DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 10

spiffyiffy

Thanks all!


I have seen how supportive this board is as I have been following it for a while.


I have about 25k worth of debts so it is now or never.


Now all I need is the template letter to send token payments for. I saw this template about 2 or 3 pages a go I think. Should I do this now anyways?


Thanks

Time_to_face_the_music

I like this friendly discussion re managed v self managed DMP and hearing everyone's opinions.

From my point of view, they may have some clout, but I managed to get interest stopped that Stepchange couldn't. The FOS also advised me to go against what Stepchange advised when we were paying above minimum payments due to Stepchange's method of distributing payments.

I don't think there is a particular time limit, it's about whether you are being charged interest or it's likely to be introduced again and if you have the confidence to go it alone. I would never have it any other way and just wish I had known it was possible from the start.

TTFTM x

dad2one

Time_to_face_the_music wrote: »

I like this friendly discussion re managed v self managed DMP and hearing everyone's opinions.

From my point of view, they may have some clout, but I managed to get interest stopped that Stepchange couldn't. The FOS also advised me to go against what Stepchange advised when we were paying above minimum payments due to Stepchange's method of distributing payments.

I don't think there is a particular time limit, it's about whether you are being charged interest or it's likely to be introduced again and if you have the confidence to go it alone. I would never have it any other way and just wish I had known it was possible from the start.

TTFTM x

Thanks TTFTM. Now that is interesting. :cool2: (pun)
It's daft that some creditors think that you can afford to pay interest and charges if you start giving them a little more. I reckon that's why it's always advisable that once a plan is in place, wage rises extra income etc - should not necessarily be put into the repayment schedule.
SC should know this, but yes, I do get the feeling they go by a book of methods so to speak.
A lot of work, like reacting to and campaigning for dropping charges etc still has to be done by yourself anyway. I guess I'm still hanging on to SC as a namedrop more than anything else.

Anyhow, leaving a managed plan doesn't mean you can't go back if things get a little fraught.

It's true - a lot of your creditors responses and actions are about how you are with them, so whilst I advise starting out with SC, I would also add not to rely on them for everything. There's still a you / creditor relationship that you should take care of. My opinion anyway.

This board / forum / thread is great.:)

Puzzcat

spiffyiffy wrote: »

Thanks all!


I have seen how supportive this board is as I have been following it for a while.


I have about 25k worth of debts so it is now or never.


Now all I need is the template letter to send token payments for. I saw this template about 2 or 3 pages a go I think. Should I do this now anyways?


Thanks

Page 80. Good luck.
Puzz.x

ailz95

The DMP companies work to a 'one size fits all' - they have to because of their regulatory bodies. If you self manage you can tailor the plan to fit you. I wish I had done my final payments rather than going through Payplan. They updated the balances and, well, paid, whereas from what I have since read on here, I could probably knocked them down a bit. BC won't close my account because I still owe them 88p in interest for the month - a case in point.

Well done everyone for being the good guys rather than the head burying bad guys

Ailz

bertman

Not been on here for quite a while now, we are into the third year of our DMP with SC. Three years ago we were in a real mess, failed business, sleepless nights, stress. You name it we were there! We had some great advice from people on this forum so we went down the DMP route. To be honest we never looked back, SC have been brilliant, I have said before its almost like having a bouncer working with you, the creditors do settle down after some initial grumblings, we never hear from them now. We get statements every months and none apply interest so we have seen our balances go down.

We still have a long way to go, to put it in perspective we have debts higher than the cost of our first house but it is coming down. I am looking forward to the date when we are able to start offering full and finals which will be a few years off now.

We live without credit and watch what we spend, its a case of making do in some case and looking after what we have so things last longer. We know the value and cost of everything and make sure we do homework when we need to buy something that is a high cost.

I am sure there will be shocks still to come but there is hope, if you are scared and unsure what to do at the moment or if you are having the LB moment, calm down, get all your debts to hand and ring one of the charities, at the end of the day the creditors cant take what you don't have......

flowerpotter_2

Hi Folks,


I have spent the last few nights reading the first 30 pages or so of this thread. I’ve been feeling for a while I could do with joining something like this to be with people in the same situation while undergoing a DMP.



