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DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 12

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  • Bepop
    Bepop Posts: 26 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    Thank you so much for your replies..I was aware of these forthcoming expenses but any money that I have been saving, has now gone on a household appliance, which I needed like a hole in the head..now I'm back to square one and just know I'm either going to have to borrow off family , which I don't want to do, but have no back up plan. I will take your advice on board. Thanks again much appreciated xx
  • Bepop
    Bepop Posts: 26 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    Hi there. Just got a few more worries that are panicking me a bit. I've received default notice letters, the letters also mention that my contract his been terminated and forwarded to debt collections. Is this a formal default letter or will I receive a different letter. On reading through some of the posts on this wee forum I get the impression that default is the main aim, is this because the quicker it defaults the better?? Way back in April I contacted all my creditors informing them I was unable to make any payments and would be grateful for any interest and charges to cease. To my knowledge some did but others didn't..hence my original balances have risen. Should I be contacting the creditors with regards to this and if so how do I approach them?? I've read on the forum that others have not made any payments for at least a good few months, from my other post earlier, my dilemma being I might be in the same situation but petrified I'm going to get a knock on the door, even although I've made two payments to my creditors, they having been contacted by stepchange regarding my payment plan. The advice on this forum is greatly appreciated. The one person who stands out for me is 'Motivated' I wish I had the knowledge of what I'm dealing with to be able to understand what's happening when these letters keep coming in, but have been scared to come on the forum for the fear of sounding stupid. My biggest worry is getting a knock on the door and going to court. I have a joint mortgage with my sibling and it keeps me awake at night how this will affect others. In my head as long as I can pay towards my debts with what I can afford then I'm not in trouble or waiting on that knock on the door. I'm aware that for the next 6 years I keep paying towards my debt and my understanding is after the 6 years any trace of bad debt is removed..could this be clarified please? I know my life will never be the same. From somebody who once upon a time had no worries great credit history to now being in this situation, I just feel an overwhelming fear for the future. Mid 40s and where do I go from here xx
  • motivated
    motivated Posts: 3,044 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic PPI Party Pooper
    edited 18 August 2017 at 9:47AM
    Bepop wrote: »
    Hi there. Just got a few more worries that are panicking me a bit. I've received default notice letters, the letters also mention that my contract his been terminated and forwarded to debt collections. Is this a formal default letter or will I receive a different letter. On reading through some of the posts on this wee forum I get the impression that default is the main aim, is this because the quicker it defaults the better?? Way back in April I contacted all my creditors informing them I was unable to make any payments and would be grateful for any interest and charges to cease. To my knowledge some did but others didn't..hence my original balances have risen. Should I be contacting the creditors with regards to this and if so how do I approach them?? I've read on the forum that others have not made any payments for at least a good few months, from my other post earlier, my dilemma being I might be in the same situation but petrified I'm going to get a knock on the door, even although I've made two payments to my creditors, they having been contacted by stepchange regarding my payment plan. The advice on this forum is greatly appreciated. The one person who stands out for me is 'Motivated' I wish I had the knowledge of what I'm dealing with to be able to understand what's happening when these letters keep coming in, but have been scared to come on the forum for the fear of sounding stupid. My biggest worry is getting a knock on the door and going to court. I have a joint mortgage with my sibling and it keeps me awake at night how this will affect others. In my head as long as I can pay towards my debts with what I can afford then I'm not in trouble or waiting on that knock on the door. I'm aware that for the next 6 years I keep paying towards my debt and my understanding is after the 6 years any trace of bad debt is removed..could this be clarified please? I know my life will never be the same. From somebody who once upon a time had no worries great credit history to now being in this situation, I just feel an overwhelming fear for the future. Mid 40s and where do I go from here xx

    Hi Bepop

    First of all take a deep breath and count to 10. I can assure you there are many people on here who know exactly how you are feeling. Me included. It was only back in January when I realised I needed help. I thought people would come to my house, I thought the phone wouldn't stop ringing, I thought big hairy men were going to come through my front door, you name it I thought it. The worst thing that's happened to me is I've had letters from crediotrs telling me I need to pay £xxx. Well I haven't got £xxx so no I won't be paying that amount and nothing bad is going to happen to me :p
    I had never even missed a payment on anything too at the time. I finally couldn't cope with the constant battle of spending every penny we had on debt repayments. so I bit the bullet and decided to ask for help. It was one of the best decisions I have every made.

