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DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 10

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  • Sazzie23
    Sazzie23 Posts: 2,634 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker Post of the Month
    This was one claim and half of it is interest! Due to a 16 year case of Ostrich Syndrome I have no idea if I even had PPI. This stuck in my mind because I left employment in 2004 (also lost my house :() and tried to claim as I was living on benefits (before a lot of changes and I was keeping two kids on £200 a month for all bills except rent and loan repayments :eek:) I tried to claim on the PPI (loan payments were £154 a month) but I was laughed out of the bank.

    I used the template letter and adapted it. All I knew was it came from HSBC, ended some time in 2007 and repayments were £154. From that they found the details, called me for a discussion and wrote a letter the next day. Really couldn't be easier.

    It was a very dark time and I still get guilt attacks now - I don't want to sound self indulgent but at that point I'd choose feeding the kids over eating and we'd rarely put the heating on as I simply couldn't afford it. We used to walk 6 miles to my mum's because I knew she had heating and hot water and she'd feed us but I didn't have the bus fare. My teens were 6 and 5 :( Possibly explains why I'm where I am now to some extent - as soon as I had income I went stupid with it. I feel quite sick just admitting this.

    Anyway, fast forward to now, I eventually paid it off and decided I nothing to lose in trying again and two weeks later I'm waiting for payment. Due to that experience I've never taken PPI since and even if the same sales pitch was used I'd refuse a loan if insurance was deemed "essential".

    Go for it. All you have to lose is the cost of a stamp and now I have a really cool purple MSE badge as of last night too :D

    Kate x

    Kate you did what you had to do at the time, and you made a great job of it, letting mum help you out with hot water and heating was the right thing at the time. You also know now that when the going gets tough, you get tougher. Hindsight is a great hinderance sometime, don't beat yourself up, you made it here and you are doing a mighty fine job not just for yourself but for many others on this thread, and I for one salute you. :D
    Debt -it's a fight that I'm winning, dealing with debt one day at a time.
    Estimated DFD August 2018 - 2031 - now 2027 :T

    Guide dog Tess, missing Scotland 2 years

    DMP support no438.
  • It's all relative, isn't it? We had massive debt but decent income. I had the advantage of being made redundant with redundancy pay but having a job with the same salary to go straight into. Then we had the disadvantages of needing a "new" car and having to find the top up for our endowment shortfall.

    I like what Kate said recently about debt being a great leveller, but I still don't like the judgements made - never on this thread, I hasten to add - that we all get into debt through overspending and luxuries and keeping up with the Joneses ..... I wish!

    The closer I get, the more motivated I am and Mr TTFTM is possibly on board more than me!

    TTFTM x

    You are doing brilliantly and you are such an inspiration.

    To reinforce your point there's a brilliant post by David from National Debtline about how a vast majority of their callers are people who experienced a major life event that triggered the inability to pay.

    Totally understand the snowball of motivation. Last weekend I was wallowing about the 6 years ahead this week I'm pondering ways to cut my 4 years even further :)
    Kate x
    LBM 17th Oct13 - SC DMP - DFD 10th Feb 2018
    paid pre-DMP £6146 :D paid with DMP £2275 :D F&F's £700 (£450 discount) £1,000 (£1,498.22 discount) £ 700 (489.62 discount) :D Total £9725

    Current debt to repay £3,503.13 taking one day at a time
  • Sazzie23 wrote: »
    Kate you did what you had to do at the time, and you made a great job of it, letting mum help you out with hot water and heating was the right thing at the time. You also know now that when the going gets tough, you get tougher. Hindsight is a great hinderance sometime, don't beat yourself up, you made it here and you are doing a mighty fine job not just for yourself but for many others on this thread, and I for one salute you. :D

    Bloody hell Sazzie! You have me fighting tears back! Thank you so much for your kind words.

    Kate x
    LBM 17th Oct13 - SC DMP - DFD 10th Feb 2018
    paid pre-DMP £6146 :D paid with DMP £2275 :D F&F's £700 (£450 discount) £1,000 (£1,498.22 discount) £ 700 (489.62 discount) :D Total £9725

    Current debt to repay £3,503.13 taking one day at a time
  • Sorry lots of questions first:
    How long ago was your month with token payments?
    Did you notify your creditors of this and the reason behind it? Did all your other creditors agree to it?
    Did Payplan agree to this and make the token payments on your behalf and were later normal payments made through Payplan?
    Did Payplan accept the mitigating circumstances which meant you could not make full payment?

    I don't really understand the section which states:

    "your account was removed from credit counseling on 01/09/2014, because for failure to pay for 70 days. "

    That's only a few days ago and it shouldn't have been 70 days between payments even if they don't count the token payment.

    The bottom line is if they claim they never agreed to the month's token payment, they can say the agreement was broken and introduce whatever interest/charges they previously applied. You and Payplan need to fight this and explain that they were notified and did not make objection to the short break, and that they did receive a token payment in the meantime as a demonstration that you were willing to continue your payments as soon as possible.

