My DMP Journey...

Monkeyballs

Hi,

At the time of writing I'm a 37 year old guy, I live in a room in a shared house paying £500 pcm in rent and am recovering from a gambling addiction as well as confidence problems. I currently have £15,595 debt outstanding and 31 payments left to go!

In addition to the standard loans and credit cards I had a number of mobile phone contracts which I had taken out to sell the phone and feed my addiction.

My debt at the time of entering my Step Change DMP was £19,500 (around £5k more than I realised) and had the following debts (please note that the phone debts passed to DCA's include an element of collection fee);

£3800 - Provident loan.
£3450 - Credit Union loan.
£3200 - Vanquis Credit card.
£2200 - Barclaycard Credit card.
£1250 - Cheque Centre PDL loan.
£900 - EE Phone contract. (Passed to Moorcroft Debt Recovery)
£850 - Very Catalogue account.
£780 - T Mobile Phone contract. (Passed to Lucas Credit services)
£600 - Wonga PDL loan.
£520 - Money Shop PDL loan.
£400 - Orange Phone contract. (Passed to Buchanan Clarke & Wells)
£365 - Welcome Finance Loan.
£300 - Capital One Credit card.
£250 - Orange Phone contract. (Passed to Capquest)
£100 - Barclays Overdraft.

I now have a PAYG mobile phone with Virgin for which I pay £10 pcm to top up and get all the minutes and texts I need.

The next post is a summary of my experiences over the last 8 months since I started my DMP - I will review it from time to time to add more content/detail.

Monkeyballs

So first I did a little research online to find out about what entering a DMP actually meant, this website was hugely elpful as it contains details and posts from people like me actually going through the process

Eventually, I contacted SC and we went through income & expenses and agreed that £500 pcm is available to repay my debts just over 3.5 years.

Once the plan was set up and I had my SC DMP ref. I signed into my DMP through the SC website to make sure everything was present and correct and to read more of the information on their site.

Step Change contacts my creditors:

SC told me that they would contact each of my creditors to provide them with an Income & Expenditure sheet as well as an offer of payment but they also advised that it would be good for me to contact my creditors too in the meantime so they are aware of the situation.

Me contacting my creditors:

I contacted* each creditor to advise them that I was entering into a DMP with SC, gave them my DMP ref and a contact number for SC confirming that they will be in touch with a budget sheet, list of debts and an offer.

*Contacting creditors was a mix of email, letter and phone call as at this point I did not feel the need to keep copies of my notification to them although I did list creditor and dates as well as names and times if I had called - the exception being payday lenders who I wrote to by registered 1st class mail also asking to cancel CPA and provide written confirmation of receipt and agreement of DMP.
I keep and file all notes and replies in separate envelopes - one per creditor.

Notice of default:

Several creditors sent me a letter of default - I had been told to expect these by SC but I still emailed them details for my own peace of mind and filed them.

Debts passed to DCA's:

A couple of debts were passed to debt collection** agencies, I called the DCA and gave them the DMP information and then called and emailed SC the details so they have the most up to date information on their file and I double checked a week later on my DMP to make sure that the info had been corrected (unless SC emailed before then to confirm the changes made).

** Read what you are sent, it may sound scary but they are fine once you give them the DMP information and will freeze your account for 30 days while waiting for SC to contact them - debt collection agencies are not bailiffs!

First payment, more letters from creditors and me taking control:

On the agreed date my first payment left my bank account - I checked my statement online, again for my own peace of mind.

After about 3 weeks (which was in line with what SC told me) I received an email from SC telling me that my statement was available to view - I looked and could see clearly each creditor listed and the payment sent with an estimate of outstanding balance.

All of this happened over the space of maybe 5-6 weeks roughly.

During the following month I got another couple of letters of default which I passed to SC and filed.

First month done! Second payment and beyond...

The second payment left my account - I checked my statement online to be sure but all was well I felt really good by this point as I had been virtually hassle free with the exception of the default letters and my confidence was increasing as I felt more in control

The third month - no issues everything went to plan as did the following couple of months

Idiot! I'm sabotaging myself.. I hate myself, what do I do?

Around month 6 I had a lapse with my gambling and panicked which made things worse before I contacted SC who agreed to a lower payment and contacted creditors with the reduced payment and confirmation that it was a "one off" and normal payments would resume the following months - I also called my creditors to advise them of the same and to apologise for straying off plan - all were fine except one who seemed a little snotty but acknowledged that it would be ok as a one off

Back on track and making strides...

Following few months take me to today! Everything is back in place and running normally although time (and this site) has given me the confidence to contact a few creditors to challenge the ones who had reduced but not frozen their interest (using template letters available on this site) and even make a couple of full & final settlement offers!

Hindsight and top tips:

The best advice I can offer is to have faith in your DMP manager but keep in touch, monitor your statements, file EVERYTHING, keep posting on the forums here and share your experiences!

Oh, I also suggest you contact your creditors/DCS's from time to time to confirm the balance and update your SC account online to keep it accurate and avoid any nasty surprises further down the line!

