Are Debt Management Plans any good? I'm starting to doubt it.

retepetsir

Who is the DMP company? We can't help without that info? Are you paying them a fee?

Use Stepchange who are FREE

sourcrates

Bigrachel wrote: »

Have you got a Noddle account? You can log on and see who the debt is owed to. Usually the debt management companies would pay off the debt from the banks and then you would pay them back. Your credit report would show you. If it is saying you are defaulting on payments, then I may begin to worry.

Good luck!

Oh my word, that is not how it works at all.

Where on earth did you get that notion from ?

All Debt management companies do is pass on payments made by you, thats it, no more, no less, you dont need to use them, and certainly not one that charges a fee.

Its akin to using a company like paypal to make payments with, except you get charged for the privilege.

Anyone can self manage a DMP or use a free debt charity if you dont have the inclination to do it yourself.

tgroom57

I sent mine the template letter and budget sheet that I downloaded from moneysavingexpert site - but I can't find it now to give you the link. It's a pdf that shows all your income and expenditure, how much you have left and allocates what's left proportionally between your debts. The pdf only calculates what to pay, I make the payments myself.

Each month I get statements showing my payments and the balance.

fatbelly

stan_p wrote: »

Hi there,
I've always thought that I won't allow myself to get in this situation, but here I am 3 credit cards later and 5000 in debt, because I've been stupid but there is no turning back. Reality hit when I realized that I won't be able to cover the minimum amount for each of my credit cards that month. Anyways, I've made the rash decision to go on a Debt Management Plan. But even though I've been paying £150.00 to these people every month, I am still constantly chased by the banks receiving a letter every week and being called up to 10 times a day. I called the Debt Management company and they said this is normal, but I'm starting to doubt it and I am really freaked out now. I've been paying for 4 months now, but the calls won't stop. I consider cancelling my Debt Management Plan and call up each of the credit companies and try to negotiate directly. I am in desperate need of advice on what to do next. Can someone please help?

There's no need for creditors to be phoning you direct when on a dmp. It's actually against FCA guidance. If they're doing it now, they'll probably still do it if you have a fee-free plan with Stepchange or Payplan.

Now, you can engage them by letter, and try to educate them regarding the rules that apply to their profession.

However it's probably easier to just use call blocking - phones with that feature are widely available or you can get a standalone call blocker if on a landline. Or just change your number.

As for their letters, just file them.