StepChange Debt Charity - question about DMP?

silentkiller

I've just set up a DMP with Step Change and so far they have been very informative etc however I just rang them to find out when the will be the soonest I will know if my creditors have frozen interest or not..

and the woman told me if I contact my creditors in 2 weeks they will be able to tell me as the DMP people won't know.. Is that right?

Only I have 10 creditors and already have to contact them about taking a token payment this month until the plan kicks in next month so it's a lot of phone calls and I thought the idea was the DMP people were supposed to take over and negotiate interest freezing so surely they would know whether they have or not?

Tixy

It is right that stepchange won't necessarily know if creditors have agreed to freeze interest.

You will probably find you will get letters from most creditors over the first few weeks (maybe up to a month) which will often state whether they will freeze interest or reduce it etc. Some may not specifically state it in a letter so for those you could either ring them or you may just see on the next statement they send out whether interest is still being added.

Stepchange, like all DMP providers, will ask creditors to consider freezing interest in their letters to the creditors. They don't actually speak to or negotiate with the creditors.

silentkiller

Thanks for the clarification Tixy I am contacting them to let them know I am only paying a token payment this month and so I will wait for the letters to come in. If I get nothing by middle of the month I will give them a call

Puzzcat

Hi sk,
I wrote to all my creditors in the first instance stating I was entering a dmp, ref number and here's a token payment, might be easier than ringing them! I did token payments for 3 months to pay for some car repairs and get together a small emergency fund, might be worth considering delaying the start up if you don't already have an emergency fund as you will have no access to credit.....
Puzz.x

seanavfc92

silentkiller wrote: »

I've just set up a DMP with Step Change and so far they have been very informative etc however I just rang them to find out when the will be the soonest I will know if my creditors have frozen interest or not..

and the woman told me if I contact my creditors in 2 weeks they will be able to tell me as the DMP people won't know.. Is that right?

Only I have 10 creditors and already have to contact them about taking a token payment this month until the plan kicks in next month so it's a lot of phone calls and I thought the idea was the DMP people were supposed to take over and negotiate interest freezing so surely they would know whether they have or not?

Unfortunately, the decision to freeze interest and charges is solely down to each creditor.

You're fortunate enough that, by going with StepChange, they've been doing this long enough for the creditors to see results from it, to see clients in similar positions to pay back all the money you owe!

I think for you, reassurance-wise, is that StepChange will continue to pay your creditors regardless of them all freezing interest and charges or not. All that may happen is the debt could be passed to a collection agency. Not necessarily a bad thing considering the DCA's don't make the balance any bigger!

Congratulations for getting through the process, hopefully your life should be a bit easier now!

:beer:

Suseka

As has already been explained SC will not pursue your creditors to freeze interest, that's pretty much up to you. Some will, some won't, but there is lots of advise on the DMP support thread that you will find useful so do go have a look .

One piece of advice I would like to offer is to monitor your DMP account with SC and the statements you'll receive from creditors and update them wherever necessary.

Ska

silentkiller

Thanks for all the info guys has helped to make what was a harrowing experience a lot easier.

Puzzcat hiw did you make the token payments if you sent a letter? I ask because I pay online or by phone so if I sent them a letter how would I then make sure I may the token payment?