DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 12

Billy12345

January2015 wrote: »

Sourcrates is correct. Although they supplied what looked to me to be enforceable documents - had our signature on, had T&C's etc. etc. we took advice - the outcome of which was that this agreement was definitely uneforceable. We could have not paid anything and argued our case. We could potentially have incurred court costs (which we would most likely have got back when we won....because win we would). However, unenforceable does not mean we do not owe the money and therefore this debt could potentially have been passed from DCA to DCA in the hope that one day someone would get some money. We didn't want that hassle and by settling at 10% of the outstanding balance the account is now marked as partially settled on our credit report....and that is that....no-one can chase us for it (and we have confirmation of this in writing as well).

January if the documents had your signature on and t&c's etc how did you know they were unenforceable. I have requested copies of my documents but dont know what to look for once I receive them.

Billy

January2015

Billy12345 wrote: »

January if the documents had your signature on and t&c's etc how did you know they were unenforceable. I have requested copies of my documents but dont know what to look for once I receive them.

Billy

Hi Billy

It's important to be aware that our unenforceable account dated from 2003. Back then all we had to do was sign a small signature form (pamphlet size tear off bit if you know what I mean). The bit we signed said before we sign we must read certain T&Cs. We never had those T&Cs at the time of signing and this made the agreement unenforceable. Apparently it's been won in court based on this before.

I wasn't aware of what to look for but was advised where to go to seek advice. It's on a another forum and I'm not sure what the protocol is for linking to another forum so I will send you a pm with details.

The rest of our CCs are post 2008 and all are, unfortunately, enforceable.

Jan:beer:

Worriedman

Hi all, new user here after some advice please.

I have £33,000 of unsecured debt, built on a mixture of taking on my now ex's debt and living day to day on credit because of anxiety and being out of work.

I have today done the debt remedy tool and sent off for a DMP application pack through stepchange and have a few questions and things I want to say.

1. Should I cancel all of my direct debits to my creditors now (credit card companies and 1 loan)?

2. I am starting agency work in a couple of weeks and need a car to get to work. I currently lease - will this be affected by being in a DMP? As bizarre as it sounds, it's cheaper and easier for me to find the £150 per month for this reliable car, rather than having to fork out X amount of pounds that I don't have on a used vehicle, which could be unreliable.

3. I have applied online to open a new current account as 2 of my debts, overdraft and credit card, are with my current account bank, santander.

4. I WILL pay off all of my debt and am determined to do so. I just need some breathing space as I currently have little income and cannot afford even the minimum payments.

5. I don't have any assets, and I have got my mobile which i need for work down to £8 per month. My only other outgoings other than the debt above are my car lease and car insurance. I plan on moving these direct debits over to my new account when (if) it's confirmed.

6. I live with my partner in her house. She has been very understanding, and I will start paying her a regular amount once I start regular agency work in a couple of weeks. I am applying for full time jobs also.

7. How do you deal with the letters/calls that will inevitably come from creditors.

I feel good that I'm finally on the right path after years of convincing myself it will just work out, embarrassed that I've got myself in this position, and apprehensive about the future.

Any help and advice greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading.

henrryyyy

does stepchange tell u what offers have been accepted and details about if interest is frozen etc? or do you have to contact the companies directly?

January2015

Worriedman wrote: »

Hi all, new user here after some advice please.

I have £33,000 of unsecured debt, built on a mixture of taking on my now ex's debt and living day to day on credit because of anxiety and being out of work.

I have today done the debt remedy tool and sent off for a DMP application pack through stepchange and have a few questions and things I want to say.

1. Should I cancel all of my direct debits to my creditors now (credit card companies and 1 loan)? Yes - cancel all payments immediately. No point paying them and struggling yourself now you have taken steps to deal with your debt through a DMP.

