DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 10

FuzzyDF

I did think it was too good to be true Hellifax freezing interest on my loan. They have 'kindly' agreed to accept 6 months of reduced SC payments but will continue to add interest and charges.

I feel another complaint letter coming on this evening :mad:

Got a nice letter from Barclaycard promising not to phone me (even though they haven't rung) and reducing the rate down to 3% which is acceptable. It's the smallest balance I owe.

I'm off to sharpen my quill, and will complain in red ink. Think Hellifax would prefer blood. Gits.

Suseka

Firstly.... sorry for the down post am struggling today. Work is tough at the moment, people are really getting me down and I am desperately trying to wean myself off the antidepressants I'm on.

Gained a lot of weight over the last year.. hate how I look and really trying to get my mojo back.

The DMP is going as well as these things can, a few creditors to sort out default wise and I thought I was getting on top of things. Funny how life can just reverse turn.

I know my sisters illness is affecting me, we've not been close over the years and I feel guilty that I should have done more to keep in touch.

Need a real kick up the bum...

Off to bed and hoping for a better day tomorrow

Sazzie23

Suseka wrote: »

Firstly.... sorry for the down post am struggling today. Work is tough at the moment, people are really getting me down and I am desperately trying to wean myself off the antidepressants I'm on.

Gained a lot of weight over the last year.. hate how I look and really trying to get my mojo back.

The DMP is going as well as these things can, a few creditors to sort out default wise and I thought I was getting on top of things. Funny how life can just reverse turn.

I know my sisters illness is affecting me, we've not been close over the years and I feel guilty that I should have done more to keep in touch.

Need a real kick up the bum...

Off to bed and hoping for a better day tomorrow

Hi Suseka

Sorry you are not feeling so good, but focus on the positives, the DMP is cooking on gas, you are still in touch with your sister, (can't change the past) and you have us lot to share/celebrate/commiserate with.

Have a snooze, but be warned, tomorrow is kick up bum Friday

Sazzie23

ldhme wrote: »

I've heard they are a real pain to deal with and difficult to get them to stop interest and charges.
Eventually they pass it over to their debt collection department (think it's called metropolitan). From there I have read that they'll accept straight away. Not sure on the timescales.

Out of 4 creditors I have not heard from 2, HSBC and Barclaycard, mixed info on Barclaycard.

Just stick it out, SC or payplan will tell you that even if they 'reject' the DMP, there is nothing they can do, on the can't get what you don't have theory. Eventually either when it gets the DcA or before, they will give in and accept it. In the meantime they will accept your cash so don't get overly stressed about it.

Oh and sometime your don't hear from creditors if they have accepted or not, same applies, just keep paying it, as long as they are accepting the payments, the DMP is in operation. Just make sure you check individual account statements to see what they are doing with balances and interest, remembering that SC and PP will assume the interest is frozen and show balances accordingly.

Kate_fixing_it

The lions share of my debt is with HSBC (overdraft, loan and credit card) they're pretty useless. They obviously have a library of automated letters to send (I have too now;)) and they don't communicate between departments. I was called about all three accounts on one day.

But... They stopped interest on my card immediately. After my 3rd DMP payment they stopped interest on the overdraft and refunded the previous month and the loan was front loaded to there's been nothing added to that. They've been threatening to default and pass to collections since April. They'll get there eventually I suppose.

From what I gather they're account system doesn't work in tandem with their communication system. I kept a record of the time and date of each call along with the name of the person I spoke to (as advised here) and reading that back to them on the third call I received soon shut them up.

Try not to worry about them folks, they're far to slow and lazy to be a real problem

Kate x

Sazzie23

cmcavon wrote: »

Our DMP seems so long compared to others, 14 years 7 months! Hopefully we will shorten that once baby's born and I'm working again.

Hi CMC,

It does seem a long time but I've heard of longer DMPs. There are some long timers who lurk on the thread, maybe they'll stop in and say hi, perhaps share a little advice.

