DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 10

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AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

You might be able to tell I'm a little annoyed at something!

Just got home from work to find a letter from Poole council. I rented a flat with a friend between October 2011 and about March 2012. During that time I lost the job I'd relocated from Portsmouth for, so I had to go onto the full range of benefits including council tax benefits.

Long story short we accrued CT debt which was explained when my flatmate finally managed to get his exemption certificate from the uni, we headed over to the council and the woman behind the desk checked and cleared the debt.

Fast forward to today - almost THREE YEARS after moving out, and they've sent me a letter claiming we need to pay £264!! No breakdown apart from noting the exemption and the benefits, and it just says 'Your council tax bill issued on 10th October 2011 for the year 2011/2012 needs amendment because your payment method has changed.'

....What!? What does that even mean!?

Needless to say I'm livid as we were told everything had been sorted once the uni exemption certificate had been presented. So a phone call and some very interrogating words will be had on Monday!

I knew a spanner was lurking in the corner to be thrown in the works!

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pbuxton2782 wrote: »

Hi

I was wondering if anyone can give me some advice if they've had experience with dmp. I have been with Gregory Pennington since 2011 i have a few problems and took out 4 payday loans over the past 6 months the usual taking one out to pay the other. I have emailed Gregory Pennington to see if they will add these accounts to my plan will this happen do you know ? what advice can you give me to stop the payday loans wiping my account at the end of the month ? Hope some one can give me some advice please.

You need to cancel continuous payment authority with the banks and let GP know asap. They should be able to add the debts onto the DMP but this will mean they'll need to talk to you and go through everything, old and new, to make sure they can get in touch with the lenders as soon as they can.

I'm with GP myself, and I'm going to be a hypocrite, if you can move to a free DMP then do so, but I'm not overly concerned about staying with them for now as they sorted out a huge problem for me in Natwest (spit) and I've received first-rate service from them since day one. Most will argue on here that I'm paying a company free money and I agree, but it's a situation that I'm currently comfortable with and has still allowed me to re-build my financial life, even with the fees (which are about £45 out of the £300-odd I pay them per month).

They are very easy to talk to and don't judge you. But you need to talk to them. I call them every few weeks or so to get general updates and make sure everything's working - I don't need to, but if I'm paying them, it's a service I know I can use as well as their online account portal. Makes sense if it's there.

But be honest with them. If you're taking out new payday loan whilst already in a DMP that means one of two things. Your monthly payment is too high or you're still over-spending. If they know the full details they'll be more inclined (and have better knowledge of any situation you may be in) to help.

BeingDebtFreeStartsHere

Kate - great news that the interview went well. Let us know how u get on next week

Sazzie - huge congrats on the milestone - our first payment has gone out - well it's a start

Thanks for the advice regarding the Tesco letter - 2 days later in the post appeared another letter confirming they had accepted the SC payment plan for 12 months!! So all sorted with them

Barclaycard (who else!!), on the other hand, have said they have accepted the DMP however their online account said the payment should be credited by 24th. My hubby phoned them to explain that SC pay creditors on 25th and the very unhelpful man said that their system said it should be credited on 19th and that he didn't know what action would be taken as we had breached the DMP agreement. Phoned SC who said not to worry - they would resend DMP info over and pay as normal on 25th and to refer BC to them if they start to hassle us.

Now I know why everyone hates BC!!!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend fellow DMPers

BDFSH x

Puzzcat

BeingDebtFreeStartsHere wrote: »

Kate - great news that the interview went well. Let us know how u get on next week

Sazzie - huge congrats on the milestone - our first payment has gone out - well it's a start

Thanks for the advice regarding the Tesco letter - 2 days later in the post appeared another letter confirming they had accepted the SC payment plan for 12 months!! So all sorted with them

Barclaycard (who else!!), on the other hand, have said they have accepted the DMP however their online account said the payment should be credited by 24th. My hubby phoned them to explain that SC pay creditors on 25th and the very unhelpful man said that their system said it should be credited on 19th and that he didn't know what action would be taken as we had breached the DMP agreement. Phoned SC who said not to worry - they would resend DMP info over and pay as normal on 25th and to refer BC to them if they start to hassle us.

Now I know why everyone hates BC!!!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend fellow DMPers

BDFSH x

I changed my payment date with bc by going through the online system, I'm surprised they didn't just move the due date.

BeingDebtFreeStartsHere

Puzzcat wrote: »

I changed my payment date with bc by going through the online system, I'm surprised they didn't just move the due date.

