Can you help please

AngelPoppy

Hiya :wave:

I'm new to this site so hope I'm posting this in the right place, if I'm not please tell me & I'll move it but wanted to ask for some advice.

We've been in a debt management plan since 2008 & have paid off a huge amount of our debt (:T) and should be all paid off in the next 26 months.
We've been paying around £25 per month to the debt management company but haven't heard from them for nearly year and haven't been able to make contact with them over the last two weeks by email, phone or via their website. Obviously the last two companies we have debts with must be getting our payments but its a bit concerning for us. I've checked with companies house and they're still registered.
We're now thinking that we should leave them and put the £25 to pay off the debts. I've found a contract that I signed and it said I could just leave but does anyone know if its that straight forward please?
Thanks in advance

parsniphead

A little further down the page you will find the DMP mutual support thread. They will probably be the best folks to ask.

Sorry I'm not sure how to add links.

[Deleted User]

parsniphead wrote: »

Sorry I'm not sure how to add links.

Here you go.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4988866

FireWyrm

Who are these people?

If you cant get them via email or their website, I'd say that was serious cause for concern. How much of your debt has been paid and how much has actually found it's way to the creditors. Remember, a limited company can fold at any time and take whatever money is on deposit at the time with them - all of it. You wont get a single penny back and if they have been pocketing the money for the last year, clearly, you have lost a significant amount.

In my opinion, you should stop paying them right now, put the money into a holding account of your own for now. Write to them demanding a statement of account detailing EXACTLY how much money has been paid to which creditors and what the outstanding balance is. Then, ditch them. Go to StepChange or do it yourself with your creditors and dont use fee paying companies for this purpose. They are at best, to be treated with suspicion and usually, prove to be utterly venal and outright thieves.

AngelPoppy

Thanks for your replies, I'll move my post
Thanks FireWyrm, I'll take your advice. The company's called DebtFC. I assume if they hadn't been paying the creditors we'd have heard from them...I'm very worried now

FireWyrm

AngelPoppy wrote: »

Thanks for your replies, I'll move my post
Thanks FireWyrm, I'll take your advice. The company's called DebtFC. I assume if they hadn't been paying the creditors we'd have heard from them...I'm very worried now

Not necessarily. In fact, there have been terrible cases where almost no money has been sent to the creditors and in at least one disgusting case a few months ago, the company in question was obviously and criminally misappropriating funds from their 'customers' to run the company instead.

I know the words 'horse', 'barn' and 'bolted' are appropriate here, but it deserves repeating :

PLEASE DO NOT USE A FEE PAYING DEBT MANAGEMENT COMPANY EVER.

They are, at best, incompetent and expensive vehicles for debt repayment and often are in fact, barely more than criminals and fraudsters.

Your next steps are clear. Cease all payment to this company immediately. Demand a statement of account and dont stop pestering them until you get it. Write to your credits and find out what their 'statements of account' are and attempt to reconcile the two bits of information to figure out the true picture. Take over as a self managed plan and correspond with your creditors to make appropriate arrangements.

longtermplanner

Debt FC have Interim Permission status currently under the FCA - put their old OFT no 602502 into here to see the details http://fca-consumer-credit-interim.force.com/CS_RegisterSearchPageNew. You could try the email from that record
[EMAIL="hollie@debtfc.co.uk"]hollie@debtfc.co.uk[/EMAIL] and see if you get a reply from that.


I'm a bit surprised you say you are paying off a 'huge amount of debt' with £25 a month to a commercial debt management company which is likely to be taking at least half of that for its own fees.


But if you have only 2 creditors left then a self administered DMP is probably the best way for you to go. There is a CAB site here that will help you write the letters and switch from this commercial firm. https://nedcab.cabmoney.org.uk/dmp.asp

AngelPoppy

Longtermplanner, we pay the company £25 and £265 in total. We managed to sell some stuff off a few years ago and that helped settle a couple of the debts. Thanks for finding out the info for me but Hollie was my contact and I have contacted her twice now but heard nothing back. Many thanks also for the link.
FireWyrm, at the time we went with them we had been under enormous stress as our business failed & were on the verge of losing everything. I'd tried everything to keep our heads above water and had made myself ill with worry in the process and I just couldn't cope with dealing with companies chasing us for money & they were recommended to us by another business owner. Obviously in hindsight if I'd been more organised about things and sought help earlier when it was obvious the business was going to fail we wouldn't have gone with them so I know it was the wrong thing to do.
I have cancelled the DD and will use the link from longtermplanner to take charge of the debts and just hope the payments have gone where they should've. I will certainly chase them for updates.
Wish me luck......thanks again