DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 11

Ellieseleven

carbootcrazy wrote: »

I'd be very grateful if someone could give me the benefit of their experience again. Sorry to keep asking all these dumb questions:o.

I started my DMP in April 2013 with total debt of £56804:o. Have been paying £732 a month with SC and have now paid off about £25620. DMP will run until about October 2019 and I'm nearly at the halfway point:j. I must admit it's been a strain paying this amount but I just wanted to see the debt gone asap and I know I overcommitted to what I could afford. Totally my own fault as sadly I didn't come across all the brilliant people on this thread until some time into my DMP:(. It never occurred to me to build up a small EF by making token payments. I'd never heard of the idea and SC never suggested it to me:(:(

Being able to save anything on the DMP is a nightmare. I'm trying to make a bit of extra by selling stuff, doing surveys etc but it just seems to go on eking out the budget, replacement of things that have worn out on the car, frequent big vet bills etc. It's certainly not for treats or anything other than 'needs'.

Do you think SC and creditors would accept this sudden cut in payments after so many months of no payment problems? What sort of back-up documentation would they want, such as bank statements etc? I'm not going to contact SC if it's something they usually don't do. Would I have to contact my creditors myself or would SC put the proposal to them?

Sorry for all the questions but I'm getting a bit depressed about how things are at the moment when I should be celebrating how far I've come.

Thank you x

I know others have had months where they miss payments due to an emergency so I'm sure this is doable and if you contact SC they will be able to help. I haven't had to do this so can't be much help I'm afraid but...


...I know exactly where you are coming from regarding your budget. In the beginning I paid more than I could realistically afford but I carried on at that level as I wanted the debt gone and it was hard! I'm now 5 1/2 years in but have kept my payments around the same amount, massaging the figures where needed i.e. pets, tobacco, travel to work etc. I have moved jobs a couple of times and do earn more money now so my payment is more manageable but still at a level where I feel my DMP will be paid back in a reasonable amount of time.


You are midway and at this point it feels as though your DMP is never going to end but get over this hurdle and the debts do then decrease quite rapidly. I set myself smaller milestones along the way so that I always feel as though I'm getting somewhere regularly and then push on to the next and the next and so on. This is a great motivator and helps keep you on track. I also use spreadsheets so that I can see my progress and how far I have come.


Keep going CBC, you are doing brilliantly! It is a long slog and difficult at times but it will be so worth all your effort.


Take care
Ellie xx

Puzzcat

Hi CBC,

I agree with Sazzie and Ellie and also maybe reduce your monthly payments at your next review so you can have a little wiggle room in your budget.

Love Puzz. x

BeingDebtFreeStartsHere

HI all,

Need to vent as managment have cocked up my overtime :mad:

I worked some of my days off and some extra weekends last month - miscommunication between management has now meant my form was never processed and now I have not been paid the overtime. So cross

Guess we'll have to really tighten our belts this month - roll on next pay day!!!

Hope everyone is having a better day!!

BDFSH x

2spicy

carbootcrazy wrote: »

I know I could adjust my payments downwards at my budget review but I don't want to. I feel I can soldier on as before if I could just have one month of no payments at all(or token £10 to each of my 8 creditors). The few hundred pounds 'saved' would be a lifeline as so many appliances (cooker etc) are on last legs and the washing machine has totally died. My car is old but has plenty of life in it still so long as I keep it well maintained. All this needs money!!!!!!

Being able to save anything on the DMP is a nightmare. I'm trying to make a bit of extra by selling stuff, doing surveys etc but it just seems to go on eking out the budget, replacement of things that have worn out on the car, frequent big vet bills etc. It's certainly not for treats or anything other than 'needs'.

Do you think SC and creditors would accept this sudden cut in payments after so many months of no payment problems? What sort of back-up documentation would they want, such as bank statements etc? I'm not going to contact SC if it's something they usually don't do. Would I have to contact my creditors myself or would SC put the proposal to them?
Thank you x

Personally, I would contact both Sc and my creditors and tell them that you have an unexpected bill (boiler / car etc). They know these items are needed to live, so not accepting the reduction in payments for one or two months wouldn't be an option.

Contact SC, tell them that you have a big bill, tell them that you cannot make one or two months payments. YOU TELL THEM what you can / cannot afford to pay, and YOU dictate the terms, ie tell them that you intend to make a token payment of £10 or whatever to all your creditors. Back this up with a letter to each creditor saying you fully accept the debt and as your payment history will show, you are paying as much as you can, but you have a bill that is unavoidable. Tell them you fully intend to continue with the agreed payments as soon as you can.