I totally agree Puzz! The unhelpful man said he couldn't do anything for this month's payment but has changed the date for November's payment. I'm sure it wouldn't have been too taxing a job to alter the payment for this month on the system with a message saying the SC payment will be credited on 25th but hey ho!! :doh:

BDSFH x

Sazzie23

BeingDebtFreeStartsHere wrote: »

I totally agree Puzz! The unhelpful man said he couldn't do anything for this month's payment but has changed the date for November's payment. I'm sure it wouldn't have been too taxing a job to alter the payment for this month on the system with a message saying the SC payment will be credited on 25th but hey ho!! :doh:

BDSFH x

IMO call them again and be specific, I had this trouble with them for about 3 months. Say you need to change the payment date to coincide with the SC payment, I used the phrase ' SC is a massive debt management charity, their payment date is fixed and they aren't going to move it just to please Barclaycard' it seemed to work and they moved my payment date to 28th to account for bank hols too.

Brogden

Sazzie23 wrote: »

IMO call them again and be specific, I had this trouble with them for about 3 months. Say you need to change the payment date to coincide with the SC payment, I used the phrase ' SC is a massive debt management charity, their payment date is fixed and they aren't going to move it just to please Barclaycard' it seemed to work and they moved my payment date to 28th to account for bank hols too.

That's the spirit Sazzie :T

Now I have been in a DMP (of sorts) for more than two years, I cannot believe the power that we have and if I had known that at the start I would have had more sleep than I did! Tell THEM what you require and everything is possible - they CAN do it and sooner or later they WILL do it.

If something is proving really difficult and frustrating send them a letter and put the ball in their court and relax - they're not going to take you to court for being awkward You are one of their good guys because you are in touch with them. Pretty much its those who aren't in touch who are the ones who they may 'escalate' things on

Brogden

Monkeyballs

Morning all!

I don't update for a few days and BOOM! Three pages of catch up

Glad to hear mostly all is well and to read all the great advice being given to the newbies by our resident pro's (you know who you are ).

Kate! Glad to hear everything went well, my toes are currently crossed for you! I'll cross my fingers too as soon as I stop typing LOL. Good news goes a long way on this thread, even if it's not our own since it's a friend WINNING! Kick azz Kate!!!

PBuxton, Yep I'd defo recommend ditching GP but unlike others I'm happy to pry into your life as it might be important... Did you take on those PDL's because your budget is too tight or was it for an emergency or just plain being naughty? You don't need to go into too much detail but there is different advice for each scenario;

A) Budget too tight: You need a review of your I&E so it is more realistic... There is no point throwing as much as you can at your old debts if you wind up having to take on new ones be realistic +5 even if you don't smoke say you do and allow £20 per month, don't get anything dry cleaned? You do now! And so on... There is no hard and fast rule but you probably have a good idea as to how much more you need to allow yourself each month to get out of the rut you're stuck in

You need an emergency fund! I've lost count of how many people over the last year have reported an emergency of some sort... Cars, white goods, roofs, medical stuff... The list goes on and on! I know for a fact that most regulars on here now have some sort of fund in place and it is invaluable. Speak to your DMP provider (whoever you wind up with) and ask to pay token payments while you get a fund in place, I think something in the region of £500 is a good start but it varies from person to person, feel free to ask advice here too ).

C) Have you been naughty? You might have some sort of vice which is still screwing you over... Mine was gambling, but that's all in check now others have different vices but you need to stand up to it and recognise that it's not something that you need to live with! There is a lot of help and support available if you ask, the hardest part is recognising the problem though... If you don't recognise and act then it will always be there ruining your life

Sazzie, 65% :j:beer::money::T:A:);):beer::j:shocked :cheesy: :cool2::laugh: :happyhear: :kisses3::smileyhea:lovethoug:dance::grouphug: :hello:

BDFSH, I lurrrrve Barclaycard... In the past I've broken into song about them I love them so much LOL the main thing is that you've had confirmation that they have acknowledged your DMP which can be tricky in itself but the rest will fall into place as SC appear to have great contacts and know who's arms to twist...

Pies, hmmm... ok... so you're with GP, at least you've made an informed decision and haven't just blundered into them not aware of the free options available, I guess I can let you off FOR THE MOMENT!!! no help on the council tax quandary though I'm afraid, it's all double dutch to me LOL there are times when it feels like those people WANT to get you into trouble which can't be right can it?

Myself, there isn't much news to tell same old stuff different day. I'm not doing bad, but I really want to start doing something "meaningful" again... I still have access to work emails which I read every day to try to "stay in the loop" but slowly but surely they're starting to sound less like things I know about still, things could be worse... Onwards and upwards right

Have a great day all!

MB of G x

Hopelessly_Hopeful

Well done on 65% Sazzi

Hope everyone else doing ok, struggling to keep up with posts at the mo, sorry!

HHx

jubilee14

HI all sounds like all are progressing well. i dont have much of an update really this month will complete the end of year 2 which sometimes seems quick and other times looking in the other direction seems that it will take forever.

But if i think how quick the past 2 years have gone this time in 2 years i will only have passed the half way period by some... got to think of something to keep me motivated