DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 11

Sazzie23

Hi

Little Miss Sunshine & Kid, it's defo working out for both of you. i like to think the key is to do it, in a way that it works for you.

Great news to hear how you're getting along and with fantastic advice and tips.

Saz

Lyntonsbird

Hi All
I'm now on month 2 of my DMP with Stepchange. It has gone ok BC have sent a letter saying they may default me if i carry on making the payments and not get my account up to date but they have frozen interest. Mbna has frozen interest and accepted the payments for SC. BoS has repeatedly called mobile and landline with foreign voiced people who want me to confirm who i am but call me mr not mrs, i will not confirm my details when they phone me. I tell them im with SC and send letters. They have also refused the SC offer and carried on making interest charges and late payment charges. What should i do sent them a letter explaining my situation and say the others have accepted and frozen interest
Im not worried after following the stream since i realised i was in trouble the forum has been a god send. I have sent a complaint to mbna as well regarding them being the main reason for me getting to Crisis as they doubled my credit limit and me as a shopaholic spent it I never asked and i have always only paid min and spent to the max. I know this is not all their fault but it did make me look at what i was doing and do something about it.
Thank you all in advance

blisteringblue

So chewing over some things and thinking of a 4 month debt payment sabbatical. Was going to go tokens but figured just no point. Main reasons

1. Need to find a large lump sum by end of Feb
2. Force remaining debts to default
3. Try the 2 smallest debts with F&Fs after a couple of months non payment

Just composing a letter and will get them sent. Probably get some hassle but nothing I can't handle. I think as long as I tell them payments start again in March that nips any motions to try for CCJ, but I bet they don't even bat an eyelid. All debts under 5k now so stops any Bankruptcy attempts too.

Might mean a couple of months added to the DMP but clear by end of 2018 will be perfect.

Puzzcat

blisteringblue wrote: »

So chewing over some things and thinking of a 4 month debt payment sabbatical. Was going to go tokens but figured just no point. Main reasons

1. Need to find a large lump sum by end of Feb
2. Force remaining debts to default
3. Try the 2 smallest debts with F&Fs after a couple of months non payment

Just composing a letter and will get them sent. Probably get some hassle but nothing I can't handle. I think as long as I tell them payments start again in March that nips any motions to try for CCJ, but I bet they don't even bat an eyelid. All debts under 5k now so stops any Bankruptcy attempts too.

Might mean a couple of months added to the DMP but clear by end of 2018 will be perfect.

Hi bb,

I am currently doing a 3 month £5 a creditor plan, no hassle and the majority have put me on a 6 month plan.. I love being self managed but did very much appreciate the initial hand holding by sc.

Love Puzz

blisteringblue

Puzzcat wrote: »

Hi bb,

I am currently doing a 3 month £5 a creditor plan, no hassle and the majority have put me on a 6 month plan.. I love being self managed but did very much appreciate the initial hand holding by sc.

Love Puzz

Great, I'm not really expecting hassles but I'm not even going to do tokens as I want those last 3 defaults.

We've been running out of money towards the end of the month recently so do need some breathing space.

National_Debtline

Lyntonsbird wrote: »

Hi All
I'm now on month 2 of my DMP with Stepchange. It has gone ok BC have sent a letter saying they may default me if i carry on making the payments and not get my account up to date but they have frozen interest. Mbna has frozen interest and accepted the payments for SC. BoS has repeatedly called mobile and landline with foreign voiced people who want me to confirm who i am but call me mr not mrs, i will not confirm my details when they phone me. I tell them im with SC and send letters. They have also refused the SC offer and carried on making interest charges and late payment charges. What should i do sent them a letter explaining my situation and say the others have accepted and frozen interest

Hi Lyntonsbird


It is still very early days in your DMP and it's not at all unusual for some creditors to take longer than others to come on board. Stepchange themselves may be able to make follow-up contact with any "awkward" creditors; alternatively they may be able to provide you with some letter templates you can use yourself. We have a guide of our own to dealing with such creditors which you may find useful:


https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/14%20EW%20Payment%20offer%20-%20what%20to%20do%20if%20a%20creditor%20refuses/Default.aspx


Sometimes it will only be when a bank has sold your debt on to someone else altogether that the negotiations become easier. This is likely to happen with more and more of your debts, as the months go by and they see that you are not going to be able to resume your full repayments. At least you know that when an account is "defaulted" it will drop off your credit file six years from that date.


Sounds like you are making positive progress overall, so well done.


Dennis
@natdebtline

Jono987

Hello everyone.

I was with stepchange a couple years ago, however i have relapsed with my gambling and run up insane amount of debt for my age

Have been really struggling the last couple of weeks just to cope with day to day life. Have spoke to step change again who recommend another DMP, however the thing that worries me is some of the accounts are very recent, for example one loan with Lloyds is only a month old.

Also, i have a tesco loan, which had the interest added on straight away. I.E, i borrowed 14k, and as soon as the account was set up i owed 16k. Does this mean because the interest has already been added, they wont add on anymore while im in my DMP.

Thanks for any help

January2015

Puzzcat wrote: »

Hi bb,

I am currently doing a 3 month £5 a creditor plan, no hassle and the majority have put me on a 6 month plan.. I love being self managed but did very much appreciate the initial hand holding by sc.

Love Puzz

I totally agree Puzz. SC got us on the road to managing within a set budget and meeting our DMP commitments - but once we were one year in we went self managed. Best thing we did - we have been paying the full agreed DMP payments, but sometimes life interrupts and we are on token payments to all creditors for a while. No problems - easy to sort out (much easier than if we had to talk to SC and ask for their agreement).

Loving self managed

[Deleted User]

I get such inspiration from this thread and even if the replies are to other people's questions I still get a lot of help from them. Thanks to all who generously give their time to help us :A.

Now here's what is probably a dumb question:o. I know the subject of markers on credit files comes up from time to time but I wondered if anyone could throw a bit of light on something that's puzzling me please.


On Noddle I see that my bank account with Lloyds has had green OK markers for the whole length of my DMP. I had an arranged overdraft with them but had never strayed above the £300 limit even in pre DMP days. I'm not sure why it was included in my DMP but I was paying it off via SC at a few pounds a month. Eventually I paid the lot off with a single payment and it's now clear. It is still showing on Noddle with a balance of zero.

I opened a 'clean' bank account elsewhere when I started my DMP as I also have credit card debt with Lloyds but all I could get elsewhere was a basic account. Serves its purpose for now though. I don't want to contact Lloyds directly but wonder whether the Lloyds bank account, which is a regular account not a basic one, is still available to me, seeing as it was marked OK for the past three and a half years. I have no money in there at the moment. I suppose the proof of whether they want me as a customer will come next year when my debit card runs out and they either send me a replacement or not. I don't want to deposit any money in there in case it gets swallowed up towards the credit card debt but I like the idea of having a 'real' bank account available should I need it. I don't plan to use the overdraft facility although it is still showing on my internet banking as available.

sourcrates

Hi Carboot,

I would be extremely careful here if i were you.
Banks have a legal route open to them to recover any money owed on one account with that company, from any other account held with the same company, its called "right of set off".

Now this is supposed to only be done within strict limits, for example, off the top of my head, i think they can only take money from an account if it has at least £5000 in it, they cant just wade in willy nilly.

To be 100% safe, its best to close any secondary accounts you may have with a creditor, that you still owe money too.