DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 11

January2015

January2015 wrote: »

2 letters from a DCA (same DCA - 2 debts). Both accepting our proposals to pay £1 per month for a few months. We dropped to token payments for all predators to rebuild the emergency fund. The letters actually said they would accept £1 for six months and review - which isn't what we offered, but we may just accept their counter offer because it will allow us to build up more emergency funds/funds for F&Fs :rotfl:

So 2 letters received today and I now truly believe the predators sit and read this forum

As per the quote above I said one predator had accepted our proposals and agreed to accept £1 for six months. 2 more letters received today from same predator confirming exactly the same agreement to accept £1 and also noting that payments will increase from xx/xx/2016.

I would love to apply for that job and I can just imagine the advert...you will need to have good investigative skills and the patience to read through a number of web based forums and attempt to identify our clients from their posts on said forums.:rotfl:

System

Hi everybody, not been on the boards for a while... quite a while actually. DMP was going along fine and then I got made redundant in September and applied for and got a job that was so far out of my comfort zone and the training was crap etc etc...anyway it ended up making me ill with anxiety and off work for ages and they hassled me no end that in the end I handed in my notice. I have managed to get another job starting 1st Feb but due to the stupid way they pay, I won't actually get paid until March 7th. Now we have most of our bills come out on last day/first day of month, as I always got paid on last day of month. So my question is...how to we pay bills that month??
Has anybody had any experience of missing just one DMP payment with SC? I imagine that all our creditors would say we have broken the terms of the agreement etc etc and we would have to start all over again and get loads of threatening letters/phone calls.
Not sure what else to do really? If we could just not have to pay the DMP in Feb, it would leave enough in bank for bills at end of Feb and then we can start again when I get paid in March...if all that makes sense. Any ideas?

January2015

ploppy57 wrote: »

Hi everybody, not been on the boards for a while... quite a while actually. DMP was going along fine and then I got made redundant in September and applied for and got a job that was so far out of my comfort zone and the training was crap etc etc...anyway it ended up making me ill with anxiety and off work for ages and they hassled me no end that in the end I handed in my notice. I have managed to get another job starting 1st Feb but due to the stupid way they pay, I won't actually get paid until March 7th. Now we have most of our bills come out on last day/first day of month, as I always got paid on last day of month. So my question is...how to we pay bills that month??
Has anybody had any experience of missing just one DMP payment with SC? I imagine that all our creditors would say we have broken the terms of the agreement etc etc and we would have to start all over again and get loads of threatening letters/phone calls.
Not sure what else to do really? If we could just not have to pay the DMP in Feb, it would leave enough in bank for bills at end of Feb and then we can start again when I get paid in March...if all that makes sense. Any ideas?

Hi Ploppy

Lovely to have my DMP sister back - I've missed you

Contact SC now and ask to go to token payments of £1 per predator for Feb, March and April to give you time to get back on your feet. It's your DMP, you tell them what you want to happen. Don't fret over it (although I expect you will). Make sure you take at least 3 months to allow to build up a bit of emergency fund.

SC are very supportive and will understand and help you. Don't delay phone them asap. You can stop the Feb SC direct debit - or massively reduce it so it's just £1 per predator.

Great news about the new job. I hope it all works out for you :beer:

System

January2015 wrote: »

Hi Ploppy

Lovely to have my DMP sister back - I've missed you

Contact SC now and ask to go to token payments of £1 per predator for Feb, March and April to give you time to get back on your feet. It's your DMP, you tell them what you want to happen. Don't fret over it (although I expect you will). Make sure you take at least 3 months to allow to build up a bit of emergency fund.

SC are very supportive and will understand and help you. Don't delay phone them asap. You can stop the Feb SC direct debit - or massively reduce it so it's just £1 per predator.

Great news about the new job. I hope it all works out for you :beer:

Thanks so much for your comments Jan. x If I do that will I get bombarded with phone calls and letters again from everybody? Its a bit like starting all over again isn't it? Not sure I could stand that..... It would help if we could just not have to pay Feb and March though.
OH doesn't even know I got the job yet, only found out this morning and going to surprise him tonight with a meal at the Harvester...with a voucher we had as a Christmas present...so no money spent there!

January2015

ploppy57 wrote: »

Thanks so much for your comments Jan. x If I do that will I get bombarded with phone calls and letters again from everybody? Its a bit like starting all over again isn't it? Not sure I could stand that..... It would help if we could just not have to pay Feb and March though.
OH doesn't even know I got the job yet, only found out this morning and going to surprise him tonight with a meal at the Harvester...with a voucher we had as a Christmas present...so no money spent there!

