DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 10

Time_to_face_the_music

Am having a totally crap week but reading the support on this thread has really made me feel better. If only all life could be like this.

TTFTM x

angela1976

I'm just in the process of starting my dmp with stepchange, some creditors have agreed to the plan some haven't, I was wondering if anyone ever pays any additional payments even just a small amount direct to the creditors as and when they have it or is this frowned upon as it looks like you can afford more than you are. I'm only talking an odd couple of pounds here and there or do people save it to offer a lump sum at some point? Just wondering as odd months I have a few hours overtime not guaranteed but would like to clear down my debt soon as I can. Thanks for any replies

System

Just got letters from Halifax & Lloyds today, confirming the DMP agreement and the amount etc....which is great but it then goes on to say they will stop all interest/charges until August this year and that the reduced payment will only apply until August!!! :eek: Is that normal procedure? Do they maybe do another review in August or something? Thought the DMP payment was for the full 7 years??!! Not going to help us much if they stick the interest back on again.
Sat here trying to get over horrible flu virus and now feel even worse!:(

Puzzcat

ploppy57 wrote: »

Just got letters from Halifax & Lloyds today, confirming the DMP agreement and the amount etc....which is great but it then goes on to say they will stop all interest/charges until August this year and that the reduced payment will only apply until August!!! :eek: Is that normal procedure? Do they maybe do another review in August or something? Thought the DMP payment was for the full 7 years??!! Not going to help us much if they stick the interest back on again.
Sat here trying to get over horrible flu virus and now feel even worse!:(

Hi ploppy,
No that's quite normal. Creditors like different length reviews some 6 months and some annually. Stepchange will do a review with you once a year and your review date will be on your sc online page. The creditor may write to you when your review with them is due and you can then ask sc to send them your current I & E, after 6 months it probably won't have changed but after your annual sc review it may have done. Unfortunately although they do freeze interest and I believe once defaulted it stays frozen some will not default and can start interest again.. (ie. BC..)


This is another reason why you need to make sure you check your creditor statements every month and don't rely on the balances on the sc website.


Hope you feel better soon, and don't worry it will all sort itself out.


Puzz. x

Puzzcat

angela1976 wrote: »

I'm just in the process of starting my dmp with stepchange, some creditors have agreed to the plan some haven't, I was wondering if anyone ever pays any additional payments even just a small amount direct to the creditors as and when they have it or is this frowned upon as it looks like you can afford more than you are. I'm only talking an odd couple of pounds here and there or do people save it to offer a lump sum at some point? Just wondering as odd months I have a few hours overtime not guaranteed but would like to clear down my debt soon as I can. Thanks for any replies

Hi Angela,


If you are going through Stepchange then I don't think they like it very much as they like all creditors to be treated the same. My worry would be the creditor would think I have more available so would come after me for a larger monthly amount. May be better to save any additional funds for emergencys or full & finals later down the line.
Puzz. x

Puzzcat

Time_to_face_the_music wrote: »

Am having a totally crap week but reading the support on this thread has really made me feel better. If only all life could be like this.

TTFTM x

Hi TTFTM, Sorry your having a rough time at the moment, hope all sorts itself out soon.. If your lacking a smile take a look at your sig.. :T


Puzz. x

schmalf

Hi fellow DMPers

Hope you are all well.

Sazzie - just read back a few pages, very sorry for your loss xxxx

Quick 12 month update from me - starting debt after a few months of token £1 payments was £28562.43, after 12 payments 8.234% paid, debt is now at £26209.43 - 133 payments to go!!! But hopefully less...DMP has been a life changing decision and I am soooo happy I took the plunge. Slow but positive progress.

BUT - just found out I am being made redundant at the end of March!!!! Going to try and keep covering the payments though, I just don't want the hassle of reorganising it all, and hopefully I will get my income back up again asap.

In the face of this, I'm looking to set my own company up (same sector of business so have appropriate experience). Has anyone done this on a DMP? The only problem will be the business bank account. The company has to be LTD (due to prospective customers, sole trader is not acceptable), so I will need a proper business account. Any advice/experiences of this would be much appreciated!!! I'll be initially running from home with low start up and ongoing costs, so minimal risk - if it doesn't work out I certainly won't be plunging myself into further debt problems (lesson learnt), but it's something I really want to give a go.

Thanks all, life is never smooth is it?

Love, Schmalf xxxx

PS - I am still a secret DMPer!

BlueFuzzy

Hi again DMPers. I got my letter from StepChange this week to say that my DMP is all set up and my first payment will be taken on 1st March, which is fantastic news!

Before it was all set up, I sent token payments of £1 to any creditors that I owed a minimum payment to early on in the month. Now that StepChange has contacted all the creditors, I’m wondering if I need to continue doing this. There are a few minimum payments that would have been due towards the end of this month (first one is due on 19th) and I haven’t yet sent token payments to these creditors. Should I still do so, or is it better to just sit tight and wait until the DMP starts on 1st March?

BlueFuzzy

I might have partly answered my own question... I've just got in from work to find a letter from Capital One accepting the reduced payment plan StepChange has agreed with them. This leads me to believe I don't need to do anything with Capital One except stick to my DMP payment from 1st March onwards.

Unless anyone advises against it, I think it's best I wait until other creditors get in touch with me before doing anything else, and otherwise just starting my DMP payments in March.

Thanks to everyone in this thread for providing so much support. I don't have much advice to offer, being new to all this, except that if anyone reading this is struggling with debt and hasn't yet considered a DMP, maybe you should look into that.

I've gone from not knowing how the hell I was going to get through February (never mind the months beyond) to feeling like I can finally breathe and stop considering each month as a new impossible challenge that had to be tackled. The feeling of control is amazing.

I'm really glad I typed "I can't afford my debts" into Google a few weeks ago.

dad2one

Yeah, Capitol One were very quick and accommodating for me too. Don't expect that from everyone. But, yes, now that SC have notified your creditors, let the payments from the plan be it from now.