Debt, no idea where to start

Out,_Vile_Jelly

What was agreed about bill payment in your shared student house? Surely you're not accepting liability for the whole house's utility use for the whole year?

What do you mean by £1500 on a debit card- is that your overdraft? If so, you should be able to open a graduate account with the same provider which also has an overdraft, and pay it off gradually. £500 on a credit card is also not a huge debt- once you're earning you should be able to clear that quickly.

Growurown

blisteringblue wrote: »

A DMP is last resort time. It was for me anyway, and yes it has been a godsend but my credit is dead in the water for 10 years and that should never be taken lightly.

Agreed it is a last resort but it is what the OP asked about originally, and his/her credit rating will already be affected by the debts s/he is being chased for. Will going on a DMP make that much worse than it already is? I doubt it.

Pixie5740

Contacting Step Change, or one of the other debts charities, doesn't mean to say that you will automatically be put on to a DMP. They will discuss all your options and give you advice, that advice might very well involve paying off your debts without entering into a DMP, IVA or going bankrupt.

Sometimes it's just good to talk.

blisteringblue

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

10 years :huh:

Yep, still 4 years till it's paid off and then another 6 until they drop of the file.

People who think everything is rosie once the DMP is done are in for a bit of a shock. Great if everybody defaults on day 1, but simply doesn't happen.

ConsumerWizkid

Growurown wrote: »

Agreed it is a last resort but it is what the OP asked about originally, and his/her credit rating will already be affected by the debts s/he is being chased for. Will going on a DMP make that much worse than it already is? I doubt it.

Yes, it will.

Having a couple of defaults is one thing, having a couple of defaults along with a resulting DMP flag is much much worse.

A default or 2 may be a temporary hitch in someone's finances, a DMP on the other hand is acknowledgement of long term issues that the borrower cannot see a way out of and cannot handle themselves.

A 3rd part debt management plan is ill advised, that's all I'm sayin :P Also you'd think with the wealth of experience of everyone here we can pre-empt StepChange's advice Would you tell your own child in this position to call StepChange? No

[Deleted User]

blisteringblue wrote: »

Yep, still 4 years till it's paid off and then another 6 until they drop of the file.

I think you will find that's wrong.

A default falls off your file after 6 years, whether the debt has been cleared or not.

Growurown

ConsumerWizkid wrote: »

Yes, it will.

Having a couple of defaults is one thing, having a couple of defaults along with a resulting DMP flag is much much worse.

Why? A DMP is an informal arrangement not shown on a credit report unlike an IVA or bankruptcy. If the OP makes arrangements to pay the debts he is being chased for they will show up on the credit report in the same way any other payments would be shown if included in a DMP. After all making an arrangement to pay less each month than the OP is contracted to pay is effectively a DMP even if it only applies to some of the debts owed.

ConsumerWizkid

DMPs aren’t themselves registered on credit reports, but lenders can add a marker to your credit agreements to show you’re repaying your debts using a DMP.

This looks bad. It's simple

[Deleted User]

ConsumerWizkid wrote: »

but lenders can add a marker to your credit agreements to show you’re repaying your debts using a DMP.

Wouldn't that be an AP marker, which they could add anyway, if the OP themselves, makes an arrangement with the creditors?

lizzy23

At the end of the day, these are with DCA now, so have defaulted, they can't be defaulted again so will drop off after 6 years whether an arrangement to pay is made or not, be that DMP or self managed