DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 10

Justjules2012

Thank you for replies, am just getting the letters out now, SC told me to stop all the direct debits so I have, not sure what to do about sending payments to them as I am overdue on some payments for May, but as I will have to pay SC the money to pay them all soon I cant afford to pay them myself as well. They said to just pay them £1 is that right?
I don't really have an emergency fund as such but I have never had one. I have a partner who will help and he pays the car and we are renting so we are not responsible for building problems or anything like that, but I am already selling almost everything I own including laptop! I hope I will have some money left for essentials at least this way, before I had absolutely nothing couldn't even contribute to food

Puzzcat

Justjules2012 wrote: »

Thank you for replies, am just getting the letters out now, SC told me to stop all the direct debits so I have, not sure what to do about sending payments to them as I am overdue on some payments for May, but as I will have to pay SC the money to pay them all soon I cant afford to pay them myself as well. They said to just pay them £1 is that right?
I don't really have an emergency fund as such but I have never had one. I have a partner who will help and he pays the car and we are renting so we are not responsible for building problems or anything like that, but I am already selling almost everything I own including laptop! I hope I will have some money left for essentials at least this way, before I had absolutely nothing couldn't even contribute to food

Hi,
You really need to delay the start of your dmp so you can get some money saved. Just tell sc when you want to start, and pay the creditors a £1 every month until you start the dmp. I did 3 months token payments. I think you should also try and make time to read back at least this thread if not some of the previous one's so you have a good understanding of what to expect.
Puzz.x

phoenixx

Puzzcat wrote: »

Hello dmp'ers... and welcome to any newbies...


I am now in my 19th month of my dmp and have dropped from £60k into the 49k's so all going well at my end..


And yes sazzie and karen don't we all wish we had known about the good old dmp many years before.. but at least we are all travelling on the right path now..


I thought I would pop this up as I read a mention recently and haven't seen it on the thread for awhile..


Love Puzz. x




CARD/DEBTDETAILS – ACCOUNT NUMBER


DATE


Dear Sir/Madam





I am writing to inform you that I am currently seeking advice and assistance regarding my current financial difficulties.


I am working with Step Change to set up a Debt Management Plan (DMP) – my reference number is ******. They will send you an offer of payment along with a copy of my budget and list of creditors.



I am unable to meet my normal monthly payments, would you please accept a token payment of £1 per month until Step Change 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 communications 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 assure you that I am doing everything I can to resolve my current financial situation in a responsible and sustainable manner.

Yours faithfully

Well done puzz - sounds like a good milestone. Thanks for the template post too.

phoenixx

So - hit a bit of a perfect storm (or at least a squall) this month. Emergency fund down to its dregs from car costs and DH needing a black suit for our friend's funeral plus cost of travelling to funeral.All well and good with pay day looming but then - check account and no pay at all. Enquire at work to be told problems with payroll so we won't be paid until next week now.:eek: This was sorely troubling news, especially as the earliest one of my other jobs is set to pay out is Tuesday So I have £46 in the EF to last until then - food and transport for 3 people. Planned to:
lift share to work to save petrol but colleague I was about to ask asked me...I said we should both ask another colleague so trying that today. Felt positive about food as fridge/freezer half full, then yesterday it broke down while we were at work! All food spoiled and hour to spend clearing up mess of defrost. We quickly cooked the least horrific items for tea so a small win there. Just wish we'd had double the EF...but we had £1000 before the expenses hit and usually it's enough...EF will need to be replenished and fridge freezer bought when I am next paid. It's these times when I feel frustrated by the situation.

Sazzie23

phoenixx wrote: »

So - hit a bit of a perfect storm (or at least a squall) this month. Emergency fund down to its dregs from car costs and DH needing a black suit for our friend's funeral plus cost of travelling to funeral.All well and good with pay day looming but then - check account and no pay at all. Enquire at work to be told problems with payroll so we won't be paid until next week now.:eek: This was sorely troubling news, especially as the earliest one of my other jobs is set to pay out is Tuesday So I have £46 in the EF to last until then - food and transport for 3 people. Planned to:
lift share to work to save petrol but colleague I was about to ask asked me...I said we should both ask another colleague so trying that today. Felt positive about food as fridge/freezer half full, then yesterday it broke down while we were at work! All food spoiled and hour to spend clearing up mess of defrost. We quickly cooked the least horrific items for tea so a small win there. Just wish we'd had double the EF...but we had £1000 before the expenses hit and usually it's enough...EF will need to be replenished and fridge freezer bought when I am next paid. It's these times when I feel frustrated by the situation.

