Dmp Mutal Support Thread (Part Two)

Scottishmummy

Hi Guys

I need cheering up tonight, feeling really peed off.

Won't hear about the job until later tonight so it's not about that. Well it is in a roundabout way but i'll get to that later. I'll apologise now as this is a long one.

Earlier this month when I decided to start looking for a part time job I decided to also start claiming jobseekers allowance. I didn't claim it before as I was not looking for work. So I called them up and gave all my details over the phone and the person there said it looked like I qualified for Income Based JSA but that would be confirmed after all the red tape had been gone through. Had my 'interview' last Thursday and was told 'no it will be contribution based JSA as your husband works full time so you don't qualify for income based'. Now my husband is self employed and last year his Tax Return worked out that he was earning less than the minimum wage but she wasn't concerned about that just the number of hours he worked. This morning I got a letter through saying I wouldn't be getting the JSA as I hadn't paid enough NI contributions over certain qualifying dates. The dates were while I was self-employed and I paid a quarterly NI bill plus extra at the end of the Tax Year so I don't know how they can be saying this. So as today was my signing in day I took the letter with me. Lady I spoke to then said I had to call a centralised number which was very busy and might take me a while to get through on. She also said it didn't look like my form had been filled out properly as there was nothing on it about whether or not I qualified for Income based. Well at this point I was getting quite p!ssed off and told her what the other woman had said. She said to take it up with the central call base. Well after about a dozen calls I still could not get through so started keeping count of the number of calls I was making (0845 number) I got to number 42 and had had enough and called the local office again. I spoke to one of the supervisors who said she would look into it and call me back. Well she has just called me back but can't tell me whether or not my NI contributions are correct or not. What she did say was it looked like I should have claimed Income based JSA. I explained again that, initially, over the phone I was told that was the type to claim but when I had my interview I was told no I didn't qualify as my husband worked full time. She then said that as no details of my husbands income had been taken then that person could not have made that decision. So she is going to send out the paperwork for me to fill out again personally rather than get some numpty to fill it out over the phone and get it wrong again but it now means I will probably have at least another couple of weeks to wait before getting anything.

To top it all I also phoned the Tax Credits people to see if I would get help with childcare costs if I get the job but because it is less than 16 hours I won't. HOWEVER they will take my earnings into consideration so my Tax Credits will be reduced. Hopefully as it may end up being for only about 4 weeks by the time an enhanced disclosure is done then my DH will be able to do all the childcare although he won't want to take DD to toddlers and I don't want her missing out on that as it is the only time she gets to play with children her own age.

Can't remember how much of the job I have explained on here but it was to help with a special needs child at the local school. However the child is moving to a school further away and the position will also be open there too but instead of being two full days it will be 5 afternoons of two hours at a time and I can't justify driving 15 miles each way for two hours especially if I'm not getting childcare costs.

SM (definately F)

HardleyLisa

Hi everyone

Sounds like some of us are having bad day today.

Scottishmummy:- Sorry to hear about JSA and Tax Credits. Hope it gets sorted out soon. Keep us informed about the job (however after your last post not sure if you still want it now).

Craftingqueen:- Sorry to hear about LLoyds and Nationwide. Barclays have passed my a/c to their internal DCA and they said they were more likely to accept reduced payments. Haven't heard back yet though.

Speak to you all later.

HL (Female)

Scottishmummy

Hi HL
I've started a thread on the main board asking opinions of others which gives reasons why I am still interested in the job just unsure re the money

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=460761

lonely_2

Hi there everyone! So many new faces :T And we've even got a new thread...

Been a while. I finally decided to face my addiction (to this forum) and go cold turkey. I was never getting any work done and was obsessed about being a good samaritan and answering each and every question that I could help with. Anyway, I finally think it's safe to come back. Like an addict, I will never be fully recovered - but I think I've got things under control :rotfl:

How has everyone been? Scottish Mummy sorry to read about your troubles, I cannot help I'm afraid as I have no experience of JSA - but sounds like a nightmare. I really hope someone can help you.

Things at my end have been very quiet. Settling into the DMP nicely. Coming to terms with the fact that my credit will be messed up for a while - but that's OK because at least I won't be in debt for much longer (4 years is not so bad).

Quick update:
RMA (courtesy of AMEX) - The barstewerds have gone silent despite the threat of phonecalls every day - they are so nice once they know they're getting their money back - even if they have to rip you to pieces to get it.

Barclays - Very nice, very professional. No funny business at all. They'e even adjusted my credit card bill to take into consideration the reduced payments (i.e. it doesn't show up as hundreds of pounds in arrears). Only small issue was interest still being charged by accident, which they promptly refunded.

Lloyds - Iffy, they seem to have many different departments that never talk to each other. I was told to just ignore a default notice that had been auto-generated (harder said than done!) Nevertheless, they have accepted the plan and stopped interest.

