DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 12

sourcrates

ploppy57 wrote: »

So how do you know they are UE, if they haven't yet sent you the paperwork?

A creditor is not entitled to enforce any agreement whilst they are in breach of a CCA request, until the breach is rectified.

usedtobeblue

Sorry me again, this is all so new to me but can someone please tell me, do i just stop paying my unsecured debts? I have never missed any payments before but i was using one credit account to pay another every month so it was only ever going to get worse! I have taken the first steps and opened a new basic account. Do i withdraw my funds and put them into my new account and miss all my payments?

System

sourcrates wrote: »

A creditor is not entitled to enforce any agreement whilst they are in breach of a CCA request, until the breach is rectified.

They haven't even acknowledged the requests. So I have no idea if they have even received them. I had already reduced to token payments of £1 when we started SM last month, so will stop them altogether then and if they contact me I will tell them why.
PR* were brilliant and wrote back straight away saying account on hold.

sourcrates

ploppy57 wrote: »

They haven't even acknowledged the requests. So I have no idea if they have even received them. I had already reduced to token payments of £1 when we started SM last month, so will stop them altogether then and if they contact me I will tell them why.
PR* were brilliant and wrote back straight away saying account on hold.

That is a typical creditor response unfortunately.

Ring them, or write again, and chase it up, but only if you must, as its currently unenforceable until they do respond to you, however long that may be.

If you have proof of postage, its deemed to be delivered i think after 3 working days.

sourcrates

usedtobeblue wrote: »

Sorry me again, this is all so new to me but can someone please tell me, do i just stop paying my unsecured debts? I have never missed any payments before but i was using one credit account to pay another every month so it was only ever going to get worse! I have taken the first steps and opened a new basic account. Do i withdraw my funds and put them into my new account and miss all my payments?

Hi,

Err.....yes.....you are no longer making contractual payments are you, you are in a debt management plan, have you written and informed your creditors of your change of circumstances as advised before ?

Also tell them when you intend to start making your DMP payments, are you using stepchange as your DMP provider ?

MK-4

usedtobeblue wrote: »

Sorry me again, this is all so new to me but can someone please tell me, do i just stop paying my unsecured debts? I have never missed any payments before but i was using one credit account to pay another every month so it was only ever going to get worse! I have taken the first steps and opened a new basic account. Do i withdraw my funds and put them into my new account and miss all my payments?

Hi, not sure if I can offer much advice but in similar position as you.
All my direct debits have been cancelled so no payments will go out.
New account setup to pay essential payments by direct debit, mortgage etc. but NONE of the unsecured creditors.
Still have to write to one creditor, but not had any response so far from all the others that were written to.

Something I find a bit confusing is the defaults and token payments. From the posts on here is seems that a default is a good thing, so maybe not paying is the best? Still not that clear in my head though.

Someone with far better knowledge will be on here soon but make sure you do not have any funds in you old account. (Sourcrates answered while I was typing)

MaryMorrow

Suseka97 wrote: »

I have no experience of Virgin - but certainly have with Halifax and also Barclaycard, both of whom were a nightmare. Halifax continued to charge interest and refused to default us for over a year and as soon as we (via SC) started to pay what would have been the equivalent of a minimum monthly payment to Barclaycard they basically put our account back to a 'normal' status and reinstated interest :mad: Eventually, after much letter writing and complaining both companies ended up defaulting and selling the debt on at which time interest stopped (although I had to push for backdated defaults, but that's another story).

So, to answer your question - yes, go self-managed and reduce them both to token (or no) payments until they default and sell on. Set the money aside and save towards either an emergency fund or F&Fs down the line. Stepchange are great in so much as they help people get themselves out of what is often a very stressful situation - but their method of allocation and very stringent policy of playing 'fair' to the creditors allows for no flexibility even when they know creditors are refusing to stop interest charges because they are getting a payment above whatever the companies threshold for stopping interest is. A catch 22.

Thanks so much for your reply, it seems so frustrating but clearly self managed is the way to go. Next question... how do I do that? Do I simply write to them and say that I will be managing it myself and want to pay them x amount then overpay where I can to do a snowball and clear it faster?

January2015

MaryMorrow wrote: »

Thanks so much for your reply, it seems so frustrating but clearly self managed is the way to go. Next question... how do I do that? Do I simply write to them and say that I will be managing it myself and want to pay them x amount then overpay where I can to do a snowball and clear it faster?

Use NEDCAB DMP to help you set up your self managed DMP

The site walks you through step by step and generates all the letters you need for your creditors

usedtobeblue

sourcrates wrote: »

Hi,

Err.....yes.....you are no longer making contractual payments are you, you are in a debt management plan, have you written and informed your creditors of your change of circumstances as advised before ?

Also tell them when you intend to start making your DMP payments, are you using stepchange as your DMP provider ?

Hi I’m just in the process of setting it all up, I have the letters ready to send to all my creditors and will send them today! I’m with step change yes, should I maybe seed a secure message to my bank asking them to stop payments immediately?

sourcrates

MK-4 wrote: »

Something I find a bit confusing is the defaults and token payments. From the posts on here is seems that a default is a good thing, so maybe not paying is the best? Still not that clear in my head though.

Token payments are a waste of time, they serve no real purpose, and cost the creditor more to process than the payment is actually worth.

Defaults, this has been covered so many times in the past, but just to clarify, prior to an account defaulting, you are relying on the goodwill of the creditor to stop adding interest to the account, some will, some wont.

Once an account defaults, the balance is frozen, no further interest or charges can be added, also, you then know you have a clear 6 years until said default drops off your credit file, so in the case of someone in a DMP, defaults are good news.