Ooh Phonix that's a tough one, so sorry. Does your house insurance cover the freezer at all? I couldn't survive if my firm failed to pay me on time, it's all down to the next pay check!

I'm not sure but isn't it illegal for your firm to fail to pay you - and can you claim out of pocket expenses (though I'm guessing they must be having financial problems too?). Also I'm thinking your colleagues may be in sim financial position to yourself, which is kinda comforting....?
Don't forget you could ask SC to delay payments if firm haven't paid &freezer up the duff ( or delay your own if self managed). Remember gumtree, free cycle etc for the new freezer, you can offer your old one as free to collector too

Hope it's a better day today.

kb_soma

Good morning all, just stopping in. Well done all, you're doing great.
rattters, SC isn't for everyone, good luck with everything and keep us updated.

Welcome newbies, there is a wealth of knowledge on these boards.

Well done Puzz and the others that are continuing with their plans, it's so nice to see the balances going down.

Sazzie, I wish I'd started my DMP years before too...

Justjules2012

I don't think I can handle another 3 months of being chased as I'm sure I will be only paying £1.
They are already chasing me now. SC have already written to everyone and it starts on the 1st June.
SC did not mention to me about doing this, I really don't know what to do now, literally am at my wits end.

Growurown

Justjules2012 wrote: »

I don't think I can handle another 3 months of being chased as I'm sure I will be only paying £1.
They are already chasing me now. SC have already written to everyone and it starts on the 1st June.
SC did not mention to me about doing this, I really don't know what to do now, literally am at my wits end.

Hi Justjules, many people do a few months of £1 payments to build up a bit of an emergency fund. It isn't too late to do this, just call SC and tell them. You won't be chased more for paying £1. If they are going to chase you then they will do that whether you are paying a £1 or £100. You could write to all of them explaining what you are doing. You could tell a little white lie and say you are catching up with your priority debts like rent, mortgage or council tax. They can't argue with that.

Your other option is to start paying on the 1st, try to put away a little money each month and if you do get stuck with a big payment for something you can reduce your payment for a month to cover the cost. We had to do this several times when we had big car repair bills. The creditors don't like it but they have to suck it up because you have no options to do anything else.

Either way it will be fine, stressful at the moment I know but it will settle down.

Growurown

Another banking scandal in the news again tonight, with Barclays being the worst culprit and fined one and half billion pounds. To think some of us feel guilty about not paying back what we owe:eek:

It was reported: -

Announcing the fines, Loretta Lynch, the US attorney general, said bank traders had exhibited “breathtaking flagrancy” in setting up a group they called “the cartel” to manipulate the market between 2007 and the end of 2013.

Anyone out there still feeling guilty?

kb_soma

Justjules2012 wrote: »

I don't think I can handle another 3 months of being chased as I'm sure I will be only paying £1.
They are already chasing me now. SC have already written to everyone and it starts on the 1st June.
SC did not mention to me about doing this, I really don't know what to do now, literally am at my wits end.

Agreeing with growurown here. It is hard at first and a lot of us have been there.

I remember the relief when I first started my dmp, and then the couple of months that followed, I panicked at first as I hadnt ever missed a payment, and then I had automated letters coming through the post from my creditors. These died down after a few months, every time I had a letter I called stepchange, they kept me calm and explained why the letters were coming through. And what to do, I think the worst that can happen is that you may be asked to send a budget sheet to your creditors, which is exactly what you are doing with stepchange anyway.

Don't give up, if things do get too tough for you to meet the payments, you can call stepchange and explain the situation they can adjust your budget just for that month or for the long run. Just remember to keep your budget realistic - when I started my plan I had ideas that I was going to be paying the same as what I was paying my creditors pre-dmp. The advice I got from stepchange was to not leave myself short and to make sure I had enough to live comfortably.

Give yourself a huge pat on the back for getting this far, it's quite normal to be feeling this way at the stage you are in with your dmp. (((hugs)))