DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 10

Sazzie23

Kate_fixing_it wrote: »

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

Kate x

Take credit where it's due. It's only recently I realised how much my folks must have suffered trying to bring up myself and my brother, I never felt hard done to at the time although I did know we were short of cash.

Sazzie23

igaveupnowimback wrote: »

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.

Good advice already about the payments, don't panic about the calls and letters, it may well be that the token payments and SC stuff hasn't reached the same people who are responsible for collections.

Paying token payments from your new bank account will not put your new account at risk at all unless you have debts with the same or linked companies.

You have already let the bank know about your financial situation so get your SC ref to hand, your bank details, take a big breath and give them a call, often they just want to say, we've heard about your financial troubles and are giving you xxx amount to sort out. Sometimes they want to know if it's a temporary or longterm thing - everyone has different reasons to be here remember - and if you struggle on the phone have a little phrase ready which says I'm sorry I have problems discussing this on the phone, please write to me and hang up. Job done

chish

Hi sazzie thanks for inviting me to this board , I haven't started through stepchange yet as I rang national dept line they took all my finacncial details on Friday I now awaiting paper work to come throu to see wat my next step is , debtline did mention stepchange ,, I just need to get the paper work here ASAP as I so frustrated in wat to do . also Friday my day of from work and Halifax rang to say they needed to speak to me urgently ... Why didn't they phone my house ,, I never contacted them back , I'm to scared , , also I applied for a new bank account at nationwide and got approved I'm proud to say I Declined a overdraft .
Trish

chish

How do I put at the bottom of my page how much I owe and the company's name ... Like I see others have done

Puzzcat

chish wrote: »

How do I put at the bottom of my page how much I owe and the company's name ... Like I see others have done

Hi, Go to the top of the page, click on quick links, scroll down to edit signature. There is a limit on how many words you can have.
Puzz

Time_to_face_the_music

chish wrote: »

Hi sazzie thanks for inviting me to this board , I haven't started through stepchange yet as I rang national dept line they took all my finacncial details on Friday I now awaiting paper work to come throu to see wat my next step is , debtline did mention stepchange ,, I just need to get the paper work here ASAP as I so frustrated in wat to do . also Friday my day of from work and Halifax rang to say they needed to speak to me urgently ... Why didn't they phone my house ,, I never contacted them back , I'm to scared , , also I applied for a new bank account at nationwide and got approved I'm proud to say I Declined a overdraft .
Trish

Hi and welcome chish :hello:

It would be a good idea to contact all your creditors and let them know you are entering a DMP with StepChange. You can also include the request that they remove your work phone number from their records and that they make all contact in writing.

You can't have an overdraft, you can't have any new credit once you enter your DMP or use any existing lines of credit. It takes a bit of getting used to but once you have made the change, it makes life so much easier.

I know you are keen to start your DMP but give some consideration to hanging on for a month or so and making token payments in that time. It gives you a chance to practice your budget, to save an emergency fund and also can encourage early defaults.

TTFTM x

Kate_fixing_it

Morning all

Just wanted to run an idea past you all.

Now I've calmed down from the PPI offer (yes, it's taken 4 days! :rotfl:) if it all goes smoothly and the money is paid into my new unlinked account what is the best option?

1. As originally planned clear one whole and almost all of another HSBC debt? (No defaults here yet but lots of automated letters still)
2. Clear almost all of the largest debt that is charging reduced interest (trying to fight this and no default issued)
3. Clear two smaller debts (already defaulted) for the psychological victory of owing fewer creditors.
4. Send it to SC to distribute evenly

Or top up my emergency fund that I'm still building and put the remainder (will be close to £2.5k) to one of the above options.

Obviously all this depends on HSBC not communicating internally and deciding it needs to offset what I owe them.

Right now I'm leaning towards getting the emergency fund up to a level that leaves me comfortable if I need it and getting shot of as much HSBC debt as possible as they are a total PITA and each letter causes issues at home but I feel my judgement is clouded a bit and I'd appreciate your sensible input.

What do you think?

Kate x

Bettingmad

Sounds like you have a good plan, good idea to keep a little back for an emergency fund. The one thing I would not be doing is giving it to Stepchange to distribute. Keep control and distribute yourself. Don't forget with F&F's go in low, you can always negotiate upwards.

igaveupnowimback

Thanks Sazzie, support on here invaluable.

Kate_fixing_it

Bettingmad wrote: »

Sounds like you have a good plan, good idea to keep a little back for an emergency fund. The one thing I would not be doing is giving it to Stepchange to distribute. Keep control and distribute yourself. Don't forget with F&F's go in low, you can always negotiate upwards.

Thanks for this. It's still a bit hypothetical until the money lands in the bank.

I doubt I'd get any F & F's accepted as I'm only 4 months into my DMP and only (ha ha "only") have two defaults. All debts are still with the original creditors. I've always been dead set on repaying every penny I borrowed too (probably a very blinkered view).

Just realised there is secret option number 5 - I could repay HMRC for a tax credits overpayment currently being deducted from the award. The only pitfall there is it won't reduce my DFD as I haven't included it - it came to light after DMP was set up and as it's being dealt with AND DH is due a raise AND I have an interview on Tuesday when I will be asking for a raise which will reduce tax credits anyway. I feel like this is a no-go as it's something I haven't set up and it's being sorted.

I'd love to be shot of as much HSBC as possible simply to make home life a bit smoother but as I said I think that is clouding my judgement.

Kate x