DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 11

Sazzie23

evening all.

Just got this useful link in an email from SC, but it's useful for any dmpers, especially newbies, or recent readers of this thread.

http://www.stepchange.org/Existingclients/DMPclients/DMPdosanddonts.aspx

Growurown

Sazzie23 wrote: »

Good luck, and it's a shame we are afraid of Having savings isn't it. What about a doo dah, oh whaddyacallit, community savings thingies....?

Credit Unions, I love mine. They have all the same protections as banks so you know your money is safe, and I can phone them up and they will transfer money into my bank account the same day. I can also do it online but haven't sorted that one out yet.

My savings are kept separate from the bank account which is good for me as I know that in the bank they would just disappear into that black hole of spending. They also do loans. The interest rates aren't brilliant but unlike the banks they will loan small amounts. Great for people on really low incomes or benefits. For example they will lend you £50 to buy a second hand washing machine if that's what you need, but they are responsible lenders so you can't borrow more than you can afford to pay back. If you pay back the loan early you pay less interest too.

There are saving schemes for children, Christmas etc. and mine comes with some life assurance too. If I took out a loan and then kicked the bucket the loan would be paid off. Mine has just started doing a pay up front VISA card, useful for holidays etc. if you don't have that facility already. Check it out online, see what's near you.

My payments have gone out today to creditors and now I just have two payments left until I am debt free! One creditor has been paid off completely this month, so another one bites the dust! Oooh getting excited now:j:j:j

Sazzie23

Growurown wrote: »

Credit Unions, I love mine. They have all the same protections as banks so you know your money is safe, and I can phone them up and they will transfer money into my bank account the same day. I can also do it online but haven't sorted that one out yet.

My savings are kept separate from the bank account which is good for me as I know that in the bank they would just disappear into that black hole of spending. They also do loans. The interest rates aren't brilliant but unlike the banks they will loan small amounts. Great for people on really low incomes or benefits. For example they will lend you £50 to buy a second hand washing machine if that's what you need, but they are responsible lenders so you can't borrow more than you can afford to pay back. If you pay back the loan early you pay less interest too.

There are saving schemes for children, Christmas etc. and mine comes with some life assurance too. If I took out a loan and then kicked the bucket the loan would be paid off. Mine has just started doing a pay up front VISA card, useful for holidays etc. if you don't have that facility already. Check it out online, see what's near you.

My payments have gone out today to creditors and now I just have two payments left until I am debt free! One creditor has been paid off completely this month, so another one bites the dust! Oooh getting excited now:j:j:j

That's the thingummy Credit Unions, thank you GUO and yours sounds pretty advanced GUO. Debt free for Christmas, now there is a present I think we'd all like this year:T. Though I know it's down to hard work and commitment, not a mystery stranger sneaking in the house overnight, but you know what I mean.

I like the pay up front visa things, but you have to be careful some of them charge the earth, sneakily too.

Ellieseleven

Oh excited and just have to share:j...

...after 5 years and 3 months the first of my debts will be paid off once I make October's payment to Stepchange. It's been a long time coming but the feeling is so worth it! This was a 10k loan and my last payment of £45.23 will be made in October:j

Another first for me...making a phone call to debtor to ask how much I owed them and checking that there was no more interest to pay. If you knew me in the early days, I wanted to kill myself rather than speak to anyone on the phone:eek:

If you are just starting out or in the first few months of your DMP, keep going , it will be worth it in the end;)

...just 10 more debts to go;)

Ellie xx

Dandytf

I never made it to the 10k loan.. though often heard of those who did time and time again.

Not a bad effort though with 7.5k over 36 months...30 months paid..before being made unemployed

You 10k loan comment is inspirational, thanks:D

blisteringblue

Puzzcat wrote: »

I had a phone call last night from the PRA (T) group..... took me by surprise, I thought it was yet another person telling me I'd had a car accident/pension review/ppi etc etc.. Anyhow confirmed who I am, who they are, sc authorised to act for me etc.. and how much I am paying. So all good and nothing to worry about.. She then mentioned keeping up the payments or I could get defaulted.. yes please I said.. well after a while she said why? explained about the credit file etc. I also said I was under the impression that when a debt was passed to a DCA it had to be defaulted, she says not... so still in limbo land with this one... Any clues anyone...??? I'm more than happy to take it to the FOS if I have a proper case.

