Reduced SC DMP payment to repay a whole debt?

Monkeyballs

Hi,

I'm not in this position yet but has anyone any experience of reducing a monthly DMP repayment to their provider to allow them to repay a full balance of one of their creditors?

It's hard to explain so here's an example of what I mean;

1. I normally pay £500 pcm to Step Change.

2. One of my debts is to Wonga which has a balance of £500(ish)and is being repaid at a rate of £20(ish) pcm.

3. Wonga accepts a F&F offer of £250.

4. I then pay SC a reduced payment of £480 if I use the missing £20 to add to the F&F payment to Wonga.

5. I then zero out the Wonga balance straight away to stop any further payment being made from the £480 and resume payments of £500 the following month.

In my head it sounds like it should be ok but wondered if anyone had done this before? I'm not in a position to do this just yet but may be in a few months time

Thanks all!

MB

Puzzcat

Personally I would look at it as favouring one creditor over another. I do wonder if you would not be better suited to a self managed dmp then you could almost do these moves without permission as such... Also if you have all this additional income why not increase the monthly payments so the overall debt reduces quicker...
You seem very keen, which is not wrong to get rid of these debts asap, Have you changed your mind set to debt, budgeting, saving etc... When we start this journey we know it's a long one for most anyway, you seem in a dreadful hurry to reach the end..
Just my thoughts, feel free to ignore!

Monkeyballs

Puzzcat wrote: »

Personally I would look at it as favouring one creditor over another. I do wonder if you would not be better suited to a self managed dmp then you could almost do these moves without permission as such... Also if you have all this additional income why not increase the monthly payments so the overall debt reduces quicker...
You seem very keen, which is not wrong to get rid of these debts asap, Have you changed your mind set to debt, budgeting, saving etc... When we start this journey we know it's a long one for most anyway, you seem in a dreadful hurry to reach the end..
Just my thoughts, feel free to ignore!

Hi Puzz,

Thanks for replying, I always appreciate getting your thoughts

I'm tied really, in my head I'm now starting to think that picking off "low hanging fruit" actually has benefits to the creditors to whom I have larger debts - they've gone to default anyway so thinning the herd means I'm able to pay them more over a shorter period of time which in my head benefits us both?

I'm sort of toying with the idea of going it on my own within the next six months or so to be honest, I'm just testing the water with with others in the same boat as me because it may give me a little bit more of a push that I need to do it a bit sooner...

The extra income which I have is from selling a comic collection and other bits and pieces which raised more than I thought they would so the pot is 'finite' so to speak otherwise I'd probably look at upping my monthly payments to do the DMP properly and according to the rules

Overall my DMP is still going to run over the course of the next 12-18 months which is a reduction of just under a year so it's still not a quick fix, I think if I wasn't able to justify or get F&F's accepted so easily for a reasonable %age then I'd be more inclined to just sit back and let it takes it's course...

Also, I've been off work for a couple of months with a back injury and the devil makes work for idle hands

MB

Puzzcat

I have read your diary and don't envy you your back issues...ouchy..

I do worry a little bit that others reading these threads will think what you are doing is the norm, and I don't think sc operate in this way, so don't want it to cause a fallout if you understand me!

Puzz

Monkeyballs

Puzzcat wrote: »

I have read your diary and don't envy you your back issues...ouchy..

I do worry a little bit that others reading these threads will think what you are doing is the norm, and I don't think sc operate in this way, so don't want it to cause a fallout if you understand me!

Puzz

Thanks it's been a long time since it all started and I was told it should be a couple of weeks... Ho hum, you live and learn I guess...

Yeah I know what you mean, that's why whenever I give advice it's always based on the way a DMP should run although if I do something and my experience is relevant to a question being posed then I'm always going to chip in

It's also the reason why I started this new thread instead of posting on the main DMP Mutual Support thread because I figured that someone looking for advice and guidance would (in theory) look on the main thread anyway although I've since posted it on there as a question too...

I'm probably trying to over complicate the whole process (LOL) and ironically that is in complete contrast to what I do for a living

I also run my ideas past SC anyway just to be sure that they won't give me the boot for not playing the same ball game...

MB

Larac

I am with SC and it seems that their approach is to treat all creditors equally so any form of wind fall needs to be shared across all. I do sympathise as I have a creditor who could be paid off with reasonably low f&f. I am deliberating on whether to go self managed as this particular creditor insists on putting AP markers in my credit file despite being two years down the road on my dmp. I suspect you will need to go self managed if you want the flexibilty you are seeking.

Puzzcat

Well if you ask sc about it maybe it would be more beneficial to post what they say rather than us suggesting/guessing/or incorrectly guiding....

Monkeyballs

Puzzcat wrote: »

Well if you ask sc about it maybe it would be more beneficial to post what they say rather than us suggesting/guessing/or incorrectly guiding....

Fair point...

Larac wrote: »

I am with SC and it seems that their approach is to treat all creditors equally so any form of wind fall needs to be shared across all. I do sympathise as I have a creditor who could be paid off with reasonably low f&f. I am deliberating on whether to go self managed as this particular creditor insists on putting AP markers in my credit file despite being two years down the road on my dmp. I suspect you will need to go self managed if you want the flexibilty you are seeking.

Hi Larac,

Thanks for the reply

The more I think about it the more I think going self managed is a foregone conclusion.

Whenever I've spoken to SC they have always been diplomatic in their answers and not ruled out my ideas but for the moment what I don't want to do is push them to the point where they don't feel that I am being fair - if I had a big lump sum of maybe £1000 + then I would probably just throw the whole lot in the DMP pot to be shared equally but smaller sums here and there in my mind aren't so black or white

The question I posed in this thread is purely theoretical for the moment anyway.

MB

Puzzcat

If you owed me, my neighbour and the postman £50 and chose to pay the neighbour £30 f&f and not pay the postman and I the same I would be upset, same principal I think...
I'm playing devils advocate here...

Monkeyballs

Puzzcat wrote: »

If you owed me, my neighbour and the postman £50 and chose to pay the neighbour £30 f&f and not pay the postman and I the same I would be upset, same principal I think...
I'm playing devils advocate here...

LOL, and that's actually a part of the problem...

If they weren't faceless companies then I'd be less inclined to think the way I am at the moment and wouldn't dream of making an F&F either

Do you like the way I'm rationalising all of this LOL? I'm a !!!!!! for doing this at work too...

So if you want to send me a cheque I promise to repay you next week

MB

Puzzcat

It's in the post, but I may have forgotten to sign it.........