2. I am starting agency work in a couple of weeks and need a car to get to work. I currently lease - will this be affected by being in a DMP? As bizarre as it sounds, it's cheaper and easier for me to find the £150 per month for this reliable car, rather than having to fork out X amount of pounds that I don't have on a used vehicle, which could be unreliable. I don't know the answer to this as I have now experience of lease vehicles and DMPs, but I would imagine the lease is a priority debt (someone will correct me if I am wrong). However, remember it is unlikely you will be able to get another lease vehicle when this lease runs out so you need to start planning what you are going to do when that happens.

3. I have applied online to open a new current account as 2 of my debts, overdraft and credit card, are with my current account bank, santander. Great stuff. This is exactly what you need to do. Do not use the account moving services that are offered - just deal with it all yourself. You don't want those horrible direct debits to creditors moved anyway.

4. I WILL pay off all of my debt and am determined to do so. I just need some breathing space as I currently have little income and cannot afford even the minimum payments. We always recommend people take a good few months before formally starting there DMP. This gives them the time to save some emergency funds. Explain to Stepchange (SC) that you are waiting on agency work and won't be able to start payments for a few months.

5. I don't have any assets, and I have got my mobile which i need for work down to £8 per month. My only other outgoings other than the debt above are my car lease and car insurance. I plan on moving these direct debits over to my new account when (if) it's confirmed. When you fill out the SC income and expenditure form make sure you don't make your own budget for living too tight. If you do you are more likely to fail your DMP. We all need a little flexibility with our budgets.

6. I live with my partner in her house. She has been very understanding, and I will start paying her a regular amount once I start regular agency work in a couple of weeks. I am applying for full time jobs also.

7. How do you deal with the letters/calls that will inevitably come from creditors. Write to your creditors, explain you are seeking support for your financial issues from SC and tell them you will notify them of the SC reference number as soon as you have. Ask them to stop interest and charges immediately. Tell them you do not give them permission to contact you by phone and that all communication regarding your account(s) must be in writing and that you will always respond to their letters. They have to honour this request as long as you are not ignoring them. The moment you tell them you are seeking support they put a no contact/no interest/no charges marker on your account anyway. It really is not too bad with letters are the initial set up. I get one letter a year from creditors - occasional letter when original creditor passes debts on to a debt collection agency (DCA)

I feel good that I'm finally on the right path after years of convincing myself it will just work out, embarrassed that I've got myself in this position, and apprehensive about the future.

Any help and advice greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading.

Well done on taking the first steps - see my comments in red above. I may be totally wrong about the lease car. Someone else may have more knowledge than me, but if in doubt ask Stepchange.:beer:

January2015

henrryyyy wrote: »

does stepchange tell u what offers have been accepted and details about if interest is frozen etc? or do you have to contact the companies directly?

SC never told us who had/hadn't accepted offers. We got letters from some creditors and nothing from others. We initially watched our online accounts to check for interest charges (whilst we still had online access). Once online access had gone we relied on postal statements - if they stop online access they should send you statements each month - until they default the account anyway.

It doesn't matter if creditors accept or not, SC will keep paying them and it's tough luck if they don't like it. Nothing they can/will do.

With regard to interest/charges - if you find out you are still being charged by any creditor(s) then write to them directly requesting they support you in your DMP and cease adding interest and/or charges. They don't have to stop but generally do. Barclaycard only stop interest if the amount you pay them is below 1% of the outstanding balance each month, so try and keep your payment to them below that.

Jan :beer:

heavenlyharry01

In regard to interest - I had a Very statement through the post today in which they have charged £60 interest this month and next month is going to be £75. Considering we are only paying an agreed £1 per month that's a hefty amount of interest.
When we were using the account we took advantage of the "buy now pay later" "pay nothing for 6 months""pay no interest for 12 months" etc. Could the interest charges be related to these deals and because we obviously haven't paid them off within the offer period?
Do you think there is any likely good they will refund and stop these charges?
Also the account is being handled by NCO - if I write to request they refund and stop interest should I write to Very or NCO?

January2015

heavenlyharry01 wrote: »

In regard to interest - I had a Very statement through the post today in which they have charged £60 interest this month and next month is going to be £75. Considering we are only paying an agreed £1 per month that's a hefty amount of interest.
When we were using the account we took advantage of the "buy now pay later" "pay nothing for 6 months""pay no interest for 12 months" etc. Could the interest charges be related to these deals and because we obviously haven't paid them off within the offer period?
Do you think there is any likely good they will refund and stop these charges?
Also the account is being handled by NCO - if I write to request they refund and stop interest should I write to Very or NCO?

