Feel let down by Stepchange. How can I help myself?

notsoyummysinglemummy

So I entered a plan with CCCS a few years ago and have never missed a payment. I had dozens of creditors, most of which froze interest and the balances have been dropping nicely. I've been doing the annual reviews which they expect religiously.

My issue is, and always has been with Creation finance. I have FOUR accounts with them, and each month the balance owed drops by pennies. The interest charged literally takes up 95% of what they're paid. For example: most recent statement, payment of £20.03 sent, £18 in interest charged. All the while they're trashing my credit.

I feel this is ridiculously unfair and want the whole situation sorted out ASAP now I'm feeling more able to cope with it. I am on DLA indefinitely (who knows how long that will be!) which isn't included wholely in my DMP, meaning I can and am saving for lump sum payments, but I refuse to pay the full amount I owe when they've had so much over the last few years already.

I know this situation is partly of my own making - I have been severely depressed and just ignored it, letting them do what they want, mistakenly thinking that CCCS / Stepchange wouldn't let them do anything unfair.

I've also noticed the balances far exceed what they would have been originally. I'm talking credit cards which had a £3,000 limit 4 years ago now still showing as £4,300 owed. What do I need to do to write to them and get a statement to show exactly what charges were added since the cards because defaulted and what they have received and charged ever since. I would then like to work out a way to either get the interest dropped / settlements paid so that I'm not throwing away money each month. Does anyone have a template for this I can use?

It sounds awful as I'd ideally prefer to work with the creditors who have played ball, who cut all interest from the start and pay them off first, but in this world, it seems he who charges the most money in interest gets their money back fastest. That doesn't sit well with me at all.

Obviously with PIP coming up and the uncertainty of that and Universal Credits, I want to do what I can now to make sure my life doesn't descend into those you see on the poverty shows on TV. I know that while I am unlucky with my health, I am lucky to be in the position I am in benefits wise (at least for now) and I want to plan as much as I can for the future when perhaps I might not be entitled to PIP and my income will drop dramatically.

Any help anyone can give on settlements, dealing with the CCCS and getting that info would be very appreciated.

forgotmyname

I was in a similar situation, But the only person i blamed was myself. I spent the money...

If the balances are above the credit limit but interest is no longer being charged then you must have gone way over with late payment fees and charges.
I know all about those. After trying to speak to Citi or MBNA? Because i had not missed the payment they brushed me off. Then when i didnt pay they refused to help me unless i paid money i couldnt afford to.

They lost out because i just stopped paying everything and ignored them totally.

I think they should still be sending statements at least once a year. Picking and choosing which ones to pay could backfire. If the ones you dont pay check your credit file and see other debts settled then they can show you favoured them and have money to pay them. So worth risking taking you to court.

I had nothing, Just IB and IS as it was back then. So little chance of then taking me to court.

As long as your not bothered about trashing your credit file for even longer i would stop paying them.
Write a letter stating due to further hardship you have had to suspend payments for the foreseeable future.

Ask them for a statement and to confirm whether they have suspended charges and interest.

£4300 on a £3k limit is nothing... I had a bill for over £9000 on a card with a £6k limit. I have no idea where all that extra came from.

notsoyummysinglemummy

Thank you for your reply - but you've missed the point, everyone else freezed interest. Creation say that 4 accounts which have received over £65 per month for 4 years STILL owe over the credit limit - which is money I never spent, and is only the case because they take £16-18 of every £20 they get in interest, meaning the total only goes down by £2-4 each month. Thats not a very good debt management plan!

Everything was well within the credit limit until I lost my job and missed payments. I went onto a DMP within 6 weeks of that too - so those hundreds, if not thousands of £ in additional charges that took me over my limits are all from that period.

I don't dispute I was an idiot for running up debts and am responsible for them now. I just don't see the benefit of charging interest that eats up the repayments and therefore makes the debt unrepayable when StepChange have informed them my circumstances are unlikely to get any better.

nottoolate

know some people have had charges stopped and even refunded by threatening to go to, or going to the fos

creation should have shown forbearance and consideration for your circumstances by stopping interest and charges.

people on the dmp support thread should know how to word a complaint like that.

DawnW

Have you spoken to Stepchange about this? They actually have no power to make creditors stop interest and charges, though most do. Given your circumstances is a DMP still right for you in any case? Can you ask them for a review?

Time_to_face_the_music

notsoyummysinglemummy wrote: »

So I entered a plan with CCCS a few years ago and have never missed a payment. I had dozens of creditors, most of which froze interest and the balances have been dropping nicely. I've been doing the annual reviews which they expect religiously.

