DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 12

Sazzie23

yellowstars wrote: »

Newbie here
Today I got confirmation that my token payment plan through Step Change has been set up. At the end of 2017 I made a promise to myself to address my debt problems this year. I am now waiting to hear from my creditors to see if they will accept the offer. I'm scared about the possible phone calls/letters I'll start to receive but also relieved that after months of stupidly burying my head in the sand I've made a step to sort things out.
Reading through this thread has really helped make me feel less alone and realise that I've done the right thing seeking help.

Hello and welcome. Defo done the right thing finding this thread and making any start at facing your debts. It's a tough thing to do and you are showing great strength at taking action ; do not worry about calls and letters. Calls, set your phone to silent and do not answer any numbers which you don't recognise. If they leave a message, decide wether or not to call them back when it's suitable to you. Most times creditors are ok, it's in their interest to be, but I know its confrontation the first few times you speak to them. Always hang up if they give you any grief, I'm sorry I can't talk about this now usually suffices.

Letters ar,e generally auto generated to cover the legal requirements and you may never get letters about the Dmp arrangements, just pay the, what you've offered, they should treat SM same as with any agency and therefore you pay what you tell them not the other way round.

Good luck, there's help and a friendly shoulder as and when needed.
Don't be stranger

Saz

tonyace123

sourcrates wrote: »

No, not at all, what it means is they will continue to accept your payments, but may look to sell the debt on at some point.

Standard procedure for most creditors.

Thank you you have put my mind at rest

Suseka97

tonyace123 wrote: »

Hi I've been on my dmp for 6 months and can't get the Halifax to put my account in default and they have just done a 6 month review and i receive a letter of step change the have rejected my payments does this mean they will take me to court or even worse bailiffs any help on this matter would greatly appreciated

Just to add to what others have said. Halifax were a right 'pain in the butt' with my account and took the longest amount of time of all my creditors to default and then finally pass over to Westcott to manage. The default took over a year to be applied and they continued to refuse to backdate it even when it was with Westcott. At the time my head wasn't really in the 'game' and so I just accepted that was that. A year or two on, and by that time I'd cleared the balance via Wescott (DMP then still being managed by SC), I decided to take the bull by the horns again and wrote to the Managing Director of Halifax stating that I felt they had not treated me fairly by taking so long to default the account, pointing out that I had honoured my indebtness to them - never shying away from the fact I owed them money - etc. and so forth. I was then quite surprised to receive a letter inviting me to call some Head of X (I think it was their collections department) and the chap I spoke with was actually very nice. During the conversation he agreed that Hfx should have defaulted sooner promising to backdate the default. Even more surprising what they actually did is remove the default completely off my credit file - so it went back to 'settled' - go figure!

So, the moral of the story is to persist with them and it sounds as if they are about to pass it over to Westcott anyway.

Suseka97

NowInspired wrote: »

Hi
Thanks so far with the responses I've had to my questions on here.
What I'd like to know now is, (whether I go with Step Change or whether I self manage my own dmp) what is the process step by step. I realise from previous conversations that I must not rush straight into the dmp.
So in the here and now:
Do I stop paying the creditors altogether or do I pay them what I can afford?
Do I contact them at this stage and explain anything at all or do I leave it be until the dmp starts?
I'm naturally a bit nervous and could just do with knowing step by step the right way of setting out on this journey.
Many thanks,

To be honest there really isn't any 'step by step' guide and your best option is to look back on this thread and read what others have done. Whilst we are all on a DMP journey - we are all different in terms of the creditors we owe and approaches we take. Also go and have a read of the Debt Camel website (just google it) and you'll find a lot of very useful information. There's a good deal of debt management advice on the NEDCAB website too.

Information is key here and the more you research and learn about the process - the more empowered you will be to handle what happens next.

If it were me - I would stop all payments to creditors immediately and write to them advising you are taking debt management advice from SC or National Debtline. Most will put your account on hold for 30 days as a matter of course. You do need some time to build up and emergency fund - you'll hear a lot of that if you go back and read previous posts. Most will advise giving yourself a good 6 months of no payments to get a decent amount of £s put aside. If any creditor gets 'twitchy' during that time - stall them or offer token (£1) payments. Nothing drastic will happen within that window of time - but do expect to receive various threatening letters -its par for course.

Good luck.

Sadsecret

Just want to tell everyone of my little bit of newbie success! I trawled this site for ages until I felt brave enough to contact StepChange to set up my DMP, felt so scared and stressed. I saved 2 months emergency fund, have been in DMP 2 months, had no particularly scary letters, absolutely no phone calls, my creditors have been great and now NatWest, who are by far my biggest debt (£17,000) have just written to say they're stopping all interest and charges and they're terribly sorry but they will have to default me. I cant believe how happy and releived I am! I would have never have crawled out of this hole with the interest charges, I know its early days but I may be debt free in 3 years, after 10 years of drowning deeper and deeper. If you're hesitating at all go for it.

Suseka97

Great news Sadsecret.

Until I was in DMPland, the very thought of being 'defaulted' and my credit file being trashed filled me with horror! Once I got used to the idea of being in a DMP I jumped for joy at every default letter that landed on my doormat. The fact my credit file is so poor no longer bothers me -although I appreciate getting a mortgage renewal will be a little harder next time - but still, I'd rather have that then years and years of debt hanging around my neck.

Good luck with your DMP journey and well done for taking control of your financial future.

System

Sadsecret wrote: »

Just want to tell everyone of my little bit of newbie success! I trawled this site for ages until I felt brave enough to contact StepChange to set up my DMP, felt so scared and stressed. I saved 2 months emergency fund, have been in DMP 2 months, had no particularly scary letters, absolutely no phone calls, my creditors have been great and now NatWest, who are by far my biggest debt (£17,000) have just written to say they're stopping all interest and charges and they're terribly sorry but they will have to default me. I cant believe how happy and releived I am! I would have never have crawled out of this hole with the interest charges, I know its early days but I may be debt free in 3 years, after 10 years of drowning deeper and deeper. If you're hesitating at all go for it.

Good news. Isn't it strange how pleased we all get at being defaulted now? Luckily all but 1 of ours are now in default and the remaining 1 is a low amount that I hope to settle in a few months as hope to go self managed at last and get these. debts down quicker.

MMC87

HI everyone

Haven’t been here for a couple of weeks. I’ve been ill (nothing too serious but have been absolutely wiped out).

Can someone kindly remind me of the score when a creditor writes to say they are not agreeing to the payment plan? I’m sure I read on here that if they do that, it’s sort of tough because that’s all I can afford. I’ve had a look back (including the all important intro post) but I can’t see it anywhere!

MMC87

(by the way - default notices have been received for my other debts).

sourcrates

MMC87 wrote: »

HI everyone

Haven’t been here for a couple of weeks. I’ve been ill (nothing too serious but have been absolutely wiped out).

Can someone kindly remind me of the score when a creditor writes to say they are not agreeing to the payment plan? I’m sure I read on here that if they do that, it’s sort of tough because that’s all I can afford. I’ve had a look back (including the all important intro post) but I can’t see it anywhere!

Usually they will still accept your payment, and after a bit of bartering, will come to accept the arrangement, if they don’t, all they do is sell the debt on, you then take the same stance with the new owner.

So nothing to worry about.