DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 10

City1

chutyeh wrote: »

Thanks for the reply Blistering blue.

My debts are a mixture of high street bank overdrafts, loans and credit cards, along with two small pay day loan companies, peer to peer lending as well as companies like Ratesetter and SpringCoin (technically not pay day, but not sure what to call them).

I've told the two pay day loan companies who were 'reasonable', and made token payments totalling £330.00.

I'm now just going around the other companies and letting them know, while offering token payments.

I do hope it is as fuss free as it seems!

Hi Chutyeh,


We have debts in excess of £80,000, which is made up of 26 or 27 creditors. I spoke to SC a few months ago who I found extremely helpful, however when my wife and I spoke about it after we worked our dmp we felt that it was too restrictive and didn't really allow for unforeseen circumstance (this is purely our opinion).


We decided to do a self managed DMP, this allowed us to pay what we felt we could afford to our creditors but also giving us the safety net of 'what if'?


I think my point is, I have contacted all our creditors either over the phone or by mail. I was extremely reluctant (petrified) to speak with them, when I did speak with them all of them were great and I think without exception they all said "are you sure you can manage to make these payments".


We used to get phone calls and text messages ALL the time! Now that agreements are in place and SO's are set up I have had not had one phone call!


I have found this forum extremely helpful.

Puzzcat

chutyeh wrote: »

Thanks for the reply Blistering blue.

My debts are a mixture of high street bank overdrafts, loans and credit cards, along with two small pay day loan companies, peer to peer lending as well as companies like Ratesetter and SpringCoin (technically not pay day, but not sure what to call them).

I've told the two pay day loan companies who were 'reasonable', and made token payments totalling £330.00.

I'm now just going around the other companies and letting them know, while offering token payments.

I do hope it is as fuss free as it seems!

Hi,


Those were huge token payments..!!! I sent a £1 to all my creditors during the set up period. Have you got an emergency fund in place as you won't be able to access any credit when on a dmp?


Puzz. x

Puzzcat

peptoabysmal wrote: »

I've finally paid off my £10K in debts through a DMP and couldn't be happier. :j

:TWell done, lots of good news on here today.. :T

Puzzcat

chutyeh wrote: »

First time poster - been lurking for a while now (and can't believe how supportive this thread is).

O.k, so today I received a text from Stepchange that my DMP is set up, and the first payment will be taken at the beginning of November.

I have debts of over £35,000.00 and tried to make all monthly payments in full (circa £800.00 p/m) - unfortunately it just got to a point where I couldn't sustain this.

So now, I'm looking at £350.00 p/m, but in reality I'm going to try and make extra payments where possible.

I'm very aprehesious about the DMP - especially the first few months. What is it like? I have worries out bailiffs - to date I've not missed one payment, but I know this month will be the first where I do, so i guess it is a step into the unknown.

if anyone could shed any light on the first few months, or share any tips it would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

During the first few months you will receive a vast amount of paper through your letter box.. some may make sense and some will just be computerised nonsense..if you have any concerns with the content then ring SC or post on here. I have to say that after the initial flurry of activity, I quite miss my post.. I was even mildly excited to get something from BC this week..! If you are brave enough do answer the phone if creditors ring, I haven't had any 'horrid' one's but my debts are all with high street banks/cc's. I think payday loans and catalogue calls can be different.


Keep posting and let us know how you get on.
Puzz.

chutyeh

City1.

I was torn between trying it myself or going with SC, but didn't think I was strong enough to handle it myself - fair play to you.

Going from £800 to £350 will allow me to slowly put aside a small amount for emergencies.

Puzzcat.

Yeah, large token payments, but I wanted to show these two that I was serious - the payment to one of the companies has slashed the interest from about £400 to £100, so in the long run it will be worth it.

I just want to see my firt payment go out in November! think I'll feel a lot more relieved then.

blisteringblue

City1 wrote: »

We decided to do a self managed DMP, this allowed us to pay what we felt we could afford to our creditors but also giving us the safety net of 'what if'?

There is nothing wrong with self management but if you are not confident dealing with your creditors it will put a little more stress on things. I'm expecting I will go self managed in the later stages of my DMP but for now its just so easy passing it all off to Stepchange.

Whatever works for you is fine though.

Kate_fixing_it

blisteringblue wrote: »

There is nothing wrong with self management but if you are not confident dealing with your creditors it will put a little more stress on things. I'm expecting I will go self managed in the later stages of my DMP but for now its just so easy passing it all off to Stepchange.

Whatever works for you is fine though.

Couldn't agree with this more (your posts are always so wise!) and I'll do exactly the same. I think in the early stages of a DMP you are so stressed that you can't see the wood for the trees and many of us don't have the knowledge or confidence to sort it out that's where SC are invaluable.

In my case I feel like going self managed further down the line will free up resources to help others just starting out that need that support.

It's a great compliment to SC that users can go self-managed as, after all, they can measure their success by getting rid of their customers.

That said, I'm in awe of anyone that can go it alone from the start. It's certainly not something I could have done.

Kate x

Coinmachine

ARRGH £800 car bill! Its 10 years old now so showing its wear. No choice but to try and pay it, will wipe out my contingency fund and I will have to do a reduced payment next month as well.

No choice but to keep the car going. All of the DMP debts are in my name but I have a joint mortgage with my wife. Been in the DMP for 6 months. I am wondering in a couple more years the car may become uneconomic to repair but what would our options be? I assume my wifes credit rating is definately affected? To be honest weve been too scared to check....

Puzzcat

Coinmachine wrote: »

ARRGH £800 car bill! Its 10 years old now so showing its wear. No choice but to try and pay it, will wipe out my contingency fund and I will have to do a reduced payment next month as well.

No choice but to keep the car going. All of the DMP debts are in my name but I have a joint mortgage with my wife. Been in the DMP for 6 months. I am wondering in a couple more years the car may become uneconomic to repair but what would our options be? I assume my wifes credit rating is definately affected? To be honest weve been too scared to check....

Hi, similar set up, joint mortgage but dmp is just mine. No idea if his credit is affected and my car is 12 years old..I think unless you could borrow from family you would have to reduce down to token payments to get enough together to buy a run around. I am going to keep sticking mine together for as long as I can...
Puzz.x

Brogden

Some good news stories on here since the last time I looked

Can somebody help me? How do I cross out text in my signature? To motivate me I want to be able to see the old debt crossed out when I have paid a bit off if you know what I mean!

Thanks