DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 10

Sazzie23

Genie1963 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies. Barclaycard have suggested I ask them to agree to £60 to reduce the interest, but to just not mention it to Step Change so that they continue to pay £140 per month. I am guessing that once they agree to a reduced payment they (barclaycard) dont review it until 12 months is up or unless I ask them to review it. I think the chap I spoke to was actually trying to help me, as I have an ongoing complaint about the rate of interest I currently pay. I am paying almost my minimum payments, but my previous interest was really high because most of my debts were accumulated through using my cards for gambling (please dont judge me as I am now in recovery and it has been a nightmare which I dont expect anyone will understand unless they have been through it). The reason I am able to make reasonably high payments compared to other on the board is that my husband has entered into the DMP with me, even though the debts are not his, so our combined income allows us to pay £1300 to the DMP monthly.

No judgements here and I know you're not alone on the board, so thanks for being upfront and sharing, it will help others too. Keep up the good work.

Ali80

KrazyKel wrote: »

Hi everyone

I was about to set up my DMP with StepChange in Nov, then Dec... Jan etc I keep putting it off!!

I just kept thinking I can manage, didnt want to ruin my credit file since I haven't default any yet (But that is prob ruined anyway thanks to PDL's)

I have an old Lloyds banks ive had for years which I dont have debt with so can use that as my basic bank now. (just need to ask for a new card)
Just need to find out proof of income/benefits and account numbers for my Credit Cards

I have most, not all, need to dig out old paperwork or ask for replacement cards to get the details needed...

Im just not sure when/how to start using this new account. Need to change all Direct debits, don't know how long that takes.
Also do I need to stop paying my debts/offer token payments, do I do that after its all set up with stepchange?

Hi KrazyKel,

I'm new to this forum and have just set up a DMP with SC. I can only speak for myself but the process has been quite straightforward so far.

In my case I get paid monthly on the 20th. I asked my employer to pay my next wages (20th Feb) into my new account.

All my direct debits go out of my account between 21st and 30th so I waited until 1st February, then contacted my new current account provider and asked them to transefer my direct debits to my new account. You will need the account number and sort code of your old account and they should be able to switch the direct debits for you. Nationwide offered a "partial switch" which means that my old account is being kept open. All direct debits were switched within a week.

In terms of token payments, I cancelled direct debits to my creditors (from 20th January) and sent token payments of £1 to each one with a letter explaining my situation and quoting my SC reference number (there is a good example of a letter somewhere on this thread). My first payment to SC will be on 1st April and so I will continue to send token payments in February and March. This is a good way of saving up an emergency fund since you won't be able to get new credit for a while.

If you do decide to enter into a DMP then you need to be prepared for your credit score to take a hit. Mine was already poor due to the amount of credit I have!

Still early days for me, but like I say, so far it's been OK. Just waiting for creditors to acknowledge the DMP and hopefully freeze interest.

Good luck with it all.

Ali

Time_to_face_the_music

Hi to all DMPers old and new :hello:

It's great to see so much activity and support going on here at the moment. This thread, or rather one of its predecessors was my source of help, advice, experience and support at the start of our DMP so hope it continues to help many more people.

There have been a lot of questions recently about how different creditors react to a DMP and this was something I really couldn't get my head around at the start .... and to some extent I still can't now!

The honest answer seems to be that there is no standard, they appear to react differently to every case because every DMP is different. One that stops interest right at the start for one debtor will keep it going right until the end for another. One that defaults and passes it to a DCA in month 3 for one person, may keep it in house and mark as AP for someone else.

I think there must be some sort of formula that they apply but apart from the consistent statements people have quoted from BC, I really can't see how it works for any of the others.

From our own experience, our biggest problems were Lloyds TSB, NatWest and M&S, we had 2 accounts with each. When we moved to self managed, we sorted out Lloyds TSB and NatWest but M&S never stopped interest and we lost the case with the FOS, so we just threw as much as we could at that debt to get it out of the way ASAP. MBNA, RBS and Opus all behaved very nicely but none of them defaulted us, so have lovely late payments and AP markers showing for those for the last 3 years. The same applies to one Lloyds TSB, one NatWest and one of the M&S accounts. Am currently wondering whether to start fighting these but am not sure I can be bothered .... though if I thought I could get some financial compensation, I may be more tempted

One thing I did learn from all of this is that the FOS are extremely helpful and supportive, and if you ensure that you have written an official letter of complaint and not had the response you want in the time permitted, they will take on your case for you. Another thing that is useful to know is that they frown on one creditor treating 2 accounts differently. So after a very long fight that we though we had lost, they suddenly changed tack and asked why an OD and a CC account were being treated in different ways by the same creditor and ruled in our favour :T

Hope this is useful to someone.

TTFTM x

james_joyce

Hi TTFTM, yes that's really useful to me!

Regards
James

james_joyce

Hi all, can someone please remind me about something? How easy is it to get credit during the 6 years, for priority stuff like gas/electricity/mobile phones? Has anyone had issues with it?

