DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 10

Rooster01

SquirrelNuts wrote: »

Good News Slothy!

Just phoned Barlcaycard this Morning. They are removininterest erest and charges and have also updated their system with Stepchange payment details.

Because my payment offer is above their minimum level for a payment plan and is below 1% of total balance then no further interest or charges will be applied for another 12 months :T

your lucky.........i owe Barclaycard £1497. Stepchange are paying £16.48 pm. Barclaycard have reduced interest to 3%. Just checked statement and will be paying £3.48 interest. Will take years and years to pay off at this rate.

Slothy88

Rooster01 wrote: »

your lucky.........i owe Barclaycard £1497. Stepchange are paying £16.48 pm. Barclaycard have reduced interest to 3%. Just checked statement and will be paying £3.48 interest. Will take years and years to pay off at this rate.

I owe BC £3900, and the monthly payment to them will be approximately £60. That works out at approx. 1.5% Looks like I won't be getting any interest frozen from them then.

Time_to_face_the_music

Rooster01 wrote: »

your lucky.........i owe Barclaycard £1497. Stepchange are paying £16.48 pm. Barclaycard have reduced interest to 3%. Just checked statement and will be paying £3.48 interest. Will take years and years to pay off at this rate.

Slothy88 wrote: »

I owe BC £3900, and the monthly payment to them will be approximately £60. That works out at approx. 1.5% Looks like I won't be getting any interest frozen from them then.

You need to start fighting to get this interest stopped and charges refunded, usually the earlier into a DMP you do this, the easier it is.

Start with an official letter of complaint, please let me know if you need a template. Allow BC time to respond and if you don't get the result you want, follow it up to the FOS.

Never forget that while Stepchange, Payplan etc may distribute the money to your creditors, they will not do much to get interest stopped beyond their first notification that you are on a DMP, so YOU need to do it and we can help you with this.

TTFTM x

SquirrelNuts

Time_to_face_the_music wrote: »

You need to start fighting to get this interest stopped and charges refunded, usually the earlier into a DMP you do this, the easier it is.

Start with an official letter of complaint, please let me know if you need a template. Allow BC time to respond and if you don't get the result you want, follow it up to the FOS.

Never forget that while Stepchange, Payplan etc may distribute the money to your creditors, they will not do much to get interest stopped beyond their first notification that you are on a DMP, so YOU need to do it and we can help you with this.

TTFTM x

That will be my next task with Argos as they have confirmed today that they have accepted my payment plan, but have decided to continue charging me 9.9% APR.

It's only on a balance of just under £500 but even so that's still a few quid each month which will get swallowed up in interest.

cheers

Squiz

dazla

Rooster01 wrote: »

your lucky.........i owe Barclaycard £1497. Stepchange are paying £16.48 pm. Barclaycard have reduced interest to 3%. Just checked statement and will be paying £3.48 interest. Will take years and years to pay off at this rate.

Barclaycard have only reduced my interest to 12 % !! They refuse to budge on it.

moneyworrier89

Thank you so much everyone for all your help. I will let you know how I progress and at the weekend when I'm not in work will read through the post at length.

moneyworrier89

Sorry one last question did people let their creditors know they were embarking upon a DMP or let the company (e.g SC) do it? Thanks

SquirrelNuts

moneyworrier89 wrote: »

Sorry one last question did people let their creditors know they were embarking upon a DMP or let the company (e.g SC) do it? Thanks

This was the letter I used courtesy of one I found much earlier on the thread!

Dear Sir/Madam

I am writing to inform you that due to an unexpected change in household circumstances, I am currently seeking advice and assistance regarding my current financial difficulties.

I am working with StepChange to set up a Debt Management Plan (DMP) and I will provide you with a reference number once this has been set-up.

As I am unable to meet my normal monthly payments, would you please accept a token payment of £1 per month until StepChange contact you with my DMP details. I would appreciate if you could hold any action on the above account until this time.

I would ask that you please consider stopping or reducing interest and any other charges on my account to help me during my financial difficulties and to avoid increasing my debts any further.

I would please note all future communication should be in writing only.

I thank you in anticipation of your assistance and co-operation whilst I am going through this difficult time, and want to assure you that I am doing everything I can to resolve my current financial situation in a responsible and sustainable manner.

Yours faithfully,

Mr. SquirrelNuts

Rooster01

SquirrelNuts wrote: »

This was the letter I used courtesy of one I found much earlier on the thread!

Dear Sir/Madam

I am writing to inform you that due to an unexpected change in household circumstances, I am currently seeking advice and assistance regarding my current financial difficulties.

I am working with StepChange to set up a Debt Management Plan (DMP) and I will provide you with a reference number once this has been set-up.

As I am unable to meet my normal monthly payments, would you please accept a token payment of £1 per month until StepChange contact you with my DMP details. I would appreciate if you could hold any action on the above account until this time.

I would ask that you please consider stopping or reducing interest and any other charges on my account to help me during my financial difficulties and to avoid increasing my debts any further.

I would please note all future communication should be in writing only.

I thank you in anticipation of your assistance and co-operation whilst I am going through this difficult time, and want to assure you that I am doing everything I can to resolve my current financial situation in a responsible and sustainable manner.

Yours faithfully,

Mr. SquirrelNuts

I rang all my creditors and gave them Stepchange reference number. They were all very friendly and acknowledged straight away.

Time_to_face_the_music

While we are on the theme of template letters, here is the letter I used to get interest stopped:

You

Date

Them

Dear Sir/Madam

Complaint re: [Creditor name] account No: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Thank you for your letter/statement concerning the above account. I am sorry that you feel unable to suspend interest/charges on the above account.

As you are aware, I/we am/are in a DMP with XXXXXXXX, reference number XXXXXXXX. The majority of my/our other creditors have agreed to the offer of payment and agreed to suspend any interest charges still accruing. They have accepted that to continue to charge interest would not assist us in my/our present financial difficulties, and can only serve to increase my/our total debt.

I/we have already paid considerable sums in interest to my/our account. If interest charges continue, the monthly instalments I/we am/are paying will not even cover that interest. Also, the cooperation of my/our other creditors who have agreed to freeze interest already would be put at risk.

I am aware that XXXXXXX subscribes to the Lending Code which states that lenders will consider reducing or suspending interest and charges if these would cause the debt to increase or lead to the repayment term becoming too extended. I would therefore be grateful if you would reconsider your decision not to freeze the interest. This would mean that the monthly payments I/we make would actually reduce the balance outstanding to your company.

Please consider this letter as a complaint about the interest charges you are continuing to apply to my account. I would like to see these stopped immediately and previous interest charges refunded.

If you are unable to help me with this issue, I will have no alternative but to take this case to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.

Yours faithfully

You
________________________________________

Lots more really useful template letters and tons of other information on National Debtline website:

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/...s/default.aspx

And lots of fantastic information on NED CAB DMP website:

https://nedcab.cabmoney.org.uk/dmp.asp

Hope this is useful but if you need any more help, someone here will always offer their advice or point you in the direction of someone who can assist.

TTFTM x