DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 11

blisteringblue

Sazzie23 wrote: »

Nice win, treat or debt repayment?

Just in the YNAB pot with the rest of it. Came in handy though as still counting the coppers since the mortgage annual reduction.

Anyway BB hangs his head in shame !! Just had a good clear out of my documents for the debt busting over the years, and found my first attempt at a snowball back from 2011.

Only 45K of debt then ..... (I laugh at only) and it would have been completed in October 2014 if I had stuck to it !

Only started my DMP in March 2014 and by then the debt was 61k !!

I should be really cross, but nobody else to blame :mad:;)

Time_to_face_the_music

blisteringblue wrote: »

Just in the YNAB pot with the rest of it. Came in handy though as still counting the coppers since the mortgage annual reduction.

Anyway BB hangs his head in shame !! Just had a good clear out of my documents for the debt busting over the years, and found my first attempt at a snowball back from 2011.

Only 45K of debt then ..... (I laugh at only) and it would have been completed in October 2014 if I had stuck to it !

Only started my DMP in March 2014 and by then the debt was 61k !!

I should be really cross, but nobody else to blame :mad:;)

I think lots of us are guilty of hiding our heads in the sand, it's easy to have ostrich syndrome when you can't see an answer to the problems so you just hide from it instead.

Don't be cross with yourself, be glad that you are doing something about it now and it's going in the right direction.

TTFTM x

2spicy

Well its been just over a month now and its wired seeing a "large" amount of cash sat in the bank at the end of the month (I did actually go and draw it all out, count it into piles and look at it for a few hours the other day!!)

Anyway, checking our credit report, one creditor has removed its entry, and marked the account as closed (BC). This resuting action has actually had an adverse effect on my score, dropping 10 points.

On a plus side, my current score is 979, only 20 points from having a "perfect score" !!..

Timetosort

Hi just stumbled across this thread and all I can say is I wish I had found you sooner, and when I get a minute I plan to go back and read as much as I can.

I started my DMP with stepchange in August, at the time it was the best thing for me as I was literally in pieces. Since then I've kinda just let things go but recently have had a lot of problems with barclaycard and Natwest, refusing the payment plan, then saying they haven't been told I'm with stepchange, adding so many charges not too mention the interest each month that it seems I will never get out of the debt trap. I borrowed the money so I want to pay it back but this crazy.

has anyone got any suggestions on how I go about dealing with these?

Sazzie23

Timetosort wrote: »

Hi just stumbled across this thread and all I can say is I wish I had found you sooner, and when I get a minute I plan to go back and read as much as I can.

I started my DMP with stepchange in August, at the time it was the best thing for me as I was literally in pieces. Since then I've kinda just let things go but recently have had a lot of problems with barclaycard and Natwest, refusing the payment plan, then saying they haven't been told I'm with stepchange, adding so many charges not too mention the interest each month that it seems I will never get out of the debt trap. I borrowed the money so I want to pay it back but this crazy.

has anyone got any suggestions on how I go about dealing with these?

Hello Timero sort and welcome,

It took BC along to to get with the programme and I think I had to ask SC 3 times to send the paperwork, they put it through a portal and sometimes it just doesn't seem to have got to the correct place.

So I'd start by telling SC of the problems and asking them to do their thing again, normally I'd recommend contacting them via the website, but I've been having trouble with that route myself so probably give them a call.

Next thing, draft a letter, some of the good folk here will likely point you to a template and write a complaint letter to each of NW and BC. Doesn't have to be complicated, just reminding them you are in a DMP with SC and your SC reference, when payments started and how the charges are unfair. Make sure you include the words complaint in the letter, probably best to head it as complaint.

Tell them what you what them to do, refund the interest and charges, stop interest etc etc

The give them a couple of weeks to think about it and write again saying you going to the FOS, and then go the FOS site and give them a cal to complain about BC and NW.

Hope this helps and gives you somewhere to start.

Saz

Sazzie23

2spicy wrote: »

Well its been just over a month now and its wired seeing a "large" amount of cash sat in the bank at the end of the month (I did actually go and draw it all out, count it into piles and look at it for a few hours the other day!!)

Anyway, checking our credit report, one creditor has removed its entry, and marked the account as closed (BC). This resuting action has actually had an adverse effect on my score, dropping 10 points.

