on the thread - I'm a convert too - and keeping these up to date gives you a much better idea of where you are and what you have paid, makes those all important milestones easier to see and keeps us motivated:T

blisteringblue

Stepchange seem seem to be having a problem getting money to Sainsbury's Credit Card. They haven't received my April payment and its not been returned to SC.

I've rung around both and SC insist all Sainsbury's payments goto BOS, but Sainsbury's insist they are to Sainsbury's Bank?

They've frozen account for another month while it is sorted and I think Stepchange are going to actually telephone them to discuss rather than me being the go between.

No hassles though, not had a horrible creditor yet when speaking on the phone