    The people on this thread saw me right and guided me in the right direction. You have already done one of the hardest things and that is asking for help. I like you had, and still do have many questions regarding the DMP process. What I do is read, read and read some more and as soon as a new question from someone comes up I await the replies and take all the information on board.

    I only have the courage now to contact creditors because I've learnt that they are not going to bite me, They are normal people like everyone else who have a job to do. Well our jobs is to get ourselves debt free and if that means trying to work with the creditors and keeping in contact with them then so be it. Nothing bad has happened to me yet HONESTLY.

    It was only the other day that I contacted stepchange again as I had a panic moment or 5. Anyway I still haven't sorted out my payments with them so still have the choice to do it myself if I want to.

    Have you written to your creditors ( if you don't feel up to phoning them) and request that they stop all interest as they are making your debt situation worse,and making it harder for you to make any dents in it. I have huge debt and now I don't even think of the whole amount. I am focussing on the journey in small steps and gradually things are starting to fall into place. I am currently paying my creditors token payments of £1 and saving up my money for my emergency fund and some extra too. My accounts still haven't defaulted but I'm carrying on until they do.

    No one said being on a debt journey is easy you just have to accept that your situation has changed and decide on how you are going to tackle it. Then let your creditors know what you are doing and then carry on with your life.

    I am unable to comment on the mortgage front but someone will be along soon and put you right on that.

    So Bepop, as long as you keep your creditors informed of the situation and don't ignore them they should be fine. Read as much information you can on here and if someone put up a link to something regarding debt collection etc click on it and read some more. I like you will,still have questions but now I'm just taking it in my stride, taking each day as it comes learning new stuff everyday from people who are in the same boat as us.

    Good luck Bepop, you will be ok :)
    Emptying my lake with a teaspoon
  • sourcrates
    sourcrates Posts: 31,542 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts I've been Money Tipped! Name Dropper
    Bepop wrote: »
    Hi there. Just got a few more worries that are panicking me a bit. I've received default notice letters, the letters also mention that my contract his been terminated and forwarded to debt collections. Is this a formal default letter or will I receive a different letter.

    I wish I had the knowledge of what I'm dealing with to be able to understand what's happening when these letters keep coming in, but have been scared to come on the forum for the fear of sounding stupid.

    My biggest worry is getting a knock on the door and going to court. I have a joint mortgage with my sibling and it keeps me awake at night how this will affect others. In my head as long as I can pay towards my debts with what I can afford then I'm not in trouble or waiting on that knock on the door.

    The subject of threatening letters, this crops up every now and again, and i have written on the subject many times too.

    The consumer credit act requires lenders to send this type of letter when an account has not been paid, or you are behind with your payments, just standard procedure.

    You can just ignore these type of letters, they are just pointing out in legal terms, the procedure you already know is happening.

    Normal customer services dont deal with bad debt accounts, collections do, after collections it may be passed to a debt collector, or the debt may be sold, thats entirely at the creditors discretion, you have to remember these are just people sat in rows of desks in some call center on an old industrial estate somewhere.

    As for the "knock on the door", not likely to happen, some DCA`s use "doorstep collectors", moorcroft, motormile finance to name two, but these people are just self employed collectors, you see the adverts in the press or on line, all the time.

    Its important to remember, they are NOT BAILIFFS !!

    They have no powers of entry, or anything else, they are just members of the public, like you and I, thats it, you do not have to speak to them, you certainly dont have to let them in, there are some very funny videos on you-tube where people have filmed them, they soon scurry off.

    They are only employed in big cities usually were they can visit a number of there clients at any one time, there use is on a pretty small scale everywhere else, they are certainly not something to be afraid of.

    I've been dealing with other peoples debt related matters for over 10 years now, theirs very little i haven't seen or experienced in that time, what your going through now is what the DCA`s call "normal standard collection activity", all perfectly normal.

    Just one last thing, you mentioned court, that wont happen either, original creditors pass accounts to debt collectors, who then can spend years trying to collect on them, sometimes debts are sold on, again, collection will be attempted for quite a while, before court action is considered.

