A DIY DMP after problem with StepChange

Mockingjays

Just checked my bank account online and see StepChange have refunded my payment for this month. It's gone in quicker than expected which is good. It gives me time to pay the usual amounts to my creditors (minus the one which was the problem, as they've put me on repayment plan) and then sort everything out in time for next month (ie budget review etc). This helps as I know council tax is going up but I haven't received notification of what I'll be paying yet.

Feels as bit scary but I'm sure it'll be ok ...

Toomuchdebt

I was with stepchange for a while and then went to a self managed DMP and I am so glad I did. It was only when I went self managed that the creditors froze all interest and charges, and if I have any extra spare change I can throw it to the debts, whereas stepchange weren't keen on me doing that.

LMJ10

Hi - enjoyed reading this post.

A lot of people on here do very much praise SC however I think they are ok - I understand if you were suicidal etc and SC helped but I find them just ok.

I originally went to a fee paying company and decided against it in the end which I'm glad I did however they were a lot more personal than SC are - I always spoke to the same person however SC seems like a call centre.

I would like to do my own DMP but with a full time job and a 18month old I just wouldn't have time plus I like to sit down for at least an hour at night!! 😄

When I phoned Halifax the other day they said they hadn't heard from SC and was pushing me to set up my own payment! So will see how it goes

Good luck

blisteringblue

A few of mine have said they haven't heard from Stepchange yet, but I've been sending a copy of my budget and list of creditors from my Stepchange Pack when they told me it has started along with the token payments. I just think the more times you ram it down the creditors throats the more likely they are to freeze the interest.

I can see me having the problem in 12 months as my payments are quite high, most around 75% if my old minimum payments. In 12 months with no interest and a few quid off each card I bet my stepchange payments will be close is not more than minimums. Will give SC a chance to start with though, it's been easy enough so far.

seanavfc92

Stewart_78 wrote: »

Or just lie to stepchange and make up your budget so there is not much left. That's the way I have found to best. Give them what you can get away with (I'm currently on £1 a month per creditor). Save the rest up in a non related account for full and final settlements.

Don't tell them what you can actually afford or they'll just be trying to trap you in debt for ever. Plead poverty. Talk like an idiot. Say things like 'the gas man' and 'my motor is bust and i've got my 15th grandchild on the way'. They love that sort of stuff.

I wish I was joking. This is a game and you need to work out how to play it. Remember you are not a person to them, you are an account, with a rating.

How are you not a person to them? Surely the fact theyre supporting you means they care about you?

And surely lying about your budget means it'll take a lot longer to clear them off?

SRT81

I was looking at switching my DMP to StepChange, but using their online calculator it wouldn't let me put in my correct outgoings in some areas, saying that it wouldn't expect those costs to be that high for my household.

One was the amount I spend on petrol each month... Would only let me go as high as £200, when my actual spend is closer to £300 (Yes, that's on the high side, but that's how much it costs travelling between cities every day – would be far more expensive and time-consuming on public transport too!).

Seems a bit daft they wouldn't let me enter accurate figures.

Mockingjays

SRT81 wrote: »

I was looking at switching my DMP to StepChange, but using their online calculator it wouldn't let me put in my correct outgoings in some areas, saying that it wouldn't expect those costs to be that high for my household.

One was the amount I spend on petrol each month... Would only let me go as high as £200, when my actual spend is closer to £300 (Yes, that's on the high side, but that's how much it costs travelling between cities every day – would be far more expensive and time-consuming on public transport too!).

Seems a bit daft they wouldn't let me enter accurate figures.

It might be worth giving them a ring to discuss your situation if you're looking to move to them. They can go through your budget with you that way too. I needed more than they would allow for costs like dentist/opticians for a health reason. When I explained, they were able to accept this amount and they put a note on it for my creditors.

Worth a try maybe?

Good luck.

Mockingjays

I'm planning to sit down this weekend and work out my budget for my self-managed DMP and get the details sent off to my creditors. So far the two I've spoken to on the phone about this have been pleasant and helpful, so I'm feeling more confident about doing it this way now.