Thanks
James

Puzzcat

james_joyce wrote: »

Hi all, can someone please remind me about something? How easy is it to get credit during the 6 years, for priority stuff like gas/electricity/mobile phones? Has anyone had issues with it?

Thanks
James

Hi James,
I think anything that will need a credit check will be affected. But if you stay with your current providers ie mobile you should be fine. I have to say I haven't tried it but I've no doubt some people have and will pop on and let us know!
Puzz.x

jools35

Hi, I'm new here and posted on the main board, posting here too as suggested.

Filled in the stepchange budget today and requested packs. I started it last night and when I'd completed it suggested a DDP (I'm in Scotland) but today when I added another debt it only gave DMP as an option.

I didin't notice until I'd requested the information packs. Before I start anything with them I want to make sure I take the right option and after going through all our paperwork i've found that we owe about 2k less on one loan than I thought, so that'll need to be changed too.

I suppose I'll just need to call them tomorrow and try and get a new plan set up? I've not signed or agreed anything yet.

Also, does anyone know if you just set your own date to start? I've read through this thread (not all of it...) which is amazing and I can see that many try to put some money away before starting which I think is a good idea. Can I say to Step change that I want it to start from 1 April, or 1 May and then make token payments to the creditors meantime? I know a DDP is more official and takes a bit longer to set up - does anyone here have experience of a DDP?

I feel much better today than I have in a long time and once I get this sorted i'm going to start shopping around for our utilities etc and try to save some more that way. Honestly, I just pay everything that I'm asked too and don't watch our food budget too carefully so I'm confident that if I put my mind to it I'll be able to bring our spending right down.

Also, do Stepchange look for copies of actual statements for creditors or do you just send them the account numbers and balances?

thanks in advance

Ali80

jools35 wrote: »

Hi, I'm new here and posted on the main board, posting here too as suggested.

Filled in the stepchange budget today and requested packs. I started it last night and when I'd completed it suggested a DDP (I'm in Scotland) but today when I added another debt it only gave DMP as an option.

I didin't notice until I'd requested the information packs. Before I start anything with them I want to make sure I take the right option and after going through all our paperwork i've found that we owe about 2k less on one loan than I thought, so that'll need to be changed too.

I suppose I'll just need to call them tomorrow and try and get a new plan set up? I've not signed or agreed anything yet.

Also, does anyone know if you just set your own date to start? I've read through this thread (not all of it...) which is amazing and I can see that many try to put some money away before starting which I think is a good idea. Can I say to Step change that I want it to start from 1 April, or 1 May and then make token payments to the creditors meantime? I know a DDP is more official and takes a bit longer to set up - does anyone here have experience of a DDP?

I feel much better today than I have in a long time and once I get this sorted i'm going to start shopping around for our utilities etc and try to save some more that way. Honestly, I just pay everything that I'm asked too and don't watch our food budget too carefully so I'm confident that if I put my mind to it I'll be able to bring our spending right down.

Also, do Stepchange look for copies of actual statements for creditors or do you just send them the account numbers and balances?

thanks in advance

Hi Jools,

I have no experience of a DDP, is that unique to Scotland?

I initially contacted SC in January about a DMP and they proposed start date of March 1st. I had no money set aside and also have MOT due this month so I rang them and requested they defer payment until April. They were very understanding and agreed that April is fine. I don't know for definite, but reading this thread leads me to believe SC can take payment on 1st or 10th of the month. In the meantime I am making £1 token payments to all creditors.

I had to provide SC with proof of income, so I scanned a payslip. They asked for account numbers, but no proof, so just sent them a list of creditors with account numbers.

Hope this helps,

Ali

phoenixx

So I lost it with my kids today - I say 'kids' but one is 25! They are both very intolerant of me when I'm tired or working and show no understanding that I am trying to repay debts. I have explained about the DMP and what we are trying to do but they say I work too much and am always tired. I am truly upset - all came to a head today and the older one said I am crazy and need to grow up. I have gone from being so proud of myself to feeling at lowest ebb ever. I know I shouldn't have yelled at them but I am so exhausted and close to the edge. Sorry for this middle of the night ramble but at least I know there are people here who understand the misery debt brings with it and the giant effort it takes to get out.

spot3

phoenixx wrote: »

So I lost it with my kids today - I say 'kids' but one is 25! They are both very intolerant of me when I'm tired or working and show no understanding that I am trying to repay debts. I have explained about the DMP and what we are trying to do but they say I work too much and am always tired. I am truly upset - all came to a head today and the older one said I am crazy and need to grow up. I have gone from being so proud of myself to feeling at lowest ebb ever. I know I shouldn't have yelled at them but I am so exhausted and close to the edge. Sorry for this middle of the night ramble but at least I know there are people here who understand the misery debt brings with it and the giant effort it takes to get out.

You should be proud of yourself and I'm sure they are too. Sometimes anger is how we externalise worry, they might just be worried about you. Doesn't make it any less hurtful of course for you.

Being in debt is utterly miserable, it's all consuming and you're an inspiration for working so hard and paying it off at such a rate. You should be proud of your determination and motivation. I think it's like a lot of things - depression, divorce, bereavement etc - unless you've been there and lived it then it can be hard to understand.