    I tend to liken it to a game of cards, whose bluffing and who isn't, its all a game in the end, you will soon come to realise this, i find injecting some humor into the situation lightens the mood a little, dont take what these people say seriously is the best piece of advice i can give you.
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free wannabe, Credit file and ratings, and Bankruptcy and living with it boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.For free non-judgemental debt advice, contact either Stepchange, National Debtline, or CitizensAdviceBureaux.Link to SOA Calculator- https://www.stoozing.com/soa.php The "provit letter" is here-https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247/letter-when-you-know-nothing-about-about-the-debt-aka-prove-it-letter
  • Suseka97
    Suseka97 Posts: 1,571 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    sourcrates wrote: »
    ....I tend to liken it to a game of cards, whose bluffing and who isn't, its all a game in the end, you will soon come to realise this, i find injecting some humor into the situation lightens the mood a little, dont take what these people say seriously is the best piece of advice i can give you.

    Love this post sourcrates - not only does it hit the nail right on the proverbial head, but it's essential, well in my view, to inject a little humour into the situation. I don't mind saying that I often look for your responses simply because of that ;) you demystify the world of DMP and put things into perspective and that approach has helped me enormously over the last few months. Also has spurred me on to self-manage, send out CCAs and know that I can handle what comes next.

    I'd love to see this post, in some form, as a sticky - to remind everyone (particularly newbies) that the world is not going to come crashing down on them and they are not going to face bailiffs or court action at the drop of a hat.
  • StopIt
    StopIt Posts: 1,470 Forumite
    Bepop wrote: »
    Hi there. Just got a few more worries that are panicking me a bit. I've received default notice letters, the letters also mention that my contract his been terminated and forwarded to debt collections. Is this a formal default letter or will I receive a different letter. On reading through some of the posts on this wee forum I get the impression that default is the main aim, is this because the quicker it defaults the better?? Way back in April I contacted all my creditors informing them I was unable to make any payments and would be grateful for any interest and charges to cease. To my knowledge some did but others didn't..hence my original balances have risen. Should I be contacting the creditors with regards to this and if so how do I approach them?? I've read on the forum that others have not made any payments for at least a good few months, from my other post earlier, my dilemma being I might be in the same situation but petrified I'm going to get a knock on the door, even although I've made two payments to my creditors, they having been contacted by stepchange regarding my payment plan. The advice on this forum is greatly appreciated. The one person who stands out for me is 'Motivated' I wish I had the knowledge of what I'm dealing with to be able to understand what's happening when these letters keep coming in, but have been scared to come on the forum for the fear of sounding stupid. My biggest worry is getting a knock on the door and going to court. I have a joint mortgage with my sibling and it keeps me awake at night how this will affect others. In my head as long as I can pay towards my debts with what I can afford then I'm not in trouble or waiting on that knock on the door. I'm aware that for the next 6 years I keep paying towards my debt and my understanding is after the 6 years any trace of bad debt is removed..could this be clarified please? I know my life will never be the same. From somebody who once upon a time had no worries great credit history to now being in this situation, I just feel an overwhelming fear for the future. Mid 40s and where do I go from here xx


    I think Motivated and Sourcrates have answered well enough but I'll add a few points.


    First, never, ever feel afraid to come here to ask questions. There's no such thing as a stupid question, and if it helps you, it's worthwhile. Better to ask something silly and get resolution, than to keep questions in your head, only worrying you further.


    Debt collectors prey on fear and ignorance. Fear that is mostly sown by knowing that society is largely ignorant of their powers, and of the "dire consequences" of debt.


    Take some time to read up on the DMP thread, and the diaries of those members in them. You'll see a long, hard road, but one that has light at the end of the tunnel. You need to drop the obsession of a good credit score etc, as this "great history" has led you down the path of debt. The CRA industry is linked to the financial industry, they're greatly rewarded for telling people "Look at your great score, now borrow money!", and people do it, not fully thinking about the risks.


    It's time to take control. Whether you stick with Stepchange or go self managed, a DMP is a great tool, but only part of the way to deal with your finances going forward.


    Start planning now for your future post DMP. Take the payments you're going to be putting towards it, and think about putting that to use afterwards to make sure you don't need to resort to the lenders to finance your future.


    Forget your credit score completely. Yes, defaults fall off your files after 6 years of the default being registered. Yes, once they're gone you have a clean file and can rebuild your history for when you need it. No, you shouldn't be targeting a great score. You should be targeting savings, an emergency fund, and the ability to cope without credit entirely if you can. Because if you know you don't need credit, you can then utilise it to your advantage.


