DMP & Mutual Support Thread - Part 11

Sazzie23

hi all

I noticed a few SC troubles reported on here and just wanted to to comment that though I've been happy with SC, they are funded by the creditors and banking system and therefore their primary aim is to get people in a position to pay back their debts.

I would agree that getting an emergency budget is crucial, or you'll only run into trouble...i got a flat tyre the other day (irrepairable) , I was so relieved I had access to immedaite money to replace it, there's no way i could have done that without an emergency fund, and £30 wouldn't have touched it......

However, in my view, whilst honesty is really my favoured policy, sometimes a little game playing is necessary, and I'd recommend advising SC you have some big bill to pay, car repair, roof repair, boiler troubles, of some other £££ bill. They should then give you space to set your plan. However if this causes their systems trouble,in reality i can't see why it should but they might tell you this, just say you've decided to think about for a while and go back to them when you've saved the dosh. Again its in their interest to play ball!

Hope this helps. I really think SC are a useful tool, but they are not the only free DMP provider and you can do it yourself, you just need a bit of nerve and a smattering of discipline (which i don't have).

Saz

[Deleted User]

henrryyyy wrote: »

Thanks for the replies
I've been told by another debt advisor that I am unable to delay my start date by more than one month, and she didnt understand why I would need to do this if I have done my budget properly. She confirmed the only option would be to cancel my DMP and reopen it in August. She had never heard of people wanting to do this and said I should look to start paying my debts ASAP.
I got told that wanting to get a default on my accounts is bad and that I open myself to court action. I explained about the whole credit rating thing, where defaults are removed 6 years from date of default whereas arrangement to pays arent until 6 years after account is settled. I got told that a DMP wouldnt be reflected on my credit rating.

basically got told I can cancel my DMP and listen to advice from here
carry on with my budget and delay payment til 1st may
go through a new budget, budgeting for emergencies starting 1st may

I've worked through a new budget with her which has me paying £200 less a month towards my debt(and increasing my DFD by 1 year) got told I have the option of making additonal payments direct to my creditors or through stepchange, ie if I do get a payday loan refund etc..
I worked through this budget to give me a bit of breathing space and time to think and get advice off here. Clearly if I want to build an emergency fund, stepchange isnt the option I can use.

I think she is going to come and look at the forum as she couldnt understand why I would want to do any of this emergency fund planning defaults etc.

I really dont know how I should proceed now

Do you know what, I'm absolutely appalled and very upset that you have been treated in this way by SC:eek:. I'm currently self managing (after the great advice on here and eventually plucking up the courage to do it). It was purely for the flexibility that it would offer and certainly not because I was dissatisfied in any way with SC and the invaluable help and advice they gave me over 4 long debt-paying years. I would have recommended them to everyone. After reading of your experiences with them I'm no longer so sure that I would:eek:


It sounds as if the advisor you spoke to needs re-training as she obviously is not fully aware of the facts about defaults and credit ratings. Not only that but you say she told you that you could pay creditors directly even when in a SC DMP. I always understood that they frowned on this practice and that additional money that comes available had to be paid to SC for them to distribute fairly across all creditors. That's the main reason I went self managed because I may be able to pay extra to one creditor over another in the attempt to clear certain debts quicker and in the order I want to.

I'm so sorry that you are going through all this hassle and uncertainty. I hope things will work out well for you very soon:kisses3:

[Deleted User]

Dandytf wrote: »

Co Op recently refunding dmp payments from SC.

What possibilities does refused payments mean?

Other than Co Op dmp going as planned since 2012.

Don't worry too much about this, Dandytf. It is probably as other posters suggested and that the Co-op Bank has sold on the debt.


Something very similar happened to me with Tesco Bank. The first I knew about it was when SC contacted me about the 'refused' payment by Tesco Bank after a couple of years of everything running like clockwork.


It turned out that Tesco had sold the debt on and neither they nor the buyer had got their act together quickly enough to let me know prior to just refusing SC's payment. Obviously, with a new company collecting the debt payment their bank account details and numbers will be different and no one has notified SC of this change.


SC told me to just keep paying my normal monthly payment and as soon as I knew the new account details and creditor name to let them know. I eventually received a letter from the new creditor and passed on details to SC. As far as I recall they then paid the 2 months Tesco payments that they were holding from my account to the new creditor.


It all worked out fine in the end although I didn't like the uncertainty and worry that somehow one of my creditors wasn't being paid:eek:. I did phone SC and Tesco Bank though as I wanted to get it sorted out. Even if you normally hate phone contact with your creditors (as I did, I'd do anything but have to speak to them:o) I suggest a phone call or two might be the best way forward if only to put your mind at rest:).


Good Luck:beer:

Dandytf

I called co op last week their advisor stated the account was with them to be sold on.

Kindly provided the account number and balance, which I passed to SC.

Suprised the payments have only recently started to be rejected.

SC last advised by letter the payments will be pro shared existing creditors.

I think co op may return when I'm least expecting it.

StepChange_Kirsty

Hi Henry,

I’m sorry you feel the advice you’ve received has not been helpful. I’ve sent you a private message so that we can investigate your concerns further.