Morgan Stanley - Don't be scared off by the rotweillers who man their Collections phone centres. They'll tell you any old rubbish to get you to pay up and stop you from starting a dmp. Once payplan contacted them, they were very quick to accept (luckily they deal with a different dept). Haven't had any hassle since.

Alliance & Leicester - Brilliant from Day 1. Informative, helpful, supportive, and first people to accept the plan without any hassle.

HSBC - Really weird. Won't stop the interest permanently because my payments are too high (but I have a 4 month grace period). Makes perfect sense! If this goes ahead, £36 of the £50 I'm paying will go on interest but if I pay less than £36 the interest will stop!!

Student Loans - They don't stop interest for anyone, ever, on any grounds! But they have accepted the plan...

That's it. Would love to know updates from everyone, especially the old crew.

Take care for now
xxx

Streaky_B

Went to Natwest bank today to hand my cards and cheque book back but i destroyed my current account (switch) card years ago and every new card since as ive not used Natwest for my day to day banking for 5 years.

The women at the Natwest explained this over the phone to the collections dept and she told me this was ok since, but since 5 tonight ive had 3 calls from them demanding the switch card i dont have it ive not used the card for 5 years what do they want me to do:mad:

all my creditors including HSBC have accepted the DMP Natwest seem to be putting hurdels up at every possible moment

ilovegreatdanes

hi all,
my real name is julie and this is begining to sound like an aa meeting,iykwim:rotfl:

lonely.......think im addicted to this site too.seem to spend ages on here and cant get any chores done.think ill just cut out the middleman and not do any cos it always goes back to how it was before ,but DH wont be too keen on my logic, i suppose

scottishmummy......am sending a big hug and positive thoughts to you (and all in need).just when you are trying your best ,they keep putting fresh obstackles in your way.know what you mean about the job quandry and wouldnt know what to do either.(alot of help i am )

rayday....good news re the tax credits.god knows what kind of system they use.think they make ours up as they go along.they will never be accused of not sending enough info cos the last time we received our awards, we had 5 different letters in 3 days and it all came in duplicate!!!

i said i wouldnt write another essay today and now look what you lot made me do :rotfl:

am going now,i am(yoda impression:D )
take care and keep up the good work.this thread is getting longer again and we may be in trouble and may have to be evicted again.i blame myself:rotfl:
regards,xx
julie

ilovegreatdanes

YM.....am glad to see youre taking this gender business like a man,lol.xx

ilovegreatdanes

craftingqueen.....im sorry.didnt mean to forget you.hope all is better soon.dont let them grind you down.
just imagine them sat on the loo everytime they are nasty to you!!!
regards.xx

newlywed

Hi, Hugs to everyone that needs it.

Feeling a bit down today too. First day back at work after a few days off. Didn't sleep well last night, OH woke me up at 5.30 when he got up to paint the fence this morning and I've had shocking hayfever all day and feel rubbish.

So then OH starts having a go because he asked me to empty the bins and yet I put the bag by the door and didn't take it outside - as I was cooking meals for tomorrow and the weekend and trying to make lunch for tomorrow and putting washing on. Apparently not good enough - while he sits down to watch footie!

Frustrating sometimes. Thing is it always triggers the kind of feelings that my dad used to when he'd tell me I was, selfish, worthless, make you feel like nothing you do is ever good enough, like even if you do something well you should have done it another way. So then I flip and get all angry and we have a stupid row over a bag of rubbish!!!

Money is tight. We're both sick of getting the bus as it now makes our day 11 hours from the time we leave home to the time we get home. That's two hours longer than it should be just because we have to catch two buses each way. We've searched for cars. Borrowed a car and drove miles looking at dealers (some very dodgy), looking at cars (that people have lied were not rusty), spent loads phoning people up about their cars and leaving messages on answerphones (that they NEVER reply to).

And we haven't really got much money for a car but if we don't get one soon then we haven't got enough money to carry on getting the buses and taxis everywhere. We're almost spending more on bus fare each month than rent - that can't be right!!!

Friends keep telling us about every single car they see (I know they are trying to help) but they don't ask if you need a lift anywhere or if they can help in any other way. Maybe we just expect too much

At least we've been able to borrow a car for some weekends so far.

Sorry for the huge rant. Just fed up and OH is sulking watching footie and I'm being miserable.

scared_2

Hi All

Just been trying to catch up with all your posts. I've had quite a busy week and managed to hardly spend any money. Managed to persude friends to play in the garden instead of wasting money at softplays!!!!

SEA - I made the pasta and broccoli bake last night it went down really well. My husband asked where I got the recipe from and I siad that I just made it up as I went along (he he he) Well I can pretend to be a fantastic cook!!!!!

Had a letter from DLC yesterday regarding Egg Loan (14,000) I spoke to Egg in April and they said that they had excepted the dmp and not to worry about anything, they could'nt of been nicer to me. Then I get this!!!! I wont full for that again. Getting abit worried now as few of them have been nice hope I dont get many more from DLC.

xxx