Monkeyballs

End December and January 2014:

Excellent, I've hurt my back! I'm in agony! Am I going to lose control? Nope, I can barely stand let alone lose control lol - it's going to ruin Christmas and New Years celebrations though

Actually, it wasn't that bad... I wouldn't want to do this every year but I was home for most of the festive season and am enjoying the peace and quiet Humbug!!!

Ok... So after a week and a half I am sooooooo bored! I have limited options though so I start looking at my finances and trawling several forums

Feeling brave I contact Welcome Finance and Capquest to offer full & final settlements thanks to my brother offering me £250 both are rejected

I feel bad and beaten then I realise that it's not the end of the world I'll try someone else...

I contact the Cheque Centre, will they accept £230 to pay off £940? YES! Success, I feel so good... I post the content of the letter (removing anything sensitive) and ask if the wording of the letter is good? And it is such relief now I need to wait unti the end of the month for my brother to be paid so I can get shot of one of my larger debts...

Brings me to now! It is 12/01/14 at 19:43 as I write this, lots of details keeps coming back to me - I'm actually quite buzzed about writing this feels great to be doing something! They say everyone has at least one novel in them...

To be continued...

Monkeyballs

Monday 13/01/14:

Just been to physiotherapy for my back, I ached getting there and ache even more after being prodded and poked!

I felt sorry for myself and bought myself a doughnut for 89p I didn't need it, I didn't enjoy it (much) that's 89p that could have gone in the pot... Oh well, I was in pain after all...

On a plus note, my Vanquis credit cad statement arrived, for the first time since entering into my DMP it is under the credit limit!!!! AWESOME!!!

I got a reply from the Money Shop re. an F&F settlement offer I made... I have an outstanding debt of £430ish and asked if they would accept £80 as I'm paying £14 pcm on my DMP... Sadly it was a no but they countered with £300 which is a 25% reduction I can't pay that but have countered with £100... My theory is that they want to settle early but for as much as they can get! You never know if you don't ask

On a more positive note, my back pain has eased off a bit although I never know how much of this is down to the four pain killers I'm on?

timetogrowup89

Monkeyballs wrote: »

Monday 13/01/14:

Just been to physiotherapy for my back, I ached getting there and ache even more after being prodded and poked!

I felt sorry for myself and bought myself a doughnut for 89p I didn't need it, I didn't enjoy it (much) that's 89p that could have gone in the pot... Oh well, I was in pain after all...

On a plus note, my Vanquis credit cad statement arrived, for the first time since entering into my DMP it is under the credit limit!!!! AWESOME!!!

Im currently getting physio for my back too, total killer!!

Monkeyballs

timetogrowup89 wrote: »

Im currently getting physio for my back too, total killer!!

Hi TTGU,

I've just started mine really, I've had various exercises to be getting on with which are helping a bit and I do see an improvement

I just want to be well enough to be able to sit down for longer than 10 mins before I get pain or lose the feeling in my legs LOL I have an office job so the doc has signed me off but now I'm looking at working from home which I'm looking forward to even though I'll be doing it on my belly.

Ahh... Fantastic way to enter 2014

MB

Monkeyballs

Tuesday 14/01/14:

Just had a horrible nights sleep, my back was playing up despite having taken my tablets to help me sleep now I feel horrible as my body wants me to sleep but I'm expecting a visit so I need to stay awake for another couple of hours... Plus, it's 08:00 now and I refuse to go back to sleep just yet I think it's going to be a miserable morning YAWN

On a more positive note my brother gave me a bunch of DVD's to watch and there's a few there that I haven't seen before cheers bruv

Just been given access to do some work from home thank god! now I can do something which requires a bit of thought... My sanity may yet be saved

On a bit of a down note, the Money Shop have rejected my counter offer not surprised as I don't have any money and the offer was... Optimistic LOL but you don't ask, you don't get

in_need_of_direction

While you still have your albeit reducing debts, on the plus side you also appear to have an incredibly supportive brother. Focus on the positives.

Monkeyballs

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

While you still have your albeit reducing debts, on the plus side you also appear to have an incredibly supportive brother. Focus on the positives.

Morning,

Yup, I know different brothers doing different things actually... The one giving me some money towards my debts is not normally one that I get along with funnily enough but he is getting his annual bonus at the end of the month and it is... Pretty good

Then my other brother has given me keys to his place so I can go there when need a change of scenery and as he has a lot of nice things like Sky tv it helps break the boredom and he's the one who gave the DVD's.

All good stuff but when you're tired it's hard to appreciate it when all you want is to be well and get some sleep LOL

MB

Monkeyballs

Wednesday 15/01/14:

Back hurts, I've had maybe 4 hours sleep but I'm feeling pretty good today... Why?

Because I got my Barclaycard statement today and for the first time since starting my DMP with Step Change it is back under the credit limit!!!

Ok, so it wasn't massively over prior to going into the plan but it still feels good and now each month they will get £34 and after interest my balance will drop by £22 per month, even more if I continue to make small repayments each week Feels AWESOME!!!

PestoPasta

Well done. Sounds like you are making fantastic progress.

I know from the personal experience of someone close to me how hard it is to kick a gambling habit, so you should be very very pround of yourself.