Anyone on DMP and had to reduce a payment one month due to unexpected expense?

Pink-Angel

Hopelessly_Hopeful wrote: »

Hi and welcome

Washing machines are essential! We can technically live without electric and heating but you just wouldn't would you!

The right plan of action is to agree a reduction in advance with stepchange, just so you know for next time! Things will go wrong from time to time on a DMP. Ideally your budget should be set to such a level that you can anticipate and plan but all things in life are not perfect. My fridge freezer has been on its last legs since I started the DMP 3 years ago but is still running. I have money set aside to replace it but I am now having a battle of wills as to who will give in first the fridge freezer or me lol. That said I had car trouble twice which I did not have enough in the emergency fund for. First time SC reduced that months payment. I had already paid so they returned half of it. Second time was an enormous car bill, SC reversed all but £50 to me and paid each creditor £5. It really depends who you speak to unfortunately. There is no contract. DMPs are informal and they specifically tell you things will go wrong and your budget can be adjusted. I'd call them back up. It's YOUR money! Sounds like you need a budget review too. Don't rely on stepchange to inform your creditors. I wrote personally to them and explained situation, enclose bill where possible. Assure them you are back to xx amount month after. Suggest budget review before you write to them and tell them that SC are aware of the plan. Had you approached SC like you will next time you can put that SC approved it etc. It will no doubt kick off computer madness but you can appeal if any nonsense comes your way. At the end of the day its all about reasonableness.

Have you considered coming to join us on the DMP support thread? Certainly keeps me going, we support laugh and cry together, it's a really friendly thread. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/60182595#Comment_60182595

Good luck with it. Please let us know how you get on.

HHx

Thanks so much for your post, it's really helpful. I'll certainly do things differently if there is a next time, and will be looking at a review for the DMP and what I'm currently paying. I'm desperate to pay of my debts so have possibly cut things too tight. But we live and learn don't we, usually the hard way as in my case.

It's a very good suggestion about sending copies of the bill to the creditor. I'll be contacting Stepchange on Monday and hopefully can speak to someone more helpful. Hopefully once this situation is over and the review is done, I can continue moving forward.

Thanks for your support, it's meant a lot to me today.

All the best to you on your DMP too. We're all trying to address our problems and we'll get to the light at the end of the tunnel eventually I'm sure.

Hopelessly_Hopeful

HappyMJ wrote: »

Tone? It's a message..there is no tone.

Do you want me to say don't worry about it you can prefer any creditor you like Stepchange won't mind one bit. If you have any emergencies in the future don't worry about it just borrow from anyone who is willing to lend you the money and pay them back first and ignore all the other creditors.

Examples of Tone

The tone in a story canbe joyful, serious, humorous, sad, threatening, formal, informal, pessimistic,and optimistic.Your tone in writing will be reflective of your mood as you are writing.

Tone in Writing




Tone in writing isnot really any different than the tone of your voice. You know that sometimesit is not “what” you say, but “how” you say it.

It is the same withwriting. Every adjective and adverb you use, your sentence structure, and theimagery you use will show your tone. The definition of “tone” is the way theauthor expresses his attitude through his writing.

The tone can changevery quickly, or may remain the same throughout the story. Tone is expressed byyour use of syntax, your point of view, your diction, and the level offormality in your writing.

Examples of tone ina story include just about any adjective you can imagine:

• Scared
• Anxious
• Excited
• Worried
• Foolish
• Smart
• Depressing

Conveying Tone ina Story

Tone in writing isconveyed by both the choices of words and the narrator of the story.
Consider the tone of The School byDonald Barthelme. Here, words like "death" and "depressing"set a negative or unhappy tone: etc etc

HHx

Time_to_face_the_music

Pink-Angel wrote: »

Thanks so much for your post, it's really helpful. I'll certainly do things differently if there is a next time, and will be looking at a review for the DMP and what I'm currently paying. I'm desperate to pay of my debts so have possibly cut things too tight. But we live and learn don't we, usually the hard way as in my case.

It's a very good suggestion about sending copies of the bill to the creditor. I'll be contacting Stepchange on Monday and hopefully can speak to someone more helpful. Hopefully once this situation is over and the review is done, I can continue moving forward.

Thanks for your support, it's meant a lot to me today.

All the best to you on your DMP too. We're all trying to address our problems and we'll get to the light at the end of the tunnel eventually I'm sure.

I can only echo what HH has already said to you.