My issue is, and always has been with Creation finance. I have FOUR accounts with them, and each month the balance owed drops by pennies. The interest charged literally takes up 95% of what they're paid. For example: most recent statement, payment of £20.03 sent, £18 in interest charged. All the while they're trashing my credit.

I feel this is ridiculously unfair and want the whole situation sorted out ASAP now I'm feeling more able to cope with it. I am on DLA indefinitely (who knows how long that will be!) which isn't included wholely in my DMP, meaning I can and am saving for lump sum payments, but I refuse to pay the full amount I owe when they've had so much over the last few years already.

I know this situation is partly of my own making - I have been severely depressed and just ignored it, letting them do what they want, mistakenly thinking that CCCS / Stepchange wouldn't let them do anything unfair.

I've also noticed the balances far exceed what they would have been originally. I'm talking credit cards which had a £3,000 limit 4 years ago now still showing as £4,300 owed. What do I need to do to write to them and get a statement to show exactly what charges were added since the cards because defaulted and what they have received and charged ever since. I would then like to work out a way to either get the interest dropped / settlements paid so that I'm not throwing away money each month. Does anyone have a template for this I can use?

It sounds awful as I'd ideally prefer to work with the creditors who have played ball, who cut all interest from the start and pay them off first, but in this world, it seems he who charges the most money in interest gets their money back fastest. That doesn't sit well with me at all.

Obviously with PIP coming up and the uncertainty of that and Universal Credits, I want to do what I can now to make sure my life doesn't descend into those you see on the poverty shows on TV. I know that while I am unlucky with my health, I am lucky to be in the position I am in benefits wise (at least for now) and I want to plan as much as I can for the future when perhaps I might not be entitled to PIP and my income will drop dramatically.

Any help anyone can give on settlements, dealing with the CCCS and getting that info would be very appreciated.

Hi notsoyummysinglemummy :hello:

We started off with a CCCS (Now Stepchange) DMP and they never managed to get interest stopped for us and also I did not agree with their payment distribution. With the support of the DMP & Mutual Support Thread on this forum, I changed the DMP to self managed and quickly got all interest stopped myself.

Have you ever made official complaint(s) to Creation? Then followed it up with the FOS? If not, try using a template similar to this:

You

Date

Them

Dear Sir/Madam

Complaint re: [Creditor name] account No: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Thank you for your letter/statement concerning the above account. I am sorry that you feel unable to suspend interest/charges on the above account.

As you are aware, I/we am/are in a DMP with XXXXXXXX, reference number XXXXXXXX. The majority of my/our other creditors have agreed to the offer of payment and agreed to suspend any interest charges still accruing. They have accepted that to continue to charge interest would not assist us in my/our present financial difficulties, and can only serve to increase my/our total debt.

I/we have already paid considerable sums in interest to my/our account. If interest charges continue, the monthly instalments I/we am/are paying will not even cover that interest. Also, the cooperation of my/our other creditors who have agreed to freeze interest already would be put at risk.

I am aware that XXXXXXX subscribes to the Lending Code which states that lenders will consider reducing or suspending interest and charges if these would cause the debt to increase or lead to the repayment term becoming too extended. I would therefore be grateful if you would reconsider your decision not to freeze the interest. This would mean that the monthly payments I/we make would actually reduce the balance outstanding to your company.

Please consider this letter as a complaint about the interest charges you are continuing to apply to my account. I would like to see these stopped immediately and previous interest charges refunded.

If you are unable to help me with this issue, I will have no alternative but to take this case to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.

Yours faithfully

You
________________________________________

Lots more really useful template letters and tons of other information on National Debtline website:

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/...s/default.aspx

And lots of fantastic information on NED CAB DMP website:

https://nedcab.cabmoney.org.uk/dmp.asp

Hope this is useful but if you need any more help, someone here will always offer their advice or point you in the direction of someone who can assist.

TTFTM x

fermi

Definitely worth complaining, as the FOS etc are taking creditor's responsibilities to treat you fairly and sympathetically a lot more seriously nowadays, and it can get results.

See the example on the DMP mutual support thread here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4988866

Puzzcat

I'm only a year into my dmp but Creation didn't want to play ball so within the first 3 months I wrote and complained to them about interest. They still didn't want to freeze or reduce so I took the complaint to the FOS and got some of the interest refunded and a much lower interest rate.


Puzz. x