DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 10

Sazzie23

Meatloaf1981 wrote: »

Had a lovely letter from Barclaycard this weekend telling me that I was right in my belief I had PPI in my three credit cards from way back when and that they will most certainly look into whether they were missold, as was my assertion due to never needing such protection and never actually discussing it with anyone when applying for the cards. I hope they find in my favour and give me a little bit back to make a dent in what I owe. That would be lovely!

That will definitely help the balance 'going down'. Good news Meatloaf.

Sazzie23

Someone reminded me of this post from January.

Hope it helps - it's a bit long.

^^^^^^^

Morning all

Newbie message

I know there is a lot of activity on the thread at the moment, many newbies who are posting, and quite a few lurkers at a guess (that's ok, we don't mind, one day you'll feel up to posting and smile about how worried you were).

I agree with what's been posted already busy the regulars, and I think all the queries have been answered.

So general Newbie Advice, setting up and starting out is probably to most difficult time you will face in your DMP, so don't panic if it all seems scary and too much . Facing up to the fact you can no longer pay your debts is a massive step and very confronting for many people, this is life changing stuff so worrying is absolutely normal.

Now you've done the horrid thing of adding it all up (often a shock) you've worked out (with SC or whoever) how much you can pay back, that's the crucial bit done, just a matter of getting the paperwork sorted.

Despite SC being the largest debt charity, some call centre people know nothing about them, that's ok, they are just ignorant, don't let it worry you.
All debt collection sections know about SC, some are better equipped to deal with it than others. Often the people at the front end that you speak to know nothing about how the system works, remember you do, you are better equipped than them, don't let them scare you.

It doesn't matter if you choose to DIY DMP or SC, the plan is the same, you are paying them what you can afford and they can't have anything else. They 'reject' the plan, tough luck, keep paying it just the same, they'll get with the programme at some point.

Some creditors will let you know they have accepted, some will just accept it and show something on the statement, some will not say anything but just stop or reduce your interest, HBOS and BC will probably still charge you interest in some form, don't panic over it, it extends your DFD but there are things you can do, start on page 1 of the thread when you have a spare few hours and then decide what to do.

Overtime and non regular bonus payments, no you don't have to declare these, and you can choose to save them to your emergency fund, make some extra repayments to reduce your DFD, save up for F&f payments when you get enough, or even....shhhh ...spend them on a little treat but don't tell anyone. Most people go for a combination of the above, all depends on your priorities.

When you start out and your DFD is generally 4-10 years away, you think, I want to pay as much as I can straight away so the creditors think I'm doing my best. Actually I don't think they care much, as long as you keep in touch and keep paying what you agree - so don't cut your budget so fine that you are having 4 years of hell instead of 6 years in moderate comfort. I'm not saying do your shopping at M&S, and have 4 holidays a year, but just leave yourself the option of buying a cake at birthday time, a new pair of shoes for DD and maybe a very cheap caravan break once a year.

Default letters are good, they look scary but they mean the creditor is actually looking at what you pay and putting your account into limbo. If your account goes to a DcA this is usually good and they are mainly not the scary people you see on the Tv, they have all been very reasonable, and just want you to keep in touch and keep paying.

There will be wobble times, if you have to reduce a payment, when a creditor starts grumbling or just because DFD seems a long way off, but we've all done it, you come here log on and we'll all get throu it together.

If you are having trouble with creditors, eg Lloyds troubles BDF, when they shift to a DcA I'd continue to pay, the payments seem to get to where they should eventually, but if you are worried, send a recorded delivery letter to the collections team at the creditor, quoting your account number and SC ref and saying this is what is happening, these are the payments that have been made, please make your sure your accounts are up to date and let ask them to reply to you in writing so you have confirmation. It does take several months for an account to get over from creditor to DcA and often the information is limited but it's just like the original set up and the DcA will let you know to change the payments in SC, and you can just log in and do it.

I hope this helps, there are lots of scenarios I haven't covered, but in the main it's grit your teeth, keep plodding through and it will all settle down.

One day soon, you will be able to say like Ellie I will be debt free next year

Triangle

Sazie thank you so much for the above post, found it very helpful

Things are all set in motion for me - all paperwork sent, token letters sent etc. DMP starts in September and my estimated debt free date is May 2024 :eek: But this WILL go down. Especially in two years time when we will be saving at least £200/month on childcare!

Need to trawl back on here and find a member number - also, does anyone here do a DFW diary?

Take care
Tx

Triangle

I have found the member list :T
If it's OK with everyone I will be number 435

Thanks Growurown for finding the list

Tx

Growurown wrote: »

This is the last post I can find with the list. As ianmak doesn't post much now, do you want to be number 435?