Most on here seem to be in the region of 3-6 years, but remember it is only an estimate as things change. Mine got longer than the estimated DFD as I have some creditors still charging interest and I had to reduce payments. I think MB's extended due to reduced payments, but he's got good at saving for F&f so I'm not sure if that brought it down again, GUO's car must be impacting on their DFD. On the other hand HH and TTfTm have been super keen at knocking off some debts through various means and brought their DFD's forward.

So don't worry about it, just make sure you can comfortably pay it, get life back under control and then decide if/how to reduce it. If yours is SC they do an annual review, to adjust for pay rise and increased or reduced expenditure, but you can review anytime if you wish.

And don't stress, we want calm baby thoughts here please :eek:

Newchapter

Gosh Suseka, you have paid off such a lot already, its amazing. Hang in there !

Sazzie23

Powered_By_Pies wrote: »

I think it was, I got some nonsensical email from them this morning that just said 'we believe your query to be resolved', I wish they'd let the monkeys actually type the emails rather than just sending preset after preset, I work in customer services, I know how their email system works!

No obvious signs of a raid on my card as far as I can see. Car's in for it's MOT as well, no doubt it'll fail, I have a feeling it'll be front tyres and brake discs, and I tried changing the front side-lights - whoever designed the headlights to a mark 4 seat Ibiza needs to be shot, you can't get to the side bulbs without removing the headlight unit, and to do that you need to pull off the entire front bumper!!!

If I had my way it would be illegal to sell a car where you need a toolbox and a mechanic to change a light bulb...:mad:mine is one where you have to remove the water reservoir to change the headlight bulb..had to call the AA once to do it, :eek: rant over

Kate_fixing_it

Sorry to hear you're feeling low Suseka. It happens to us all. There's a lovely thread about daily positives running. That helped me this week.

If the weight issue is getting you down try getting out for a walk if you can, it'll help your mood and it's free exercise. I'm coming up to my first anniversary at target with slimming world. The plan fits in really well with a DMP because there are no special foods. Obviously the £5 a week for meetings doesn't but I'm sure you could pick up a book on ebay or join a Facebook group I know how much it can get you down big hugs hun xxx

But as Sazzie says tomorrow is kick up the bus Friday so give yourself a set amount of time to feel bad then tell yourself you're done beating yourself up for now. I've been anti-depressant free for a year now and I totally understand the battle you face daily. If I'm having a bad day I do that and it helps me.

Kate x

Sazzie23

loobylou2 wrote: »

Hi everyone, hope you are all ok.


I'm still using the kids battered old computer so apologies for any typos etc. Does anyone know how long it takes normally for the paperwork from Stepchange to arrive? I spoke to somebody there on Monday but am still waiting for the paperwork and am really wanting to get my DMP sorted out and set up. Have pretty much decided that I'll go with either Stepchange or Payplan as think it would be too much to go it alone. I had a phone call from Payplan this morning but feel really embarrassed about talking to them about it so chickened out and said I'll call them back. Does anybody have any opinions on who is the better company to go with???? I also spoke to my bank this morning and cancelled 3 CPA's that I had on my account and a standing order for the credit union. I was trying to save small amounts with them but think it would be better to focus on getting rid of the debt instead as all I was doing was putting cash into the credit union and then taking it out again to live on. Have a good day everyone.

Hey LL

Hard to compare as most people will only have been with one company, it's not something many people do twice ! Some just decide to go with whoever comes up with the shorter DFD or better budget.

Have no complaints with SC but heard they are quite strict. Maybe TTfTm can explain how they work out creditor repayments as I've forgotten, I think payplan do it on a different schedule.

Regarding your credit union, remember you will need to have the funds for anything you might need to buy, no more credit in DMP. A good thing but took me a while to get my head round it. So basically don't give up saving, the SC budget will include amounts for things like household repairs, savings for insurance payments, birthdays etc, I have more savings now then I have done for years, but I have to remember that it's there for a reason and not for me to raid randomly. Putting it in a credit union may well be a good thing if it's that little bit inaccessible

Hope this helps, & don't be put off by payplan phoning you, I've not dealt with them but I don't think they'd judge you at all.