    If you can't get in touch with Payplan over the weekend and are worrying about this, give National Debtline a call and they may be able to reassure you.

    Please let us know how you get on.

    TTFTM x

    Hi, thanks for your reply.
    How long ago was your month with token payments?

    I hadn't actually checked this before. I have made 5 normal full monthly payments since. I did contemplate trying to make bigger payments to make up for it but my normal payment to payplan is about half my salary to start with so it is enough.
    Did you notify your creditors of this and the reason behind it? Did all your other creditors agree to it?

    I didn't inform my creditors because I don't really want to have anything more to do with them than I absolutely have to. I told Payplan and their response was as follows:

    Hi, Thank you for your email,

    We do realise that sometimes things can happen that may make a client struggle with payment, we would say to try to make a token payment even if it is £10.00 rather than miss payment as creditors may see this as a break in contract and add interest and charges and chase, they may do this with a token payment but not as much.

    I will note on file that you have contacted us as to this in case a creditor contacts us and we can say that you have made us aware.

    Did Payplan agree to this and make the token payments on your behalf and were later normal payments made through Payplan?
    Did Payplan accept the mitigating circumstances which meant you could not make full payment?

    Yes and seemingly yes.

    As you have pointed out the dates make absolutely no sense and imo their lack of contact with Payplan or myself is bordering on criminal. I informed them at the start of the plan that phone calls would be ignored (a step towards towards recovering my mental well being) and they have had my email and Payplans details since the start of the plan so they have no excuse for not sorting this earlier.

    Surely they must be obliged to make some contact with Payplan if they are planning to do anything drastic as they are supposed to be representing me?

    Thanks, it helps me to talk about it so I can work out how I am going to deal with it.
  • maganan
    maganan Posts: 254 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Hi all I'm desperate for any advice you can give me please

    I recently took the plunge and looked at my credit file, it wasn't too bad apart from still showing me being linked to my ex husband an incorrect alias?! and a default on an old student account. The first two were easily rectified however the old student account I transferred to a graduate account with another bank in 2002, this account was subsequently closed and shows as satisfied on my credit file. The old student account shows at my old address and shows as being intermittently up to date and inactive until it was defaulted in August 2013. I know I closed it. When I first contacted Barclays they said they had no record of it so I went back to the credit reference agency who have sent me this

    "We have checked our records and can confirm that a outstanding balance shows on the account. Please advise the customer to contact Barclays Branch Recovery Unit on the details below:"

    With an address in Manchester

    I no longer have any details about the account given how long ago it was, I've lived at my current address for nearly 12 years and pre DMP had a student Barclaycard, I'm not difficult to find so don't understand why I wasn't contacted if they thought I owed this money! I don't understand why it was showing as active and up to date at points either when I closed it in 2002!

    I'm very worried and don't know what to do, I was all set to make my final DMP payment at the beginning of October and now I find I allegedly owe an extra £2000+ and I have no way of proving I don't

    Sorry for such a long and rambling post! Any advice gratefully received?

    Kate x
    Final no going back LBM 20/12/10
    Debt Jan 2011 [STRIKE]£28217.65[/STRIKE][STRIKE][/STRIKE] DMP start 01/02/11 -[STRIKE][/STRIKE]
    Debt free[STRIKE][/STRIKE][STRIKE][/STRIKE]26 September 2014 :):beer:
    £2 Savers Club - 2012 no 105 2012 Sealed pot challenge no 1282 DMP mutual support thread No 405
    Proud to HAVE dealt with my debts:j
  • igaveupnowimback
    igaveupnowimback Posts: 285 Forumite
    Debt-free and Proud!
    edited 6 September 2014 at 7:36PM
    Hi, feeling bit sorry I started DMP. Recently sent token payments for first time, SC paid on 1st, so first creditor payments will be on 25th. Letters coming thick and fast, most importantly bank who would only have had contact from SC few days ago. They sent letter and telemessage by mail, demanding I phone them. Don't think can cope with the hassle of this along with other things going on at moment.
    In addition, I paid first token payments by postal order and each £1 p.o had a 50p surcharge added. Can I pay next tokens from my new bank account to avoid this ?
    Thanks.
    Finally Debt Free (£8k to zero) yay! :j :j

    Saving for Xmas 2020 £1 a day challenge #54 £18/366
    £2 Savers Club 2020 #49 (£6)
  • Growurown
    Growurown Posts: 5,498 Forumite
    Debt-free and Proud!
    maganan wrote: »
    I'm very worried and don't know what to do, I was all set to make my final DMP payment at the beginning of October and now I find I allegedly owe an extra £2000+ and I have no way of proving I don't

    Sorry for such a long and rambling post! Any advice gratefully received?

