DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 11

January2015

Hi 2017spark and motivated

I'm so pleased everything is starting to fall into place with your DMPs. The hardest bit is well and truly over - that was facing up to the debts and the initial start of pulling everything together. Things get much easier from here on. Yes there will be bumps in the journey, but never fret or panic - just come here and ask questions, talk it through, or just vent your frustration.

We're all looking forward to getting to know you and support you (and have you support us) on the journery to becoming debt free.

motivated

January2015 wrote: »

Hi 2017spark and motivated

I'm so pleased everything is starting to fall into place with your DMPs. The hardest bit is well and truly over - that was facing up to the debts and the initial start of pulling everything together. Things get much easier from here on. Yes there will be bumps in the journey, but never fret or panic - just come here and ask questions, talk it through, or just vent your frustration.

We're all looking forward to getting to know you and support you (and have you support us) on the journery to becoming debt free.

Thankyou January :A

I will certainly be sticking around and keeping you all updated on our journey.

The person on SC said that I could take photos of documents and email them. Would the letters We received from BC today be ok to send. What would I need to take photos of.
Sorry for so many questions
M

BeingDebtFreeStartsHere

motivated wrote: »

Thankyou January :A

I will certainly be sticking around and keeping you all updated on our journey.

The person on SC said that I could take photos of documents and email them. Would the letters We received from BC today be ok to send. What would I need to take photos of.
Sorry for so many questions
M

Hi motivated,

The only documents I sent to SC when I set up my DMP were payslips that they asked for and my completed creditor list with all my balances.

I have never had to send them any correspondance from my creditors regarding the debts I have with them. The letters from BC are purely for your reference to let you know they acknowledge your financial situation and have put your account on hold. Have they said they will freeze interest and charges?

SC will send over a copy of your I and E info to each creditor together with the monthly amount you will be paying to each one.

Take care,

BDFSH x

motivated

Hi BDFSH and thankyou for replying

Both BC letters say
We're very sorry about your circumstances and want to help give you some breathing space by putting your account on hold until further notice. This means we won't ask for any outstanding payments and you won't be charged any further fees or interest for the full time your account is on hold.

The message I received via the secure messaging service said they will put the account on hold for 30 days and the letter doesn't mention this so I'm unsure.
M

heavenlyharry01

JMU-95 wrote: »

Hi. I'd be grateful for some advice. I'm currently 1 year into my DMP with Stepchange. I've received a letter from Moorcroft acting on behalf of Arrow (ex Virgin CC).

Original Balance £975. Balance now: £875

They've offered me a settlement offer figure of £525 (saving of £350) and my credit file updated as 'partially settled'.

I could possibly pay this but this is my first settlement letter I'm not sure what to do - should I accept this, haggle for less or ignore and keep paying them £5 per month on DMP?

Thanks for any advice.

I'm hoping to be offered settlement figures in the future on my 11 creditors!!!

I think if I were you I would say that " I could afford £400 as a family member said they would lend me that and no more. Otherwise I will have to continue paying £5 a month"
I would also want confirmation that the debt would be settled and 1 couldn't be chased for the remainder.

But I'm totally new to this, so I'm sure someone else will have better advice!!

Sazzie23

JMU-95 wrote: »

Hi. I'd be grateful for some advice. I'm currently 1 year into my DMP with Stepchange. I've received a letter from Moorcroft acting on behalf of Arrow (ex Virgin CC).

Original Balance £975. Balance now: £875

They've offered me a settlement offer figure of £525 (saving of £350) and my credit file updated as 'partially settled'.

I could possibly pay this but this is my first settlement letter I'm not sure what to do - should I accept this, haggle for less or ignore and keep paying them £5 per month on DMP?

Thanks for any advice.

Hi JMU

SC would advise against this as they like 'all creditors to be treated equally'. However this doesn't mean it's a bad idea nor does it mean you can't do it. I'm dubious about the partially settled marker, and I'd want written confirmation that they can't come back and get more money off you at a later date.

Have I calculated that right it's 60% of outstanding total? That's an ok deal with original creditor but a lot more than many DCA would settle for. I believe the F&f thread suggest opening negotiations at 25% and selfless around 40%.

If you decided to go for it, tell SC a relative offered to pay off one debt for you, or just update your SC account in-line and see if they notice, they might say nothing or they may ask, just tell them that again. I think some on here have a slightly more plausible excuse, but it is doable. And then of course your monthly £5 will be going towards the other creditors.

Saz

Sazzie23

motivated wrote: »

Hi BDFSH and thankyou for replying

Both BC letters say
We're very sorry about your circumstances and want to help give you some breathing space by putting your account on hold until further notice. This means we won't ask for any outstanding payments and you won't be charged any further fees or interest for the full time your account is on hold.

The message I received via the secure messaging service said they will put the account on hold for 30 days and the letter doesn't mention this so I'm unsure.
M

Hi Motivated

I think they are just different ways of saying the same thing, the account is suspended or on hold for 30 days without interest and charges even if you fail to make payments in this time. You'll probably find they will do this for more than 30 days if you keep in touch and tell them you are setting up your DMP.

Saz

Sazzie23

2017spark wrote: »

Hello all, update from me, I spoke to SC today for a couple of questions they had and I'm all ready to go!
They are going to contact all my creditors and start the ball rolling, I've also got some letters to send to them.
My online banking details for the new account should be with me tomorrow so I cancel the DD that are due for the end of the month.
That's it, all set up and first payment March. Looking forward to getting it all moving and my creditors knowing what they are getting (I haven't missed any payments so they have no idea about this)
Thanks to all for the advice so far, I'm hoping a few months in it will just be rolling along and with minimal contact from any creditors.
Hope you are all doing ok x

Hi Spark

Well done for facing up to your debts it's a difficult time and it will settle down once the DMP is up and running. In year 4 nearly and rarely hear from any of the creditors.

I'm sure you've looked into all this, but have you got an emergency fund set up, or access to credit (partner/parents etc). What happens if your car/boiler/fridge etc packs up and you get a big bill?

I know you've never missed a payment (I didn't either) but actually, although the creditors will behave like they're in shock, they don't really care. Hard to hear, when you've always been a play by the rules sort of person, but in effect failing to pay does you favours in the long term by getting your defaults sorted early and reducing the likelihood of interest charges being added.

Remember to keep tabs on your balances to make sure the payments are not been eaten up by interest charges, don't rely on the SC accounts as they are only an estimation. I use noddle to track mine, but you can generally call the creditors for balances once your account access is removed. Noddle is free but not always very up to date, some people queried the accuracy however it generally works for my purposes.

Good luck with it,

Saz :T

Sazzie23

Puzzcat wrote: »

I use the nedcab website for my self managed dmp.
Puzz

Hi Puzz

Nice to see you around, How are things ?

Saz

abby1234519

So...oddly enough I have UNcancelled Payplan.

They allowed us to remove the debt that I was settling and have said whilst it look like preferential treatment I can continue doing that. After all, it's my husbands DMP and so I am within my rights to pay one of his debts off. So going to plod along with Payplan, when I have enough saved I will settle the next debt.