95 Kelly 1
teecee 2
Ex-spenaholic 3
Smilealot 4
Huntress 5
sea78 6
gemmzie 7
goldigger 8
IDAAS 9
Bloody HEll 10
Joek 11
Jumps 12
shearerbobs 13
Bluediamond 14
ashden 15
newgirl 16
lonely 17
emmy1 18
leixlip1 19
greengrocer 20
daisyblue 21
scared 22
njc12 23
franny 24
bessy 25
neith 26
rustybucket 27
kevster1009 28
fay66 29
valleys girl 30
totallyfedup 31
newlywed 32
brassicks 33
vpmamt 34
4maxine 35
looby75 36
nugsfarnham 37
yellowmonkey 38
amani 39
dlb 40
ticktock1973 41
auntie pie 42
pan 43
alfredsmum 44
llewelyn 45
vickaycon 46
Scottishmummy 47
wewillclearthis 48
Winkus 49
ilovegreatdanes 50
hopeful 51
mioliere52 52
charlie2301 53
readhead999 54
VivCk 55
dumb debtor 56
Cuba Cat 57
Lennymfo 58
Michelle73 59
welshjojo 60
craftingqueen 61
onamission 62
rayday2 63
sweety83 64
lonelytoo 65
Dreamer999 66
everclear1973 67
DrJekyll 68
ankleshaggers 69
lily-ella 70
bowz25 71
LoubieLou 72
itsalldrivingmemad 73
rainbowsapphire 74
cath 75
toasti 76
Heregoes! 77
lonely2 78
Pompeymark88 79
worrygirl 80
eripmav 81
xgingerx 82
Katchambers 83
Boltonbwfc 84
Coochycoo 85
Knotty29 86
itsnowtime 87
tinytot143 88
Jaks 89
Stillsmiling 90
MadDogWoman 91
Weezypoos 92
Weemac 93
Pinkkat8910 94
SortingIt 95
Archer85 96
JacksXXX 97
Sofa_bean 98
Surfer_Chicky 99
JillyOJolly 100
CharliesAngel 101
Chipbeck 102
Spendthrift66 103
BluePanther 104
Jodenice 105
Orpheus 106
donnacarteruk 107
mummytofour 108
debtman2007 109
debrag 110
cloudnine 111
moneydesperatex 112
Compulsivespender79 113
Limana68 114
Stargazeratdawn 115
KeelyJrs 116
TakeittotheLimit 117
Sallyx 118
Amyv 119
learnthehardway 120
monkey22 121
Janey51 122
tracytaxi 123
Bigdi 124
Sanshing 125
ald65 126
piptom&AndyPandy 127
CBI 128
tara66 129
barbie doll 130
afur 131
GlassHalfFull 132
timetobefree 133
Alex Fyfe 134
geoffmr1 135
tomandjerry 136
Gooner87 137
Sam89 138
telboy99 139
MUMMYMOO 140
Marru 141
Mogminnie 142
Debtfree2015 143
pinksparkle82 144
UKroseblue 145
Gingerish 146
Whoopiedoodle 147
mumzyof2 148
madrocks 149
Carlos700 150
Coolmum 151
Lovella 152
Kitty 153
Tinkerbell12 154
10past6 155
ailsajayne27 156
mazmc 157
ticklepenny 157
loopylu36 158
tickertyboo 159
maz1964 160
Shineyhead 161
Creditwreck 162
fedupandworried 163
lisabell 164
gonna be 165
Dski 166
Geddy 167
Skibadee 168
tass 169
Tigert 170
Silou 171
Reformed Shopaholic 172
hamsterpoo 173
milliejon 174
indebtstudent 175
rugby6ft8 176
Violet1 177
Andytwonames 178
Donedoingdebt 179
sunshine38 180
lostalot 181
Hollyb 182
Angeldiva 183
Piggsy 184
longforthesun 185
Wen3 186
moneysavingmumofone 187
Just Me 188
HollyB 189
Jvic28 190
Therelda 191
Itsnowtime 192
Angel Cake 193
MclarenGurl 194
So Sad Angel 195
Shazand 196
louietudor 197
tishywish 198
simbalou 199
spent too much money 200
lmw1977 201
GOLDGPR 202
katyw 203
kebabed 204
Mary Mungo + Midge 205
mummum2 206
Jackie710 207
kpwll 208
ben79 209
Griswold 210
Toffee Penny 211
Numpty Monkey 212
pinksparkle 213
Alpinestar 214
flounder1 215
Ikkle 87 216
archers addict 217
Claireyfairy31 218
Singsalsing 219
Yummy-mummy 220
Lisa-r 221
very silly and scared 222
Johnny Madrid 223
Murraymint 224
NW-ANGEL 225