    Kate x

    Hi Kate , I'm sorry I don't really know enough about this to advise. Does your credit file not give you any account details? All I can suggest is getting back in touch with Barclays.
    Hi, feeling bit sorry I started DMP. Recently sent token payments for first time, SC paid on 1st, so first creditor payments will be on 25th. Letters coming thick and fast, most importantly bank who would only have had contact from SC few days ago. They sent letter and telemessage by mail, demanding I phone them. Don't think can cope with the hassle of this along with other things going on at moment.
    In addition, I paid first token payments by postal order and each £1 p.o had a 50p surcharge added. Can I pay next tokens from my new bank account to avoid this ?
    Thanks.

    Hi IGUNIB, sorry you are feeling down. I never did postal orders I took cash and paid over the counter at my old bank using the counterfoil on the bottom of the bill. I'd make online payments if you can, much easier and cheaper. Did you get a cheque book with your new account? A bit old fashioned but creditors don't care how they get their money.

    All the hassle is designed to make you panic and pay up. Creditors don't really care about whether you afford to pay or not they just want their money. I know lots of people who have paid creditors and not paid their priority debts, just because the creditors hassled them so much.

    Your creditors know you are entering a DMP, SC have made them an offer of payment. Ignore their requests to contact them and just keep paying and they will eventually go away. If they phone you just refer them to SC with your reference number.
    DMP Mutual Support Thread No. 421

    Debt free date 25/11/2015 - Made It!
  • I did this as I am just starting out (first payment 10th Oct). I made a universal email explaining my situation and how I wish to be contacted and sent it to them all using one email. I personally felt that this way they can see your other creditors in the email address' and it can help to put an emphasis on what situation your in (well worked for me anyway 13 creditors at last count and they just keep popping up) - All of my creditors sent their apologies to hear of my situation and agreed to freeze interest for 30 days ...... massive relief... plus the fact that you then dont have to retype or copy and paste seperate emails.

    Obviously this is personal preference but thought I would share.

    The following PDL companies I found to be very co-operative, I called some and emailed some

    Mr Lender
    Wage Day Advance
    Quick Quid
    Wonga
    Clear Account
    My Jar
    247 Money Box
    Peachy
    Sunny

    4 weeks ago I looked at that list (which is just the PDL elements of my debt) and thought how the hell did i get to this and where the hell do i start. Now I feel 100% better for contacting them. You will still get automated letters saying about court action and charges but these are standard.

    Just keep calm and collected, I usually get stressed out about it but that does nothing but cloud judgment and get you nowhere.

    Hope this helps.

    Hi there

    Could I add Lending Stream? Got an email today after contacting them apologizing for sending emails about payment and giving me account number and saying that they are freezing everything for a month to allow SC to contact them. Quite decent of them I thought!

    Thanks
  • Hi Growurown,
    Thanks so much for that reply, needed to hear wise words/reassurance from people on here, really helps.
    Finally Debt Free (£8k to zero) yay! :j :j

    Saving for Xmas 2020 £1 a day challenge #54 £18/366
    £2 Savers Club 2020 #49 (£6)
  • Sazzie23
    Sazzie23 Posts: 2,634 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker Post of the Month
    maganan wrote: »
    Hi all I'm desperate for any advice you can give me please

    I recently took the plunge and looked at my credit file, it wasn't too bad apart from still showing me being linked to my ex husband an incorrect alias?! and a default on an old student account. The first two were easily rectified however the old student account I transferred to a graduate account with another bank in 2002, this account was subsequently closed and shows as satisfied on my credit file. The old student account shows at my old address and shows as being intermittently up to date and inactive until it was defaulted in August 2013. I know I closed it. When I first contacted Barclays they said they had no record of it so I went back to the credit reference agency who have sent me this

    "We have checked our records and can confirm that a outstanding balance shows on the account. Please advise the customer to contact Barclays Branch Recovery Unit on the details below:"

    With an address in Manchester

    I no longer have any details about the account given how long ago it was, I've lived at my current address for nearly 12 years and pre DMP had a student Barclaycard, I'm not difficult to find so don't understand why I wasn't contacted if they thought I owed this money! I don't understand why it was showing as active and up to date at points either when I closed it in 2002!

    I'm very worried and don't know what to do, I was all set to make my final DMP payment at the beginning of October and now I find I allegedly owe an extra £2000+ and I have no way of proving I don't

    Sorry for such a long and rambling post! Any advice gratefully received?

    Kate x

    Hi magnaKate

    Well done on getting to this stage with DMP. I think they have to prove you do owe rather than the other way round but it must be pretty frustrating for you.
    There is a wealth of knowledge on this thread with likes of the fab TTfTm, HH and many others but maybe if you need advice from a wider audience then post a new thread on the DFW board?

    Slight cautionary note that some responses on the main boards can sometimes be a taj judgemental so don't take any critics to heart, you know you are doing all the right things. (Although I can't see what they could judge you for but I don't want to feed you to the proverbial lions).
    Debt -it's a fight that I'm winning, dealing with debt one day at a time.
    Estimated DFD August 2018 - 2031 - now 2027 :T

    Guide dog Tess, missing Scotland 2 years

    DMP support no438.
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