DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 12

Sazzie23

Bepop wrote: »

Hi to everyone. I've been sitting reading through all the threads and taking notes. I took the first step at the beginning of the week to make contact with the group for some much sought after debt advice. I still haven't plucked up the courage to contact stepchange. Mainly due to the fear of what lies ahead. I've got a few questions that I hope somebody can help me with. Do I need to change banks?? I have a credit card and overdraft attached to my bank. I have two separate current accounts with them, one has the OD and credit card and the other is where my salary gets paid into. I don't have direct debits set up for any of my debts (consists of credit cards, overdraft and store cards, I have always just paid either online or over the phone) so not sure if still have to switch banks?? My mortgage has a fixed rate and due for renewal in early 2018, please tell me if I enter a DMP that this won't affect my renewal?? This is my biggest fear that keeps me awake at night. What happens the minute you make the phone call to SC, do you stop making payments until SC tell you when your plan starts? Do SC ask that you write to your creditors informing them that your now in a DMP and will receive payments in due course? I'm so so sorry for the numerous questions. I feel as though I'm walking in to strange territory that I know nothing about. I'm scared of the uncertainty of my future. I know I can't go on the way I am financially but what lies ahead scares me just as much. The bigger picture so to speak, poor credit rating etc. The biggest demon, apart from the debt, is dealing with your own thoughts of self worth. In a situation that you never thought you'd ever be, it's all the uncertainties. Thanks for listening x

t

Hi bepop

Briefly - cos it's late and I'm tired - if you have any debts where you bank, you need a different bank as the creditors can use the offset rule to take money from your current account or savings to offset against your debt. And they do actually do this, Nat West took my last £11 savings to offset against my £5000 overdraft .....

Before you call SC do the on-line debt remedy. It's free and no obligation and you can see what information you'll need if you decide by phone or you will be able to do most of it on-line if you wish.

Nothing will happen until you've given SC permission to act for you, but if you think you are in financial trouble, my recommendation would be to consider stopping your payments now, in the end you won't gain anything from making payments you can't afford and it's just prolonging the eventual outcome and costing you more.

Sure someone else will reply in the am with anything else

Saz

zenshi

Be pop,

Yes, change banks to somewhere that you don't owe
Mortgage....shouldn't be a problem. Worst case scenario is you would have to stay with current lender at the SVR. Please don't worry about your house

January2015

Well done BDFSH - roll on the PPI reclaim letters - hopefully you won't have to wait too long for answers. :j:j:j

Glad I could help :beer:

MrsSammyB

BeingDebtFreeStartsHere wrote: »

So......

A couple of letters through the post this morning - firstly from MBNA saying they have received our PPI complaints and have assigned these to be investigated - we should get an update in the next 28 days.

Second letter from Co-operative apologising for delaying recording the default on our loan account. However instead of saying they will backdate the default they have said the account will be removed from our credit file in it's entirety!! They also enclosed a £50 cheque by way of an apology

Well worth that letter and a big thank you to MrsSammyB for encouraging me to write and complain and to January2015 for helping me write the letter that got the result!!

Will update re: the PPI claim when I get any news.

Take care,

BDFSH x

Excellent news!xx

dacdesigns

I'm currently in a DMP but my partner isn't, she currently isn't working but will be when my little girl starts school. She's/We have got into a mess, she has a Argos card and Very account and we have racked up a few grands worth of debt on BNPL's and it's gotten out of control. It's been managable so far but now after working things out there's going to be loads of these plans coming to an end. Question is becasue she hasn't actually gone into a missed payment yet can she still start a DMP in hope that interest may get stopped?

January2015

dacdesigns wrote: »

I'm currently in a DMP but my partner isn't, she currently isn't working but will be when my little girl starts school. She's/We have got into a mess, she has a Argos card and Very account and we have racked up a few grands worth of debt on BNPL's and it's gotten out of control. It's been managable so far but now after working things out there's going to be loads of these plans coming to an end. Question is becasue she hasn't actually gone into a missed payment yet can she still start a DMP in hope that interest may get stopped?

I had never missed a single payment when I started my DMP journey. In the months just prior to starting my DMP we (my other half and I) owed over £100k. In desperatation to keep up payments we sold a car. That got us down to approx £95k. Then we admitted we needed help and went down the DMP route.

So in answer to your query, yes your partner can start a DMP even though she hasn't missed any payments.

I will give you a word of warning about VERY and BNPL though. Even in a DMP, Very will add on the BNPL interest if the balance is not clear by the date the BNPL would kick in. You might be able to get future interest stopped, but they will add the interest owed from date of purchase to date of BNPL at the very least. Very are not helpful in my opinion. This is just based on my personal dealings with them.

What I did was, once we started the DMP, I threw every spare penny at Very and made sure I cleared the BNPL balances before they would attract interest. Very was the first creditor cleared from list of creditors and boy was I glad to see the back of them.

sourcrates

dacdesigns wrote: »

I'm currently in a DMP but my partner isn't, she currently isn't working but will be when my little girl starts school. She's/We have got into a mess, she has a Argos card and Very account and we have racked up a few grands worth of debt on BNPL's and it's gotten out of control. It's been managable so far but now after working things out there's going to be loads of these plans coming to an end. Question is becasue she hasn't actually gone into a missed payment yet can she still start a DMP in hope that interest may get stopped?

Would your partner meet the criteria for a debt relief order instead maybe ?

Info here :

https://www.stepchange.org/Howwecanhelpyou/DRODebtrelieforder.aspx

dacdesigns

It says she's able to apply for a DRO on the stepchange site so we will have a chat about it later, I'm actually able to apply for one myself but after agreeing with SC, I waited months for the paperwork and nothing came so I reverted back to my DMP. Might be worth us both going with one each. Thanks

sourcrates

dacdesigns wrote: »

It says she's able to apply for a DRO on the stepchange site so we will have a chat about it later, I'm actually able to apply for one myself but after agreeing with SC, I waited months for the paperwork and nothing came so I reverted back to my DMP. Might be worth us both going with one each. Thanks

Usually you get a very quick response, could be you got lost in the system, a quick phone call would find out.

DRO's can be up and running within a few days of approval.

Just thought if she wasn't working, it can be an excellent oppertunity to rid yourself of your debt.

dacdesigns

Yes I think it's the best option for us both. I rang stepchange but they couldn't understand why I hadn't received a call about the DRO for me but I started getting calls from my debtors and I got cold feet and panicked and asked for my DMP to be set back up.

Now I feel it's the right time to finally apply and do this together. I'm a little worried that they may say spend less on food or clothes and reject the application but I feel we spend the correct amount to feed a family of 4.

Anyways thanks for the help, I'll let you know how we get on.