debt help please

blisteringblue

Desperado, I've not made a payment yet to Stepchange, its coming in a week or so. To date I've had 2 phone calls from 8 creditors from a machine asking me to ring them back. When I did and said I was working with stepchange they immediately froze the account waiting for the paperwork to come through.

A couple of them just agreed with no calls and just the letter from stepchange.

A couple still have to agree but have not rung.

All I did was put at the bottom of all my token payment letters, do not ring me I will only deal with this in writing.

I was preparing for nasty calls but hey just haven't happened. Mine are all mainstream credit cards and a high street bank OD though.

desperado88

can anyone tell me if after you do a das/dmp does your credit report go back to normal after 6 years.?
bit much I know,just curious!

blisteringblue

It all depends when they default you, its basically 6 years from then, if a company don't default you and only mark the debt as AP, which effectively means they are accepting your payment but it is less than the contract, then it could be another 6 years after the debt has been settled which is actually after the DMP has finsihed.

I still think you are still fixated about this credit rating too much, you have no control over who does what once you enter any sort of plan. It could be 6 years, it could be 10 years, it all depends on your creditors.

I've entered mine and I could not give a flying fahoooook what happens to it now, I don't want and don't need credit. It's taken me my whole adult life to get to this point but I think it has finally clicked.

mrsscattercushion

yes it can be that simple. Hubby had no calls once in his DMP, the money was taken each month, all but one creditor froze interest and he was left with a reasonable amount left to spend (I picked up most of the bills as debts were pre-us). Prior to the DMP, we had no problem getting a mortgage.


Since his DMP he hasn't had any particular problems, in part because he has no credit, overdraft etc ~ everything is saved up for or we don't have it. He was refused with the Co-op more than a basic bank account, we think due to the defaults still on his report but otherwise all has been resolved with no further issues.

Worried_Girl

Hi Desperado

My husband and I are fortunate that we earn a good salary however with combined debts of £60,000 we were really struggling. Having taken advantage of the DAS scheme in Scotland our emotional well-being and quality of life has improved amazingly.

We have a co-op basic bank account which our wages are paid into and after our DAS payment and bills are taken we make sure we budget and manage what is left. We choose to stretch ourselves and pay as much as possible and after starting in October 2011 we now owe £15,544. I know this is still a huge amount but having paid off £45,000 (which we never thought possible) I feel a huge relief!

Take control and do what feels best.

desperado88

Thanks agin everyone,i really appreciate all your replies and it is only a matter of time now,i guess what is stopping me is the loss of control,i am afraid that i will never be able to move from the house iam in as i have wanted to for a number of years now.that is why i was considering strying to work my way out of this.

blisteringblue

Trouble is if you are honest to yourself you can't move until the debts are paid off, the debts are not paid off easily without the help of a DMP or DAS in your case. So you are stuck in a catch-22 situation.

You could run a DMP yourself and play it hard ball. IE not pay anything for a few months to definitely make sure you are defaulted early. You then enter into payment plans after this point and they will come off your report quicker. However this way you really will get grief for not paying which it sounds like you don't want either. Plus you are likely to get passed to debt collectors who would be 10 times worse.

thecassman86

I agree with blistering blue

For now, priority is getting rid of your debt. Forget about your credit rating.

desperado88

Can anyone offer me any advice before i go cancelling my dd,s and setting up a DAS about a few daft things that i have been thinking about...
firstly i used to be a member of a gym for years and lately i stopped with all this pressure on me,i would love to get back as it really helps me would they "ie das people" let me join again or do i have to give it up totally untill my debts clear....i know it sounds trivial but it really means a lot to me.
another thing thats bothering me was i had a suite that was on 3 years interest free which only has 2 payments left of £27,iam i better trying to find the money to pay that off as if i dont complete the contract they will add the interest which would be about £400 i think!

thoughts anyone.....

satchmo1

I think your lightbulb has gone out (re the gym). It's a nice to have, not an essential. Running outside will cost you nothing (as I am assuming you already have trainers n suitable clothing).


In terms of the suite, pay off the last two payments: don't risk them adding the interest for the sake of £54