at_my_wittsend 226
want2bfree84 227
tranceaddict 228
lottsacats 229
Symesd 230
sarriep 231
Rabbit-in-headlights 232
mouncey 233
Zoeysmumof6 234
gilligansyle 235
markey77 236
Etherelda 237
Kudox 238
Althea 239
JES_F1 240
Nicki-Sue 241
TotallyBrassic 242
ianmak 243
skintandscared 244
poohbearmufc 245
eveie189 246
debtmuncher 247
Princess of Plastic 248
Penny39 249
Suze72 250
Elsie52 251
HopeTRMD 252
Fullhouse 253
MSC1977 254
Massivedebts 255
Seasiders 256
Billybobberyl 257
Bexxie90 258
2Spicy 259
OLLIETHECOLLIE 260
Daffykjs 261
jenevieve 262
Quillion 263
NEWLIFEWANNABE 264
rainman31 265
kissthedebtgoodbye 266
St0lli 267
JWM 268
rcpbiggles 269
emmylou3219 270
50broke 271
emmiloam 272
skintlady 273
myeyesropen 274
ad1jnl 275
Louise82 276
DMPDarling 277
Cheesypuff 278
rachaelfleur 279
boot13t 280
Cornishmaid 281
thenightporter 282
ricbro 283
Parsley 284
VanillaDelia 285
WorriedofSurrey 286
mcrfan 287
cheesedoffwithdebt 288
happy_peach 289
moneybuster 290
Moany Money 291
Ladyday 292
pageee2004 293
2009timeforchange 294
Mrs_Ryan 295
thatcherschild 296
Devongirl 297
debt_daisy 298
Clucky26 299
Chancer63 300
muddlemess1 301
foolishqueen 302
smcshane 303
MRSG2B 304
sillywhenyoung 305
Crafty1 306
FredzMum 307
Eriberri 308
Eupho 309
Saskia1 310
Tottenhamtotty 311
Charm1 312
Bahamas 313
sandalwood 314
Jemima09 315
gaztop26 316
jk8 317
kew63 318
RachM 319
Yippee31 320
skintmumofone 321
ilovesooty 322
Spendaholic 323
leese2504 324
Paolo_H_UK 325
glitterlea 326
scouselad1974 327
supersleuth 328
hamstan 329
Twit Head 330
Apple38 331
capcom99 332
d1965 333
jles49 334
Pinkpower 335
yellowpinky 336
snowymalone 337
sarahb7538 338
cloudy-day 339
katkins2 340
whichwaynow 341
Gpuk 342
Circling The Drain 343
CASR25 344
Pinkiepie68 345
londonfraggle 346
Brussell Sprout 347
the tooth fairy 348
twoflower169 349
mumofseven 350
sunnydais 351
Completely Confused 352
Northstar68 353
CraigP 354
Helz1980 355
darkinhere 356
pwally2 357
drpellypo 358
Welsh Bird 359
DotNetter 360
emmahoyles 361
cazza63 362
iwillgetoutofdebt 363
newbeginning 364
maxmax 365
bongo1 366
shandypants 367
purple115 368
girlypink 369
MRS:OPTIMIST 370
mamajojo 371
Pure Dead Dopey 372
Lozzam 373
Claret40 374
Suziewong1 375
Alphie983 376
mozzyc 377
crispycornflake 378
sherb1e 379
sanctuary seeker 380
Hopelessly Hopeful 381
jupster 382
Julie67 383
fluffyboots 384
Ellieseleven 385
SarahNeedle1872 386
~evanesco~ 387
powerchimp 388
MrsGibbs1503 389
MRS A 390
sunfleur 391
grantalien 392
goingforward 393
jcorbygas 394
bigt1888 395
manicmiz 396
Loubylou2 397
sherry16 398
TightbudgetJO 399
tweetiepickle 400
drusilla 401
monwind 402
toots1607 403
B17c 404
maganan 405
SHELLSHOCK 406
Pink-Angel 407
CommitedToChange 408
debtfreewannabe321 409
mikon 410
Squirrel29 411
secretshopper75 412
Superbiatch 413
darwins_mum 414
tired mum 415
MoneysTooTightToMention 416
fairsats 417
sarahowen 418
Nikki4 419
Jubilee76 420
Growurown 421
Dolly66 422
dawn1967uk 423
BlushingRose 424
sickasachip13 425
tintingirl 426
Joyanne 427
PinotGrigio41 428
ailz95 429
Wannabefree1 430
Jenjen 431
DFW2012 432
Pink Fairy 433
savvykaz 434
Triangle 435