Dont be bullied. If anyone gets arsey (technical term ) just tell them its unavoidable and without repairing the car / boiler etc, your not going to beable to work and untimely you cannot fulfill your financial obligation to repay your debt.

sourcrates

carbootcrazy wrote: »

I'm so sorry that a lot of posters are having extra problems in addition to the usual debt ones. Big hugs for anyone feeling particularly anxious about things at the moment.

I'd be very grateful if someone could give me the benefit of their experience again. Sorry to keep asking all these dumb questions:o.

I started my DMP in April 2013 with total debt of £56804:o. Have been paying £732 a month with SC and have now paid off about £25620. DMP will run until about October 2019 and I'm nearly at the halfway point:j. I must admit it's been a strain paying this amount but I just wanted to see the debt gone asap and I know I overcommitted to what I could afford. Totally my own fault as sadly I didn't come across all the brilliant people on this thread until some time into my DMP:(. It never occurred to me to build up a small EF by making token payments. I'd never heard of the idea and SC never suggested it to me:(:(

I know I could adjust my payments downwards at my budget review but I don't want to. I feel I can soldier on as before if I could just have one month of no payments at all(or token £10 to each of my 8 creditors). The few hundred pounds 'saved' would be a lifeline as so many appliances (cooker etc) are on last legs and the washing machine has totally died. My car is old but has plenty of life in it still so long as I keep it well maintained. All this needs money!!!!!!

Being able to save anything on the DMP is a nightmare. I'm trying to make a bit of extra by selling stuff, doing surveys etc but it just seems to go on eking out the budget, replacement of things that have worn out on the car, frequent big vet bills etc. It's certainly not for treats or anything other than 'needs'.

Do you think SC and creditors would accept this sudden cut in payments after so many months of no payment problems? What sort of back-up documentation would they want, such as bank statements etc? I'm not going to contact SC if it's something they usually don't do. Would I have to contact my creditors myself or would SC put the proposal to them?

Sorry for all the questions but I'm getting a bit depressed about how things are at the moment when I should be celebrating how far I've come.

Thank you x

Hi carboot,

Can I ask you, are all your debts still with original lenders, been sold on, or a mixture of both ?

[Deleted User]

sourcrates wrote: »

Hi carboot,

Can I ask you, are all your debts still with original lenders, been sold on, or a mixture of both ?

Hi, sourcrates:)

My debts include 2 small overdrafts (with Lloyds and Santander) totalling about £300 which I hope to pay off completely by the end of the year. There are also 6 credit card debts which are still with the original lenders apart from the 2 biggest. These two were originally with MBNA but have been sold on to LINK. None of them are charging interest.

Does it make a difference please?

make_the_change

I have just posted my letters to the creditors regarding token payments :T

[Deleted User]

A heartfelt thank you to the very kind people who responded so helpfully to my query about reducing payments to creditors:T. I was having a bit of a melt-down in the early hours and just had to get things off my chest:o. I genuinely appreciate the advice given and will have a good think tonight about what to do next. Things are so much clearer now, I was feeling backed into a corner before I posted on here:o

Sazzie, Ellie, Puzz and 2spicy, what a wonderful group of people you are:A

By the way, 2spicy, I love technical terms:rotfl:

2spicy wrote: »

...... If anyone gets arsey (technical term

sourcrates

carbootcrazy wrote: »

Hi, sourcrates:)

My debts include 2 small overdrafts (with Lloyds and Santander) totalling about £300 which I hope to pay off completely by the end of the year. There are also 6 credit card debts which are still with the original lenders apart from the 2 biggest. These two were originally with MBNA but have been sold on to LINK. None of them are charging interest.

Does it make a difference please?

Well yea,

If your struggling at the moment, like the others have said, you could just stop paying for a few months.

Save up a few quid, work out your budget a bit better, than start again.
Debt collection process can take many months, even years, so you can't make your position much worse than it is already.

Original creditors don't (usually) take legal action, it's the DCA,'s that do that, eventually, and only if you ignore them.

You have lots of space here to sort this out so it works better for you in the future.

If you write and explain you are taking a 3/6 month break from payments due to affordability issues, nothing is likely to happen during that time.

Emm1234

Hi all
Today I received my first default notice since starting my dmp last month. I've already spoken to RBS last month and they said as long as I kept up with the dnp payments I wouldn't hear from them. Should I contact them again or is this normal? Thanks