DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 10

neiljmuk

ploppy57 wrote: »

That doesn't bode well for us then....we were told 3% over the phone, but nothing in writing from them at all. Might send them a message on line and see if we can get something in writing to confirm the amount!

They are good at communication over the online messaging system so get a message in. Print them all out every so often and ensure paper statements are switched on too. All the BC statement info reflects the actual situation (interest/repayment date etc) unlike some where you are told to ignore the stipulated interest rate and due date (but will notice no late charges / interest from the actual statement)..

Meatloaf1981

January2015 wrote: »

Morning everyone - hope you are all well

No contact received from Nat West about the DMP, but the monthly statement dropped through the letterbox this morning and it shows 0% APR and zero charges - so I can only assume they have accepted the DMP offer and zeroed interest and charges

Good start to our weekend then

Get in, that's great news! Nice feeling to know you're on the road to getting things sorted. I'm still only able to chip away by a couple of hundred pounds a month at my DMP, but I find it so satisfying to see the figures always coming down and not going up. I just have to live with the fact I will have no credit to fall back on if the poo hits the rotating wind generator! Luckily I am building an emergency fund at the same time and sometimes I chuck my monthly clothes budget in there as I really don't buy that many clothes

January2015

Meatloaf1981 wrote: »

Get in, that's great news! Nice feeling to know you're on the road to getting things sorted. I'm still only able to chip away by a couple of hundred pounds a month at my DMP, but I find it so satisfying to see the figures always coming down and not going up. I just have to live with the fact I will have no credit to fall back on if the poo hits the rotating wind generator! Luckily I am building an emergency fund at the same time and sometimes I chuck my monthly clothes budget in there as I really don't buy that many clothes

We put all the 'pots' SC allow us into a savings account and in reality they are all considered our emergency fund. By 'pots' I mean, dental, optician, repairs/maintenance etc. etc. I do have separate pots within my savings account so I can see how much has been saved for each thing, but if needed the whole lot is for any emergency that crops up (currently it's DH's car looking as if it's going to be in excess of £500 to repair - but at least we had some funds put by )

System

Has anyone else found that since starting the DMP route, they are constantly bombarded with letters inviting them to apply for a CC with a 30%+ interest rate in order to "improve" their credit rating?
Don't think we have ever been so popular:rotfl:

neiljmuk

ploppy57 wrote: »

Has anyone else found that since starting the DMP route, they are constantly bombarded with letters inviting them to apply for a CC with a 30%+ interest rate in order to "improve" their credit rating?
Don't think we have ever been so popular:rotfl:

Argos offering me a Credit Card because the Store Card has been lobbed on a DMP is the best!

carlyfarley

Hi
I was just talking to the lovely TTFTM over on the payment a day thread and I wondered if any of you DMPers did this?
As in paying £1 here and £2.50 there via Internet banking. Is this something that any of you do or do you think it would get you in trouble with Stepchange for not playing fair to all creditors
Carly x

Puzzcat

carlyfarley wrote: »

Hi
I was just talking to the lovely TTFTM over on the payment a day thread and I wondered if any of you DMPers did this?
As in paying £1 here and £2.50 there via Internet banking. Is this something that any of you do or do you think it would get you in trouble with Stepchange for not playing fair to all creditors
Carly x

Hi,
I don't I would rather save any spare pennies and wouldn't want to upset any of my creditors whilst they are all playing nicely. It will be interesting to see if anyone who posts here who is on a managed dmp does though.
Puzz.x

Sazzie23

carlyfarley wrote: »

Hi
I was just talking to the lovely TTFTM over on the payment a day thread and I wondered if any of you DMPers did this?
As in paying £1 here and £2.50 there via Internet banking. Is this something that any of you do or do you think it would get you in trouble with Stepchange for not playing fair to all creditors
Carly x

I do the payment a day by moving it to a savings account, similar to the emergency fund as described by January above. unfortunately I've had to use it recently, but it adds to my emergency fund and my hope is that when I can start saving it again, I'll eventually be able to clear a debt slightly early.

Regarding the emergency fund, I kind of agree with January that you can put it all together, however my personal finding is that for bills that accrue, like car tax (although you can go monthly now) or other predictable bills, I like to have the money 'ring fenced'.

Re the telephone thing, I'm halfway between the 2 camps on this. I think if you are up to talking to them( and not everyone is) sometimes a quick phone call can alleviate several days of worry. And the creditors I've had dealings with have all been more than fine and straight with me. However I don't ever, believe what they've said until I get it in writing and I always ask them to confirm in writing if a decision is agreed. And if I ever got a creditor who did try to get one over, it'd be straight to in writing only. Oh and I NEVER talk to them when they ring me, if they leave a message I will call back when it's convenient and I have my head in the right space.

My partner (rip) was absolutely useless on the phone, he had some sort of dyslexia type thing going on (this was before he ever got ill) where he couldn't take a simple message from a friend, never mind negotiate with a creditor and relate what they had said. For someone in a similar position I'd defo say in writing is the only way to go.

But in the end its what works for you, phone, in writing or via on line stuff, just remember to document it very well, phone call times, numbers and people and references are often handy to quote if someone starts trying it on.

Sazzie23

neiljmuk wrote: »

Argos offering me a Credit Card because the Store Card has been lobbed on a DMP is the best!

It's so daft it's tempting to say yes! I only get emails from noddle about credit recovery cards, but I think spam catcher picks a few up.
I did get loads and loads and loads of payday type loan texts at one time but they seem to have stopped now, thank goodness. :eek:

Time_to_face_the_music

carlyfarley wrote: »

Hi
I was just talking to the lovely TTFTM over on the payment a day thread and I wondered if any of you DMPers did this?
As in paying £1 here and £2.50 there via Internet banking. Is this something that any of you do or do you think it would get you in trouble with Stepchange for not playing fair to all creditors
Carly x

When we were on a managed DMP with CCCS, (now Stepchange), I did this every day. I always paid creditors that were still charging interest to try and negate the effect of this, then would update the CCCS online balance at the end of each month. I had to do this anyway to add the interest on :mad:

None of our creditors or CCCS ever queried what I was doing.

TTFTM x