Dandytf

Please add me Dandytf, thanks

Riorio

Hi everyone!

Quick question, sorry if it's been asked, but just need to clarify something....

I've sent back my signed forms to step change to agree to enter into the DMP. They haven't replied yet....sent on Friday. Is my next step to move everything to my new bank account and cancely direct debits to my creditors and just pay £1 token payment from June's payments? Advising them im in a DMP with step change?

Thanks :j

Growurown

Triangle wrote: »

I have found the member list :T
If it's OK with everyone I will be number 435

Thanks Growurown for finding the list

Tx

Dandytf wrote: »

Please add me Dandytf, thanks

And we are off!

Triangle - 435
Dandytf - 436

Great post Sazzie - I vote this in for starting off part 11.

KID77

Can I have 437 please? Thank you x

kb_soma

Sazzie23 wrote: »

Someone reminded me of this post from January.

Hope it helps - it's a bit long.

^^^^^^^

Morning all

Newbie message

I know there is a lot of activity on the thread at the moment, many newbies who are posting, and quite a few lurkers at a guess (that's ok, we don't mind, one day you'll feel up to posting and smile about how worried you were).

I agree with what's been posted already busy the regulars, and I think all the queries have been answered.

So general Newbie Advice, setting up and starting out is probably to most difficult time you will face in your DMP, so don't panic if it all seems scary and too much . Facing up to the fact you can no longer pay your debts is a massive step and very confronting for many people, this is life changing stuff so worrying is absolutely normal.

Now you've done the horrid thing of adding it all up (often a shock) you've worked out (with SC or whoever) how much you can pay back, that's the crucial bit done, just a matter of getting the paperwork sorted.

Despite SC being the largest debt charity, some call centre people know nothing about them, that's ok, they are just ignorant, don't let it worry you.
All debt collection sections know about SC, some are better equipped to deal with it than others. Often the people at the front end that you speak to know nothing about how the system works, remember you do, you are better equipped than them, don't let them scare you.

It doesn't matter if you choose to DIY DMP or SC, the plan is the same, you are paying them what you can afford and they can't have anything else. They 'reject' the plan, tough luck, keep paying it just the same, they'll get with the programme at some point.

Some creditors will let you know they have accepted, some will just accept it and show something on the statement, some will not say anything but just stop or reduce your interest, HBOS and BC will probably still charge you interest in some form, don't panic over it, it extends your DFD but there are things you can do, start on page 1 of the thread when you have a spare few hours and then decide what to do.

Overtime and non regular bonus payments, no you don't have to declare these, and you can choose to save them to your emergency fund, make some extra repayments to reduce your DFD, save up for F&f payments when you get enough, or even....shhhh ...spend them on a little treat but don't tell anyone. Most people go for a combination of the above, all depends on your priorities.

When you start out and your DFD is generally 4-10 years away, you think, I want to pay as much as I can straight away so the creditors think I'm doing my best. Actually I don't think they care much, as long as you keep in touch and keep paying what you agree - so don't cut your budget so fine that you are having 4 years of hell instead of 6 years in moderate comfort. I'm not saying do your shopping at M&S, and have 4 holidays a year, but just leave yourself the option of buying a cake at birthday time, a new pair of shoes for DD and maybe a very cheap caravan break once a year.

Default letters are good, they look scary but they mean the creditor is actually looking at what you pay and putting your account into limbo. If your account goes to a DcA this is usually good and they are mainly not the scary people you see on the Tv, they have all been very reasonable, and just want you to keep in touch and keep paying.

There will be wobble times, if you have to reduce a payment, when a creditor starts grumbling or just because DFD seems a long way off, but we've all done it, you come here log on and we'll all get throu it together.

If you are having trouble with creditors, eg Lloyds troubles BDF, when they shift to a DcA I'd continue to pay, the payments seem to get to where they should eventually, but if you are worried, send a recorded delivery letter to the collections team at the creditor, quoting your account number and SC ref and saying this is what is happening, these are the payments that have been made, please make your sure your accounts are up to date and let ask them to reply to you in writing so you have confirmation. It does take several months for an account to get over from creditor to DcA and often the information is limited but it's just like the original set up and the DcA will let you know to change the payments in SC, and you can just log in and do it.

I hope this helps, there are lots of scenarios I haven't covered, but in the main it's grit your teeth, keep plodding through and it will all settle down.

One day soon, you will be able to say like Ellie I will be debt free next year

Great post Sazzie23, I wish I had this advice when I started off on my journey.

Encouraging words to read even now. Xx

kb_soma

Riorio wrote: »

Hi everyone!

Quick question, sorry if it's been asked, but just need to clarify something....

I've sent back my signed forms to step change to agree to enter into the DMP. They haven't replied yet....sent on Friday. Is my next step to move everything to my new bank account and cancely direct debits to my creditors and just pay £1 token payment from June's payments? Advising them im in a DMP with step change?

Thanks :j

Ho riorio, yes I did this. I think mine was token payments and a letter to the creditors, you can find template letters online. I cancelled my direct debit and moved all spare cash into my new bank account.

Others can also advise. Well done for contacting sc and good luck. Xxx