    When you get any letters you're unsure of the meaning to, post here.


    If any creditors refuse to suspend interest and charges, post here. If you have any problems at all, post here. Someone will find the right response to each challenge. Do not feel that you have to face anything alone, or that constant questions are bad, they're not. Good luck, you'll get through this, debt is only a number on a spreadsheet after all.

    In debt and looking for help? Look here for the MSE Debt Help Guide.
    Also, If you need any free and impartial debt advice, the National Debtline, Stepchange, and the CAB can help.
  • motivated
    motivated Posts: 3,044 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic PPI Party Pooper
    Hi all

    I would like to post a link by a previous DF wannabe that I have saved and read regularly for reassurance and inspiration. It's proof that there is light at the end of the tunnel

    https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5575569

    M
    Emptying my lake with a teaspoon
  • Hello

    I hope you don’t mind but I came across your post and wanted to offer a bit of advice.

    If your monthly DMP payments are becoming difficult to maintain then please call us so we can review your budget. You can find our number in your welcome pack or here on our website.

    When you call it’s also worth letting the advisor know that you’d like to look into the possibility of remortgaging. As you’ve been on a DMP with us for a few years now our Financial Solutions team may be able to help you see if this would be a good option to help you manage your debts.

    All the best,

    Linsi

    JVRMac wrote: »
    Hello, I have had a DMP in place with SC for 2 years now and self managed for about a year beforehand. Although my debt is reducing nicely my debt free date is not and is still around 5 years time. I am currently paying £300 a month and instead of getting easier I am finding it harder to manage especially with no clear end date in sight. I dont want to reduce my payments so instead i have been considering the possibility of remortgaging as my current rate is around 2.79%. If I added my debt onto my mortgage my LTV rate would still be below 60% and my repayments would go up by just over £100 a month which would leave me £200 a month better off and with no more debt. I would appreciate any advice regarding remortgaging, to be honest I am not even sure it will be possible to remortgage with my current credit score. Not sure if it makes a difference or not but I have never missed a payment on my mortgage or any critical expenses.
    I just want this whole debt mess to end��
  • fatbelly
    fatbelly Posts: 22,962 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Cashback Cashier
    JVRMac wrote: »
    Hello, I have had a DMP in place with SC for 2 years now and self managed for about a year beforehand. Although my debt is reducing nicely my debt free date is not and is still around 5 years time. I am currently paying £300 a month and instead of getting easier I am finding it harder to manage especially with no clear end date in sight. I dont want to reduce my payments so instead i have been considering the possibility of remortgaging as my current rate is around 2.79%. If I added my debt onto my mortgage my LTV rate would still be below 60% and my repayments would go up by just over £100 a month which would leave me £200 a month better off and with no more debt. I would appreciate any advice regarding remortgaging, to be honest I am not even sure it will be possible to remortgage with my current credit score. Not sure if it makes a difference or not but I have never missed a payment on my mortgage or any critical expenses.
    I just want this whole debt mess to end��
    Suseka97 wrote: »
    Hi JVRMac,

    To me this doesn't sound like a good alternative - though others may well have a different viewpoint. If I understand what you are saying correctly, you are thinking of borrowing against your mortgage to pay off your DMP - but that wouldn't mean you have no more debt, just debt of a different kind.

    You've done really well so far and whilst I truly appreciate the thought of another 5 years is causing you some anxiety - you do have an end date in sight. If the real issue is that you are struggling to manage paying £300 into the DMP, then maybe you need to revisit your I&E with your DMP provider -but I can see that would heighten your concern about the length of time needed to clear the DMP. It's a mindset thing -7 years is not the longest DMP journey I've seen on here as long as its manageable of course.

    I was going to reply to JVR's post until I saw Suseka had said exactly what I was going to say, except that I would have said you were moving the debt to 'a more dangerous place'

    Seriously, don't do it
  • Hi I have finally had to admit I cant deal with my debts on my own and have took the step and asked for help from Step change with a DMP. I have a question I cant find an answer to. I owe a loan, credit card and overdraft to the bank my wages are paid into. As I'm now doing a plan are they likely to close my accounts? I'm worried they could take my wages to cover the debt. I doubt i would get a bank account anywhere else.
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