NCO is Very's debt collection department. Very were 'very' specific with me when I asked - they accepted the DMP payments but if the balance was not cleared by the date BNPL offer ended then all interest backdated to date of purchase would be added to the outstanding balance and would continue to accrue interest charges each month. This is what would happen if you weren't on a DMP and they stood by that it would be added when I entered my DMP.

Because of this I made separate additional payments to Very to clear the balance before the BNPL kicked in.

I would still write and ask - but based on my own experience, this is one fight I think you will find a full on battle you are unlikely to win. Very are very unreasonable in my opinion.

All communication should go to NCO. The people at Very will just tell you to contact NCO if you write to them. Very are so unhelpful.

heavenlyharry01

“
In regard to interest - I had a Very statement through the post today in which they have charged £60 interest this month and next month is going to be £75. Considering we are only paying an agreed £1 per month that's a hefty amount of interest.
When we were using the account we took advantage of the "buy now pay later" "pay nothing for 6 months""pay no interest for 12 months" etc. Could the interest charges be related to these deals and because we obviously haven't paid them off within the offer period?
Do you think there is any likely good they will refund and stop these charges?
Also the account is being handled by NCO - if I write to request they refund and stop interest should I write to Very or NCO?
Originally posted by heavenlyharry01
”NCO is Very's debt collection department. Very were 'very' specific with me when I asked - they accepted the DMP payments but if the balance was not cleared by the date BNPL offer ended then all interest backdated to date of purchase would be added to the outstanding balance and would continue to accrue interest charges each month. This is what would happen if you weren't on a DMP and they stood by that it would be added when I entered my DMP.

Because of this I made separate additional payments to Very to clear the balance before the BNPL kicked in.

I would still write and ask - but based on my own experience, this is one fight I think you will find a full on battle you are unlikely to win. Very are very unreasonable in my opinion.

All communication should go to NCO. The people at Very will just tell you to contact NCO if you write to them. Very are so unhelpful.

Thanks January, obviously not what I was hoping to hear but I will give it a try. What's the chance of NCO passing it over to another DCA then or getting a partial settlement figure. That's my aim, and was hoping £1 a month would get that ball rolling!

Bepop

found myself in a financial situation that i cant see anyway out of. I cant tell anybody about this as i feel like a failure having let this happen. Im in full time employment. I pay all my main household bills. My debt is credit cards, store cards and an overdraft. Currently I have 4 credit cards, 2 of which are with the same provider and one with my bank. I have 3 store cards and an overdraft. After paying my household bills I found myself having to rely on my credit card more often to get through the month. The credit card reached its max so I applied for a balance transfer card and cleared the card on to the new one. Over the years I was surviving off the credit card and each time I was offered a 0% balance transfer I kept transferring. I don't know where to turn and my fear is now verging on being unable to cover the payments. Each card is well over the 0% interest period and I am not in a position to transfer to another balance transfer card. I've sat every night on the Internet scaring myself to death reading about the debt management schemes. I don't want to lose my house as I'm scared this will be the first thing they suggest. I share the house with my sibling. The debt is my problem nobody else's. I was thinking of making an appointment with my bank and asking for a personal loan to consolidate the debt but I'm so scared as I'm in my overdraft with them and one of my credit cards are with them. I wasn't sure whether to apply elsewhere. If I can be given the chance to consolidate the cards and pay over a long term this would at least pay off the debt in the long run but im worried about being seen as at risk, but i know i can pay it this way just given the chance. I don't have a fancy car, I don't socialis as I have no money and I don't go on holiday. I work Monday to Friday and pay my bills. After bills I pay £655 on debt and I'm verging on not meeting this. I can't sleep, I'm worried sick and just want a normal life back. I hate myself for ending up like this. I just want somebody to help. Thank you for your time