Self administered DMP

blossom36

Hi All! I just wanted to give a bit of encouragement to anyone thinking of self administering their own DMP...

I was with Step Change (CCCS) for 3 years (I'm in this for the long haul - minimum 8 yrs!!) and a couple of months ago decided to go it alone. I often struggled with the two dates that Step Change offered me to make payments, and on the two occasions in 3 years that I could not make payments I not only had to let Step Change know but also all the creditors which seemed daft. I have no complaints with Step Change but the rigidity of the plan because my income from several jobs comes in at different times of the month, and the fact that it did not allow for emergencies made budgeting tricky.

So.... I wrote to my creditors (7 in total) with my own plan and budget and they all accepted, one even stopped interest when it had not previously. I have now negotiated payments to go out at different times of the month which co-incide with my wages coming in.

The tone of the telephone calls and letters I had to handle were sympathetic and helpful. I used to be terrified of speaking to these companies but have found that if you are confident and stick to your guns they will work with you.

For anyone else in it for the long-haul...keep it up! :j

North_East_Derbyshire_CAB

blossom36 wrote: »

Hi All! I just wanted to give a bit of encouragement to anyone thinking of self administering their own DMP...

I was with Step Change (CCCS) for 3 years (I'm in this for the long haul - minimum 8 yrs!!) and a couple of months ago decided to go it alone. I often struggled with the two dates that Step Change offered me to make payments, and on the two occasions in 3 years that I could not make payments I not only had to let Step Change know but also all the creditors which seemed daft. I have no complaints with Step Change but the rigidity of the plan because my income from several jobs comes in at different times of the month, and the fact that it did not allow for emergencies made budgeting tricky.

So.... I wrote to my creditors (7 in total) with my own plan and budget and they all accepted, one even stopped interest when it had not previously. I have now negotiated payments to go out at different times of the month which co-incide with my wages coming in.

The tone of the telephone calls and letters I had to handle were sympathetic and helpful. I used to be terrified of speaking to these companies but have found that if you are confident and stick to your guns they will work with you.

For anyone else in it for the long-haul...keep it up! :j

Hi Blossom

Very interesting post and familiar theme to us

Control & flexiblity

Well done and an inspiration to others

Many people successfully administer their own Debt Management Plans and this method seems to be sharply on the increase.

There are people who for one reason or another may have little option other than manage their own Debt Management Plan and they deserve all the help they can get just the same as anybody else.

Creditors should treat you the same (and are doing) if you self administer or go with a DMP provider and this is how it should be in our opinion, no deviation or exceptions, help people with their debts.

More pressure should be brought on creditors who do not follow the OFT guidelines on Debt Management Plans, it is not rocket science.

Not everybody is suited to Self Help it has to be said

Give people the help & support they need & deserve if they are doing everything they can with trying to manage their debts and finances, whatever their circumstances and method of dealing

Wishing you the best

NED-CAB

Julie67

Hi Blossom,

It's early days for us, started our DMP in March and with SC. so far so good, only paying a minimum amount at the moment but will be increasing our payment by £100 from September.
Your post has really given me hope as I'm starting to feel we will never get anywhere at this rate. We owe what you did at the start.
I would really like to go down the self administered route once we have more money to throw at the debts.
I've even thought should we just go bankrupt and be done with it but I really don't want to go down this route and really want to pay everything back.
The end just feels far far away at the moment:(