I am another one who thinks a washing machine is essential and I don't believe you have done anything wrong. I recently received a letter from StepChange and I didn't like the tone of it one little bit. I definitely think they have changed and not for the better.

Please come and join us on the DMP & Mutual Support Thread. We don't have an answer to every question but we will help and support you with everything we can.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4437925

TTFTM x

Growurown

I think a washing machine is essential. OK we all know the mantra 'never borrow whilst on a DMP' but I have and so have others. I just don't tell Step Change what I have done. When I say borrow I don't mean on a credit card or anything like that, I mean from a family member or from a very small overdraft facility with my bank. I pay it back out of my food budget. SC don't need to know and no one gets less.

When I had a big bill to pay on my car I reduced my DMP amount for a month. Some of my creditors made a fuss, but I explained the situation (the car is essential to get to work etc.) and they were OK with it, and just asked for us to send another SOA to set the agreement up again because 'officially' we had broken it, which we had by not paying the full amount. Creditors might make a big fuss but I think it is easier for them to just set the agreement up again rather than go to the next level.

c85

Pink-Angel wrote: »

Hi,

I've been on a DMP with CCCS (now StepChange) since the start of 2011. I've had to battle hard with my one of my creditors (Lloyds) to get interest frozen, which I realise they don't have to do.

All had been going ok with the DMP, apart from depression at being single and having no money for a social life so no chance of meeting someone.

But now I've got a problem because my washing machine blew and I had to replace it. I used the council tax money (we pay 10 months out of 12) but needed more so I borrowed money from my brother. He has a family and needs it back.

I contacted StepChange because I thought I could reduce the DMP payment for that month to get me back on track. Well, the person I spoke to at StepChange was very unpleasant, going on about me 'breaking terms of contract' if I reduce a payment, and how i shouldn't borrow extra money. That's all very well, but the DMP doesn't leave much each much and this was an emergency. It's left me feeling upset and frightened. So I don't know what to do. I've found StepChange helpful in the past, but perhaps their change isn't just in their name.

Has anyone had to reduce a DMP payment one month and if so what were the consequences? Were creditors ok or did it cause more problems? It would be really helpful to know.

Thanks for reading.

have you not got any amount in your stepchange budget for sundries/emergencys? i have £30 against it which goes straight into a savings a/c every month.. its quite a sum at the moment (just over £1100) and iv used it three times in 4 years! im thinkin about offerin some F&F's to a few of my creditors once ive built hope a little bit more! (fingers crossed no more emergencys)

if you havent got it in your budget i would ask for a review and get it put in there as soon as possible!

Pebbles100

Hi , i am (for the moment with payplan) and i had to miss two payments ,well may token payments due to a unexpected tax bill.

Payplan were fine about this, and so were the creditors,i just informed them by letter what was happening and why and they were fine . Things happen in life and in the lifespan of a DMP i'm sure most people have something unexpected crop up.

I am just about to embark on my own DMP as Payplan keep pushing a IVA which i don't want and i'm hoping the creditors will continue to be reasonable as long as the lines of communication are kept open.

System

Pink-Angel wrote: »

Hi,

I've been on a DMP with CCCS (now StepChange) since the start of 2011. I've had to battle hard with my one of my creditors (Lloyds) to get interest frozen, which I realise they don't have to do.

All had been going ok with the DMP, apart from depression at being single and having no money for a social life so no chance of meeting someone.

But now I've got a problem because my washing machine blew and I had to replace it. I used the council tax money (we pay 10 months out of 12) but needed more so I borrowed money from my brother. He has a family and needs it back.

I contacted StepChange because I thought I could reduce the DMP payment for that month to get me back on track. Well, the person I spoke to at StepChange was very unpleasant, going on about me 'breaking terms of contract' if I reduce a payment, and how i shouldn't borrow extra money. That's all very well, but the DMP doesn't leave much each much and this was an emergency. It's left me feeling upset and frightened. So I don't know what to do. I've found StepChange helpful in the past, but perhaps their change isn't just in their name.

Has anyone had to reduce a DMP payment one month and if so what were the consequences? Were creditors ok or did it cause more problems? It would be really helpful to know.

Thanks for reading.

Hi Pink-Angel and thanks for your post.

Sorry to hear about the response you received on the phone, the last thing we want is to make anyone feel upset.

If you want to send us a private message to StepChange Private Messages containing your client reference number we’ll get someone to call you back.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Mat