Don't panic about phone calls. You may get letters confirming the arrangement but just read, and file them away

We have just moved to self managed DMP. Our last payment to SC was on 1st Jan. We have no problems to give a need for reduced payments, but when setting up the self-managed I wrote to each predator and advised we were going to make £1 token payments for a few months. Apart from one they all accepted with no questions. SC will do the contacting predators for you - but they will not question the drop.

Definitely take 3 months of £1 payments. It's not about avoiding your debts or wanting to keep more money for yourself, but it is about giving yourself breathing space to settle into your new job and to put aside a small emergency fund.

You've done so well to keep on track with the DMP through the problems you've had with employment and this next few months is a small blip. You are allowed blips

Enjoy the Harvester - guilt free evening out - that's my kind of evening :beer:

Please phone and talk through this with SC and be strong and say 3 months reduced payments. Don't panic. SC will understanding completely.

System

January2015 wrote: »

Don't panic about phone calls. You may get letters confirming the arrangement but just read, and file them away

We have just moved to self managed DMP. Our last payment to SC was on 1st Jan. We have no problems to give a need for reduced payments, but when setting up the self-managed I wrote to each predator and advised we were going to make £1 token payments for a few months. Apart from one they all accepted with no questions. SC will do the contacting predators for you - but they will not question the drop.

Definitely take 3 months of £1 payments. It's not about avoiding your debts or wanting to keep more money for yourself, but it is about giving yourself breathing space to settle into your new job and to put aside a small emergency fund.

You've done so well to keep on track with the DMP through the problems you've had with employment and this next few months is a small blip. You are allowed blips

Enjoy the Harvester - guilt free evening out - that's my kind of evening :beer:

Please phone and talk through this with SC and be strong and say 3 months reduced payments. Don't panic. SC will understanding completely.

I am on hold to them now.....thanks:)

System

Yay...sorted...they said we can't go down to £1 if we want it for 3 months as that would mean everything getting closed and having to start again and creditors wouldn't like it, so they have suggested £5 per creditor for 3 months! So basically that gives us £590 per month to get back on our feet!:T
Then she said we need to do another Budget review.
2016 is going to be a god year!

January2015

ploppy57 wrote: »

Yay...sorted...they said we can't go down to £1 if we want it for 3 months as that would mean everything getting closed and having to start again and creditors wouldn't like it, so they have suggested £5 per creditor for 3 months! So basically that gives us £590 per month to get back on our feet!:T
Then she said we need to do another Budget review.
2016 is going to be a god year!

So pleased for you. I hope £5 per month per predator is manageable.

See what I mean....the worry about it all has lifted now you made that one phone call

Now you can enjoy the meal tonight, celebrate with hubby and look forward to the new job and know you will get through the next few months and be able to set yourself on an achievable path to clear those debts.

Don't be a stranger - I've missed you

blisteringblue

Even speaking to creditors yourself isn't difficult. I learned this very early on in my self managed days. We are in charge, at the end of the day it's our money whether we owe it to them or not. There is no security involved it is unsecured debt. As long as you don't stick your head in the sand and do nothing even £1 a month shows you are committed to paying things back.

My standard line to any of them I have to speak to is "Are you recording this? they will answer yes, well I would like you to default my account and pass it to your collections dept." They will start to waffle, but I just repeat it. Sainsbury's were the last to get this, and they instantly put me on a 12 month interest free plan, just saying to ring them back in 12 months and they will look at it again. I have a feeling it will be a token to force a default then, because I will be paying well over the minimum.

January2015

blisteringblue wrote: »

Even speaking to creditors yourself isn't difficult. I learned this very early on in my self managed days. We are in charge, at the end of the day it's our money whether we owe it to them or not. There is no security involved it is unsecured debt. As long as you don't stick your head in the sand and do nothing even £1 a month shows you are committed to paying things back.

My standard line to any of them I have to speak to is "Are you recording this? they will answer yes, well I would like you to default my account and pass it to your collections dept." They will start to waffle, but I just repeat it. Sainsbury's were the last to get this, and they instantly put me on a 12 month interest free plan, just saying to ring them back in 12 months and they will look at it again. I have a feeling it will be a token to force a default then, because I will be paying well over the minimum.

I have no doubt you will get the Sainsbury's account defaulted asap. We are following your advice and working to do this with our 2 BC accounts. These are the only ones that haven't defaulted us now.

It's from reading posts like yours and Brodgen's and Sourcrates that I felt confident enough to move to self-managed. Early days yet, but I already feel so much better and in more control.

Thank you for posting and sharing your experiences and knowledge - it really is very much appreciated:beer: