Anyone dealt with these companies in a DMP?

lonely2

Hi

I'm still plucking up the courage to phone CCCS but am terrified. Still not told my OH but am now going over and over in my head how I will tell him once I have a plan in place. (More on that in my other threads.)

Anyway, before I phone CCCS I would appreciate anyone letting me know how they have been dealt with by with these companies

Lloyds TSB - Loan - £18000 over 7 years (borrowed in Dec 06)
Northern Rock - Loan - £16000 over 10 years (borrowed in June 06)
Virgin Credit Card - £6000 maxed
Mint Credit Card - £6000 maxed
Capital One Credit Card - £5000 maxed

From reading the other threads on here I have noticed some creditors are nastier than others so any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

sammy115

Capital One is the only one I have had out of your list and they were fine with me. It helped that i had a case number to quote them when I called so you would do best to ring CCs first. Can I be honest and say be tough with the cc companies, don't be soft. We were given a hard time by some but when I realised that some would use underhand tactics to try and get money out of us... like suggesting we borrow from relatives above eating, I soon got tough back.

lonely2

Thanks for such a quick and helpful reply Sammy. One down and a few to go eh! I have not missed any payment yet but I am fairly sure June will be the month as I am all maxed out now.

Thanks again.

Jolinar

Anyway, before I phone CCCS I would appreciate anyone letting me know how they have been dealt with by with these companies

Here's my experience so far after nearly two years on a DMP with CCCS:

Lloyds TSB - Loan - £18000 over 7 years (borrowed in Dec 06) lloyds were fine in the beginning with me but after a year started up interest charges, they've not been nasty though, just intractable at times, they will try and fob you off with refinance offers, ignore them.
Northern Rock - Loan - £16000 over 10 years (borrowed in June 06)Again fine but did add the whole whack of interest that would have been payable on once the DMP kicked in, if you read the agreement it says they will do this though. They will expect increases in payment after 12 months though and on a regular basis thereafter, apparently they have a lot of bad debt and are persuing it rigorously.
Virgin Credit Card - £6000 maxed - no experience with these

Mint Credit Card - £6000 maxed - no experience with these

Capital One Credit Card - £5000 maxed - OH had them as a creditor they sold the debt on and he's had no probs at all.


Hope that helps
.

Gemmzie

hi lonely2

I've dealt with Mint and Capital One

Capital One were okay, just wanted budget and a fixed payment for six months then they froze interest for us.

Mint stalled a lot, they still haven't given us the information to set up a standing order. However, they have now (4th month) frozen interest so at least it's now going down

rayday2

Dealt with Lloyds credit card and bank account and the right hand don't know what the left hand is doing. I only contact them in writing and use all there replies against them. It took them 7 months to agree to payments on the bank account I had fake solicitor letters off them and eventually got them to agree to payments for a year and got interest and charges refunded - don't let them get you down they make tons of mistakes!

EllieB_2

Dear Lonely2
All the companies you list should co-operate with CCCS - make the call - you will be glad you did. They will be sympathetic - no need to be terrified.
ps. it isn't your fault.don't forget that.

Leixlip1

Lloyds-TSB - 29 letters later, spread over 3 months, and they finally responded positively to my offer of reduced payments and agreed to freeze interest. They lost cheques I sent them, never replied to my letters - I finally went through their complaints procedure and everything was sorted out and they paid me £100 compensation. I should have gone down the complaints route earlier.
Capiatl One have been great.
Virgin is part of MBNA - they are poor.Tried to get me to take out a secure loan, ignored offers etc - I had to be persistent and after one phone call only dealt with them in writing - eventually they agreed offered payments, froze interest etc
Good luck and always send mail "recorded delivery" !!

lonely2

Hi. I can't thank you all enough for your replies. I know that none of them will be easy to deal with but going by the other threads on here I will get caller ID on my phone before I even contact CCCS so I don't have to talk to any of them and can just write.

I have not defaulted on any payments yet (ace juggler) but the result of that is one credit card with balance made up entirely of cash withdrawals.

I'm not sure if I should miss payments before going on a DMP or not? If I've not missed any payments will they just think I'm struggling short term as that's definitely not the case.

Does anyone know what's best.

Thanks

Newgirl_2

lonely2 wrote: »

Hi. I can't thank you all enough for your replies. I know that none of them will be easy to deal with but going by the other threads on here I will get caller ID on my phone before I even contact CCCS so I don't have to talk to any of them and can just write.

I have not defaulted on any payments yet (ace juggler) but the result of that is one credit card with balance made up entirely of cash withdrawals.

I'm not sure if I should miss payments before going on a DMP or not? If I've not missed any payments will they just think I'm struggling short term as that's definitely not the case.

Does anyone know what's best.

Thanks

I have mint and Capital One and neither have been a problem - in fact of all our creditors have been fine except Hellifax. 7 calls today Grrrrrrrr.

Caller ID is a godsend, use it. and if they do catch you answering, once you are will the CCCS, instruct them you are with the CCCS etc and they should communicate with you in writing. Be polite and they cannot do anything.

The CCCS have been fantastic with us. I can't praise them enough.

To answer your last question, we were completely up to date with payments right until we signed up for our DMP (thanks to my amazing other half who managed it all by juggling) but we had run out of credit and couldnt stem the flow. So before we went under, we contacted the CCCS. They advised us what to do, sorted out our budget and, once we received our pack, we sent out letters to all our creditors. From that point, we didn't send any payments and cancelled our direct debits. It doesnt seem to matter if you miss a payment first, as once the creditors receive notice that you will be paying less than you should, they will put arrears on the account and at some point, defaults. Speak to CCCS first, or fill out your application on line as we did, and then you can still think about it before you sign up.

If anything, CCCS upped our budget figures as we had cut things to the bone but they suggested the budget has to be liveable. I remember your previous posts (and glad to see you are still on the forum) - did you get your budget worked out yet?

Newgirl

Jase

from my experience be prepared for N Rock - as a prev poster mentioned they pursue hard and they were the only ones on my DMP who refused to accept the offer. Let the CCCS deal with them - they have a habit of pursuing large amounts through court to get a charging order so as secure the debt - fight them head on. Good luck