Our situation:


We had our LBM in early 2012. The usual story too many payments on one particular month and we just could not manage. Contacting Payplan was a big relief and we quickly got set up and payments on the go. Joint DMP with husband. The rest of 2012 was relatively stress free after that and we stuck to the plan. Come early 2013 things were a different matter altogether! :eek:



In Jan 2013 we had ALL our benefits suspended pending investigation. (We are self employed earning a low amount so claim Child Benefit, Tax Credits and I used to get DLA (now awaiting PIP assessment). It was a hellish two months after that with no reasons why we were being investigated and next to nothing to live off. We ended up borrowing from my father and PDLs in sheer desperation to put food on the table. In March 2013 we had DLA, Child Benefit and the Child Tax Credit element reinstated and backdated for the two months we had been without. This still left us roughly £500 short each month as the Working Tax Credits was still on hold. Due to the massive drop in income we were unable to pay anybody back as we needed everything to live off for the next month.


This started the most horrific year of battling to get our Working Tax Credits reinstated, complaints, more borrowing, DMP on a bare bones payment and adding more debts to the plan throughout. To top everything off they stopped my DLA again in October 2013 and we were told to request a mandatory reconsideration but we later told to claim PIP which we are still waiting for an assessment. It was not until February 2014 we finally got our Working Tax Credits reinstated but with only ONE month in backdated payments. To this day we are still disputing the nearly years worth of no Working Tax Credits.


In a nutshell in 2013 we built up another several £1,000 of debt and hugely increased our list of creditors. On top of the debt with Payplan I owe my father nearly £3,000 but I am very lucky he does not need the money back quickly and we can repay when we can.


On a month by month basis we have been more stable from early on in 2014 and have even managed to increase our monthly Payplan payment. I have settled one of our creditors last week for the full balance (£56 Coop OD) which took us down to 17 creditors! :eek: I am awaiting paperwork from Budget Insurance (£68) to confirm the balance we owe them (want to make sure it tally’s with the DMP numbers) and should be able to settle that as well. They are tiny amounts compared to some our creditors but it is satisfying to see the list of creditors reduce.



Well that is us and I hope everyone is having a good weekend! :beer:


Louise

Monkeyballs

Crikey, I turn my back and more new faces crop up!!! AWESOME Hey y'all... Welcome to the party

This is without a doubt one of the most fun, informative and supportive places around! It's not even just about DMP's, although that's the underlying theme we are all like friends chilling out around a virtual coffee table chewing the fat and getting our sh*t in order so make this a regular thing, come back and contribute, you'll never be judged* and you'll never have a stupid question so ask away :beer:

*Ok, so some people are just weird and we'll/I definitely judge you if you're a Justin Beiber or Miley Cyrus fan

City1, my best advice to you as Puzz has already mentioned is to get an emergency fund put in place screw the creditors and speak to SC about sending token payments for a few months and explain that you have no contigency fund in place - it is without a doubt the wisest thing to do and they'll be 100% supportive of you. Whatever you do, don't make any big payments to payday lenders - it makes no difference in the long run so don't worry about being a bad person or getting hounded, in your mind a DMP is a thousand times worse than it actually is and remember, we are all here for you! So look after number one

MB of G xxx

Iwanttobefree

Hi all

I have decided to run my own DMP as of today.

While I get my head around it all, I am paying them what Step change was going to be paying them except for my Creation accounts where I am stopping payments until they pass it over to a debt collector as the interest will mean I am still paying it off in 30 years time.

Brogden

Iwanttobefree wrote: »

Hi all

I have decided to run my own DMP as of today.

While I get my head around it all, I am paying them what Step change was going to be paying them except for my Creation accounts where I am stopping payments until they pass it over to a debt collector as the interest will mean I am still paying it off in 30 years time.

I have never had any dealings with Creation but have read a few posts where people are saying they are difficult. Having said that people have had difficulty through Step Change with creditors who stopped interest for me immediately - I am self managed and I will talk on the phone!

Forgive my asking but have you really tried to get Creation to stop interest? If I may make a suggestion......put Creation on token payments..........£1.00 a month sounds reasonable and tell them what you are doing and why. To stop payments altogether could be dangerous as we can't assume all defaulted debts will end up with debt collectors and we wouldn't want legal proceedings. I do believe that those people who end up in court are those who pay nothing and don't communicate either

Well done on coming to the decision you have but keep something being paid to everyone every month. It really isn't worth taking the chance.

All the best,

Brogden.