On a plus side, my current score is 979, only 20 points from having a "perfect score" !!..

:rotfl: . (In my dreams)

January2015

Timetosort wrote: »

Hi just stumbled across this thread and all I can say is I wish I had found you sooner, and when I get a minute I plan to go back and read as much as I can.

I started my DMP with stepchange in August, at the time it was the best thing for me as I was literally in pieces. Since then I've kinda just let things go but recently have had a lot of problems with barclaycard and Natwest, refusing the payment plan, then saying they haven't been told I'm with stepchange, adding so many charges not too mention the interest each month that it seems I will never get out of the debt trap. I borrowed the money so I want to pay it back but this crazy.

has anyone got any suggestions on how I go about dealing with these?

Hi

Write to BC and NW and state again that you contacted SC in {state month you started negotiating DMP - not the month you started payments}. State SC advised you DMP was most appropriate course of action to address your financial issues and DMP payments to SC started August 2015.

Then start quoting The Lending Code, e.g. something like....

I am formally requesting you to review the fees and charges added to my account since the date you were notified I was in financial difficulty. Your company subscribes to The Lending Code, of which Section 224 states:

• Subscribers should consider reducing or stopping interest and charges when a customer evidences that they are in financial difficulties. Such reduction/suspension decision should be based upon an income and expenditure statement indicating that they are unable to make repayments sufficient to meet contractual terms. Where a customer is able to make only token payments, their debt should not increase as a result of interest and charges levied. The assessment should reflect the customer’s lack of ability to pay rather than the stage an account has reached in the arrears cycle or whether they are using free sources of debt advice. Where a firm declines to allow concessions, they should be prepared to explain why to the customer or their adviser if requested to do so.

You don't say how long your DMP is going to take, but if it is a considerable length of time, you could also quote Section 225 which states:

• It is inappropriate for interest and charges to continue to be taken where the result would be that the repayment period for the customer becomes excessive. In forming a judgement on what might be excessive, a subscriber should take into account the type of product and the individual circumstances of the borrower.

The other standard paragraph I put on the bottom of every letter I send to creditors now is

Please ensure all communication regarding this account if via written letter only. I do not give you permision to hold telephone contact details for me. If you hold any such contact details, please ensure these are deleted from your database/systems with immediate effect. I do not give permission for you to contact me by telephone. I will always respond promptly to any letters received.

Don't be afraid of challenging creditors - what's the worst that can happen;) Nothing! The can (and sometimes do) say no, but you then step up a gear and complain to the ombudsman. Didn't need to go that far with any of my creditors. BC are s*ds and if you are paying over 1% each month they continue to add interest, but they did reduce our interest right down. Still annoying though :mad:

Timetosort

Thank you Sazzie23 and January2015 your advice has been very useful and definitely given me somewhere to start.

I have sent off letters to BC & NW today so fingers crossed these get some response.

I didn't even realise that you could ask them to contact you just by letter, with any luck this will help stop the hassling phone calls.

My DMP will last about 5 years but am hoping to get this down a little in the near future.

So thanks again

Timetosort
x

Scottishmummy

Welcome to the board Timetosort.

Well I've heard from another of my predators so CCA sent to them too. They have put my account on hold for 30 days anyway until I hear from all of my predators and can work out pro-rata payments. They are my largest debt and if they are able to find a CCA then the payment to them would be almost doubling compared to what SC were paying them so quite happy to not have to pay that for another month. They didn't give me any payment details so their next payment would have to wait anyway until I had next been in contact. This is the one I really hope becomes unenforceable. Getting rid of it alone would knock 6 years off my debt free date.

January2015

Scottishmummy wrote: »

Welcome to the board Timetosort.

Well I've heard from another of my predators so CCA sent to them too. They have put my account on hold for 30 days anyway until I hear from all of my predators and can work out pro-rata payments. They are my largest debt and if they are able to find a CCA then the payment to them would be almost doubling compared to what SC were paying them so quite happy to not have to pay that for another month. They didn't give me any payment details so their next payment would have to wait anyway until I had next been in contact. This is the one I really hope becomes unenforceable. Getting rid of it alone would knock 6 years off my debt free date.

Fingers crossed you get the outcome you want :beer: