Has anyone missed/reduced a DMP payment and what response did you have from creditors

Mockingjays

Hello,

I've been on a DMP for a year now. I've just been offered a 1 bed flat through the council which is godsend as I've been in a damp bedsit. Moving is great but means I have to pay rent on the 2 flats while I move/live through 1 month notice period. It's ok but means the only way I can do this is to reduce the next DMP payment.

I'm wondering if anyone else has had to miss or reduce a DMP payment and what the reaction was like from creditors? I'm expecting they won't be happy and obviously I'll contact them, but I wondered if anyone was taken to court or anything like? I've currently got interest frozen, are they likely to add interest again? I'm with StepChange.

There isn't anything I can do as moving will make a huge difference to my health and well being, but I'd appreciate hearing the experiences of others to give me an idea of what to expect.

Thank you for reading.

happybunny86

Hi,

I missed payments before twice as a one off in the 4 years I was on my DMP and it was fine with Stepchange in exceptional circumstances. If you ring/email them then they will talk it through with you. The first time I think the spoke to creditors and they second time they said it was best coming from me and advised me to email them explaining why I was missing the payment (had to pay my car excess due to an accident) and to ask for an updated balance at the same time.
If you miss payments on a regular basis (i think its 3 within 1 year) you get kicked off the DMP though so best not to make a regular habit of it!

Monkeyballs

HI,

Yep, I had to make a reduced payment about 5 months ago when I had a lapse with my gambling and panicked... Instead of a £500 payment I could only afford £200 and they were ok with it as were all except Barclaycard who said they would charge me (to quote Rowan Atkinson "Thank you! Barclaycard!") so I made a small top up separate of the DMP which stopped that from happening.

I resumed the following month without any issues.

MB

happybunny86

Should have also added to mine that they prefer it if you make a reduced payment than no payment as looks like you're really trying to cooperative and budgeting properly and not just that you're missing willy nilly, even if its only a token amount.

Mockingjays

Thanks to all of you for replying.

The reduced payment will be a one off so I'm hoping things will calm down once I go back to my normal payments again.

Mockingjays

I just wondered if there is anyone else out there who's had to reduce/miss a DMP payment one month and what happened with your creditors? Thanks.

Growurown

I've made reduced payments three times over the past two and a half years on my DMP, due to large repair bills on my car. It wasn't too much of a problem, some creditors said we had broken our agreement but it was easily sorted and there were no real consequences. The DMP carried on with no difficulty.

Mockingjays

Thanks very much.

It's such a relief that it shouldn't make too much difference. I'm ringing StepChange this week so hopefully they'll be ok.

Mockingjays

Well, I rang StepChange to reduce my DMP payment this month and they were fine. I'm going back to normal payments in March.

I've written to my creditors and now waiting for their response.

I feel quite down about the whole thing. It the first time I've had to reduce my payment and it's only because I'm moving, but I had a nightmare when I started the DMP with the creditors. I totally get it's my fault for getting into debt and I'm taking responsibility for that, but it feels like I'm never going to get out of this nightmare.

National_Debtline

Mockingjays wrote: »

Well, I rang StepChange to reduce my DMP payment this month and they were fine. I'm going back to normal payments in March.

I've written to my creditors and now waiting for their response.

I feel quite down about the whole thing. It the first time I've had to reduce my payment and it's only because I'm moving, but I had a nightmare when I started the DMP with the creditors. I totally get it's my fault for getting into debt and I'm taking responsibility for that, but it feels like I'm never going to get out of this nightmare.

Hello there,

From where I'm sitting it looks like you've got a firm handle on your situation. You're managing the debt via a DMP and you're being proactive with the creditors. You're doing absolutely everything that you need to do, as such the creditors should appreciate that. Moving is one of those things which will cause a temporary change to your circumstances, and any creditor worth their salt should appreciate that. If you do encounter any difficulties there are complaints procedures - which we could discuss further if needed.

Out of interest, how much debt is there - and how much do you pay stepchange. (for the record, we work very closely with stepchange, they're a great bunch!).

David

Mockingjays

Thanks for your reply, that makes me a bit feel better.

I pay £280 a month and still have over £13K to pay back:( One of my creditors has continued adding interest so that hasn't helped (but I appreciate they have a right to do that). I've paid almost £10K so that's something. It's just that my estimated debt free date is in 2018 and it feels a very long time away....

I sometimes wonder if DMP was the best option for me, as I don't own my own home and have no assets.