Kind regards,

Kirsty

henrryyyy wrote: »

Hi feel a bit deflated right now, not sure if I misinterpreted what I should have done or if SC are confused

I sent my SC forms off 2 days ago, with a cover note saying I want my plan to start on or after 1st August 2017.
Just received a text message saying its all set up and my first payment is due 10/04/2017
So I phoned up and explained I wanted to start on 1st August, he questioned why, I said basically I got recommended to do that by this forum to start an emergency fund and to get my creditors to default me. He goes 'I can understand wanting an emergency fund, but i can see you have budgeted £30 for it
Then goes on to say something like, if I want I can cancel the DMP now and reopen it in August, but I would need to make token payments to my creditors or they might take a CCJ out on me and that this is something I would need to arrange myself and my creditors are more likely to freeze interest if I am working with a dmp company.
Once I had sent my forms, I emailed all my creditors informing them that I have sent all details to SC and that my start date would be 1st August and that SC will be in touch shortly, most of them have only put my account on hold for 30 days
So I basically said I'll phone back after getting advice from here

henrryyyy wrote: »

Thanks for the replies
I've been told by another debt advisor that I am unable to delay my start date by more than one month, and she didnt understand why I would need to do this if I have done my budget properly. She confirmed the only option would be to cancel my DMP and reopen it in August. She had never heard of people wanting to do this and said I should look to start paying my debts ASAP.
I got told that wanting to get a default on my accounts is bad and that I open myself to court action. I explained about the whole credit rating thing, where defaults are removed 6 years from date of default whereas arrangement to pays arent until 6 years after account is settled. I got told that a DMP wouldnt be reflected on my credit rating.

basically got told I can cancel my DMP and listen to advice from here
carry on with my budget and delay payment til 1st may
go through a new budget, budgeting for emergencies starting 1st may

I've worked through a new budget with her which has me paying £200 less a month towards my debt(and increasing my DFD by 1 year) got told I have the option of making additonal payments direct to my creditors or through stepchange, ie if I do get a payday loan refund etc..
I worked through this budget to give me a bit of breathing space and time to think and get advice off here. Clearly if I want to build an emergency fund, stepchange isnt the option I can use.

I think she is going to come and look at the forum as she couldnt understand why I would want to do any of this emergency fund planning defaults etc.

I really dont know how I should proceed now

DancingUnicorn

Hi, I have posted here before but it was a while ago. My DMP was all set up and ready to start on 1st April having switched from a Token Payment Plan (both with SC).
On my TPP everyone had accepted my £1 payments and all but one (who I will chase soon thanks to the info here) had defaulted me.
I got a letter from SC today saying that one creditor has rejected the payment offered to them. I know I don't really need to worry about this as they will still make the payments and they still have to accept them, but I'm worried why they would accept the TPP payments but not the DMP which will be more and surely better for them?

Also, where do I stand on having a savings bank account? I know we need an emergency fund and stuff, but I worry that having cash "visible" in another account would make it look like I wasn't paying as much as I theoretically "could". I've been drawing out all my spare money after bills and putting some in a pot for saving in a drawer and using the rest as my monthly spending money (groceries, petrol, etc.).
Am I allowed a savings account - there wouldn't be loads in it I just worry that it would go against me continuing my DMP and mean I had to put that money towards it or at least declare it.

January2015

DancingUnicorn wrote: »

Hi, I have posted here before but it was a while ago. My DMP was all set up and ready to start on 1st April having switched from a Token Payment Plan (both with SC).
On my TPP everyone had accepted my £1 payments and all but one (who I will chase soon thanks to the info here) had defaulted me.
I got a letter from SC today saying that one creditor has rejected the payment offered to them. I know I don't really need to worry about this as they will still make the payments and they still have to accept them, but I'm worried why they would accept the TPP payments but not the DMP which will be more and surely better for them?

Also, where do I stand on having a savings bank account? I know we need an emergency fund and stuff, but I worry that having cash "visible" in another account would make it look like I wasn't paying as much as I theoretically "could". I've been drawing out all my spare money after bills and putting some in a pot for saving in a drawer and using the rest as my monthly spending money (groceries, petrol, etc.).
Am I allowed a savings account - there wouldn't be loads in it I just worry that it would go against me continuing my DMP and mean I had to put that money towards it or at least declare it.

No-one will know how much you have in savings. They report as £0 on credit reference files - regardless of the balance:beer:

sourcrates

DancingUnicorn wrote: »

Am I allowed a savings account - there wouldn't be loads in it I just worry that it would go against me continuing my DMP and mean I had to put that money towards it or at least declare it.

Hi,

What is it that makes you think it's anyone's business but your own ?

A creditor has no more power in the eyes of the law, than you or I do, they cannot dictate how you choose to live your life or what you choose to do with your money, you don't need to "declare" anything to anyone, incidentally savings accounts will not be shown on your credit file anyway.

Your DMP is an informal, unregulated agreement between you and your creditors, your business is no business of theirs or anyone else's, and never will be.

DancingUnicorn

January2015 wrote: »

No-one will know how much you have in savings. They report as £0 on credit reference files - regardless of the balance:beer:

Thank you, I wasn't aware it would show as a £0 regardless.

sourcrates wrote: »

Hi,

What is it that makes you think it's anyone's business but your own ?

A creditor has no more power in the eyes of the law, than you or I do, they cannot dictate how you choose to live your life or what you choose to do with your money, you don't need to "declare" anything to anyone, incidentally savings accounts will not be shown on your credit file anyway.

Your DMP is an informal, unregulated agreement between you and your creditors, your business is no business of theirs or anyone else's, and never will be.

Thank you. I guess I just worry that other people will be able to see it and demand I use that money to put towards my debts.

sourcrates

DancingUnicorn wrote: »

Thank you, I wasn't aware it would show as a £0 regardless.



Thank you. I guess I just worry that other people will be able to see it and demand I use that money to put towards my debts.

They can't demand anything of you, last time I looked Britain was a free country, relax, live your life, no one can make demands of you !!!