The bonus is that the debt that I had the problem with StepChange over will now have the interest frozen and no more charges added, so finally the debt will start to go down instead of up. (Bizarre that SC say they're neutral yet are happy for a debt to be going up and refuse to accept a repayment plan offered by a creditor that will mean the debt going down - but what do I know!) I just want to get my debts paid off and I feel I'm on the right road now to making that happen.

chillpill

Mockingjays wrote: »

I was on a DMP with StepChange, but after talking to them today I've got no choice other than to go it alone. The amount they've been allocating to a CC creditor is so high that they're now adding interest plus a fee for not making the minimum payment, and the balance is just going to keep going up not down. The creditor was actually really helpful when I spoke to them, and explained the amount SC was paying was so high that my account would remain a 'regular' one. They recommended I pay a token amount so the account will be defaulted and interest etc frozen. I was happy with this ... but when I spoke to SC they said they can't/won't reduce the payment as the idea is pay debts as quickly as possible. Yes but thanks to them, the balance of one debt is increasing rather than the other way around.

It's a bit scary 'going it alone' with a DMP but I've been given a link by a kind person on here to some info. I just want to pay my debts off as soon as I can, and sadly that wasn't possible with SC.

Does anyone know if I could go with another debt charity and just leave off the debt that was causing the issue with SC? Or should I just do the whole thing alone?

Hi, I can understand why you feel frustrated with SC. I too am with SC and had a similar situation, which I was fortunately able to resolve without leaving SC. However, your are being very unfair in blaming SC for their advice, as I assure you they do have your best interests at heart. Why do I say this? Well, one of the overriding issues that we (the people who ran up the debt in the 1st place, mine was at £41k when I started my DMP!) are OBLIGED to do is to treat ALL our creditors FAIRLY. I'm surprised if SC actually told you "the idea is pay debts as quickly as possible", are you sure that's exactly what they said? More likely, they would have advised you that you are responsible for treating all creditors fairly, which means paying off each creditor in direct proportion owed to each credtiors v. your overall total debt (this is the reason they won't reduce payments to one creditor only). Because of this critical obligation you have to your creditors (which we all have), SC are advising you correctly! Of course you can go self-administered, but you are risking the creditor later claiming (despite what they may have told you!) that you are not treating them fairly, as you have reduced your payments to them (but not to your other creditors). You would run the risk of this creditor being able to demonstrate this to a court, which would put you at risk of being slapped with a CCJ (imagine what you'd be saying about SC then, had they allowed you to reduce your payments in the 1st place, resulting in you getting a CCJ!!)! Finally, just remember that this particular creditor CAN stop interest and charges if they want (it is their choice to continue charging you interest/charges, not SC's), so I'd recommend you blame your creditor instead for continuing to charge interest/fees. Sorry for being so critical, but I just want to explain SC's reasons for advising you in this way. Good luck with your journey, I wish you all the best whichever route you choose.

Mockingjays

chillpill wrote: »

Hi, I can understand why you feel frustrated with SC. I too am with SC and had a similar situation, which I was fortunately able to resolve without leaving SC. However, your are being very unfair in blaming SC for their advice, as I assure you they do have your best interests at heart. Why do I say this? Well, one of the overriding issues that we (the people who ran up the debt in the 1st place, mine was at £41k when I started my DMP!) are OBLIGED to do is to treat ALL our creditors FAIRLY. I'm surprised if SC actually told you "the idea is pay debts as quickly as possible", are you sure that's exactly what they said? More likely, they would have advised you that you are responsible for treating all creditors fairly, which means paying off each creditor in direct proportion owed to each credtiors v. your overall total debt (this is the reason they won't reduce payments to one creditor only). Because of this critical obligation you have to your creditors (which we all have), SC are advising you correctly! Of course you can go self-administered, but you are risking the creditor later claiming (despite what they may have told you!) that you are not treating them fairly, as you have reduced your payments to them (but not to your other creditors). You would run the risk of this creditor being able to demonstrate this to a court, which would put you at risk of being slapped with a CCJ (imagine what you'd be saying about SC then, had they allowed you to reduce your payments in the 1st place, resulting in you getting a CCJ!!)! Finally, just remember that this particular creditor CAN stop interest and charges if they want (it is their choice to continue charging you interest/charges, not SC's), so I'd recommend you blame your creditor instead for continuing to charge interest/fees. Sorry for being so critical, but I just want to explain SC's reasons for advising you in this way. Good luck with your journey, I wish you all the best whichever route you choose.

Hi,

I'm guessing you might not have read the other posts in the thread, in which case you would have things have moved on since the post you've quoted?

For me it's not about blaming SC or the creditor. The reality is if anyone is to blame it's me for getting into debt. They both have their guidelines on how they do things. When I had my LBM SC were a great help to me, and the creditor just wants their money.

At the end of the day we all have our own individual situations. For me, I really want to pay off my debts, to see the balances of those debts decreasing rather than increasing, however slowly that might be. It's a simple as that really.

Everyone is of course entitled to their own opinion though, and I wish you all the best.