Lots of equity in house but still in a DMP

charhen19

Hi there I'm not sure if this is the correct place to post this so please let me know if there is somewhere more appropriate I can put it.

I currently have a £100,000 mortgage on my property which is worth roughly in excess of £300,000. Unfortunately I also have a DMP with Gregory Pennington that I took out in September 2010 which still stands at £21,500. I'm paying the monthly payments to GP but would really like to end the DMP sooner than the roughly 8 years I have left to pay. I'm not trying to wriggle out of it and want to pay it in full but I obviously can't remortgage as no lender is interested as soon as they know about the DMP.

I recently did an experian report which came out at 915 "good" which I was obviously suprised at but still states the DMP info on there so I can't really understand how it gave such a high score.

I was just wondering if anyone could throw out any advice on how I could use my equity to my advantage to pay off the DMP, it just seems a shame I have the equity but can't access it

Thanks in advance.

livingindreamland

have you looked into free DMP providers - StepChange, Payplan or even self managed, that would bring your DFD closer as your wouldn't be paying a % to Gregory Pennington

charhen19

I have thought about this but have been advised that things stay on your credit file for 6 years and as I'm four years in with GP, I'm only 2 years off it not appearing (even though I'll still owe 6 years) and starting a new arrangement means starting the 6 years from scratch again. Seems a tricky situation :-/

Tixy

Switching your DMP to a new provider will not make your debts show on your credit file for any longer.

Your debts will fall off your credit file 6years after the default date on file (for debts that have a default registered) and 6years after settledfor any debts that do not have defaults.

If your debts all have defaults registered 4years ago then your debts/defaults will fall off your credit file in 2years time regardless of what you do now.

charhen19

Ah ok that makes sense then, thanks. Is there any reason to believe my creditors won't accept a new arrangement then? If they're getting their money returned quicker I'm sure they'd prefer it right?

Can anyone recommend Payplan over StepChange or are they pretty much of a muchness?

Tixy

As you say your creditors will be happy to be receiving slightly higher repayments.

I would recommend stepchange over payplan. Stepchange are a charity. Payplan offer free DMPs but are not a charity so still need to make money from other services. Some people have found them very keen to sell you additional products that you don't really need (although of course if you do use payplan then you can say no to those products/services).

If you decide to consider self-managing your DMP then this is a good resource - https://nedcab.cabmoney.org.uk/dmp.asp (although a self-managed DMP is not for everyone)

National_Debtline

Hello there,

I can see that there has been some excellent advice on this thread already, and I would echo all of it. We would generally advise against increasing secured borrowing to pay off unsecured borrowing due to the additional risks involved. If you fall behind with a mortgage you could potentially face repossession.

We work with both Stepchange and Payplan (we do not directly offer our DMPs - as such we refer some of our callers on for free DMPs). It is possible to either self-negotiate or set up a free DMP via our My Money Steps system.

Best wishes,

David @ National Debtline.