Well you may well be right Puzz, I paid PRA (T) group my first payment this month and though I would check my Noddle file. Admittedly this is 1st Sep and it is due again next week but I've gone from being 2 months in arears with BC to being marked as "up to date" last month when PRA took over ! !!!!!!?

It's not a mega hassle because this was all to remove the £100 of interest BC wanted each month but it's just another of their sh1te tactics. Barclays are a company I will never use again in any shape or form once this whole process is over.

Sazzie23

Ellieseleven wrote: »

Oh excited and just have to share:j...

...after 5 years and 3 months the first of my debts will be paid off once I make October's payment to Stepchange. It's been a long time coming but the feeling is so worth it! This was a 10k loan and my last payment of £45.23 will be made in October:j

Another first for me...making a phone call to debtor to ask how much I owed them and checking that there was no more interest to pay. If you knew me in the early days, I wanted to kill myself rather than speak to anyone on the phone:eek:

If you are just starting out or in the first few months of your DMP, keep going , it will be worth it in the end;)

...just 10 more debts to go;)

Ellie xx

Yahoo :T:T

Here's to staying power winning out :beer:
Happy for you

Maddie57

Hi all

I am just starting my dmp journey and I would be grateful for some guidance. I have just submitted an application to stepchange which has been recieved. What are the rough timescales for speaking to an advisor and if all goes well getting the plan set up?

Maddie

Sazzie23

Maddie57 wrote: »

Hi all

I am just starting my dmp journey and I would be grateful for some guidance. I have just submitted an application to stepchange which has been recieved. What are the rough timescales for speaking to an advisor and if all goes well getting the plan set up?

Maddie

Hello Maddie and welcome to DMP land. :wave::wave:

First thing, might sound a bit weird, but don't be in too much of a hurry to start the DMP. Rushing into it, people often find they miss things, or hit trouble as they have no emergency fund for the inevitable boiler/car/domestic crisis.

Have you been in touch with creditors yet to tell them 'I am in finanancial difficulty, I have contacted stepchange, this is my reference number and I will be in touch soon'. Thence do them a £1 payment (called a token payment) to confirm your intention to pay. The creditors must give you 30 days to sort things out, but most will be happy if you token pay for a couple of months to get a small fund.

If you have another option for crisis payments (bank of mum and dad or a partner with good credit) then maybe you can miss that step and go straight to DMP.

Once SC have received your docs they will usually be in touch in 2 or 3 days, depends how busy they are. It should be easy enough to set up the DMP and SC will encourage you to start it ASAP, it used to be the beginning of the month due to the way they collect payments, but I'm not sure if they just go straight ahead now.

It can be a very scary time but you sound quite calm and organised if a little worried, but don't be. Most creditors won't even contact you, you might get a few calls when the payments are missed, but if you have notified that creditor already, just ignore it. If the calls continue once they should have received the SC payment then do contact the creditor as occasionally mistakes are made when setting up.

Always remember you are one of the good guys, intending to pay, just needing a bit of extra time to get there. Hopefully the creditors will 0% your interest, some do, some reduce and some still change quite a lot, if they do then come back here and get some advice on how to fight interest charges.

Hope this helps. Lots of advice and help on here, probably worth reading back through threads 9 and 10 if you have time to give you a good perspective on what to expect.

Saz

Puzzcat

blisteringblue wrote: »

Well you may well be right Puzz, I paid PRA (T) group my first payment this month and though I would check my Noddle file. Admittedly this is 1st Sep and it is due again next week but I've gone from being 2 months in arears with BC to being marked as "up to date" last month when PRA took over ! !!!!!!?

It's not a mega hassle because this was all to remove the £100 of interest BC wanted each month but it's just another of their sh1te tactics. Barclays are a company I will never use again in any shape or form once this whole process is over.

Hi BB,

New noddle report for me today and BC are no longer appearing at all... Guess i will have to wait until the PRA(T) group report to them and see what they mark it as. I have sent the question to the FOS to see if they can give me an answer!

In other news, dmp plodding along can't believe I'm almost 2 years into my journey. Still love my dmp.

Puzz. x