DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 12

the-mrs

May I ask what it is that 'seems absolutely impossible'? Is it that the £631 monthly estimated by SC will be impossible for you to manage? If so, when you complete your I&E prior to starting your DMP, make sure you claim for everything possible. For instance people claim for cigarettes each week even if they don't really smoke, or for vet fees etc when they don't even have a pet. You will not be asked for proof so you can be as imaginative as you feel comfortable with. The less money you have available after priority bills are paid the better. If you start off paying every penny you have on your DMP each month (as I foolishly did to get the debts paid off as quickly as possible) and leaving absolutely no surplus you'll find you're existing rather than living. You'll be living in fear of emergencies cropping up which you have no money to cover. Once on a DMP you'll have no access to your credit cards so this is an important factor.

Just tried tweaking it tonight, SC deemed the new budget not suitable for DMP and recommended bankruptcy instead, which may cost me my job. Damn.

[Deleted User]

the-mrs wrote: »

Just tried tweaking it tonight, SC deemed the new budget not suitable for DMP and recommended bankruptcy instead, which may cost me my job. Damn.

Be very wary of going down the bankruptcy route especially if your job is at stake.


At this stage you are still exploring possibilities, nothing has been agreed so please don't do anything hasty that you might live to regret.


I hope sourcrates will be along later to give you some advice. He's the expert on things like bankruptcy and the various other alternatives and his wise words are always worth taking note of.


Importantly, have you sent CCA requests to all your creditors? You might discover that some or even all your debts are unenforceable, especially if they were pre 2007. This means that you may not have to pay them back at all, although some of us have offered a payment of as little as 10% of the existing balance and had it accepted to finish off the debt once and for all:j. Creditors could take weeks (one of mine took about 8 months) before they can confirm matters one way or the other but it's always worth doing.


I hope I haven't alarmed you but you still have options so don't jump in too quickly.

NeverendingDMP

Bankruptcy was suggested to me three years ago by s change as a possible option and when I added my hubby on a few months ago which increase 25000 to just under 35000 bankruptcy came out as the only real option. I've got three little people and a mortgage that is much cheaper than local rents. I'm on a fixed rate and a have a teeny little bit of equity. Going bankrupt wasn't what I wanted and stepchange supported me in my DMP as that what I chose. If it will affect your job or you really don't want to feel free to join me on a DMP journey

[Deleted User]

NeverendingDMP wrote: »

Bankruptcy was suggested to me three years ago by s change as a possible option and when I added my hubby on a few months ago which increase 25000 to just under 35000 bankruptcy came out as the only real option. I've got three little people and a mortgage that is much cheaper than local rents. I'm on a fixed rate and a have a teeny little bit of equity. Going bankrupt wasn't what I wanted and stepchange supported me in my DMP as that what I chose. If it will affect your job or you really don't want to feel free to join me on a DMP journey

When I started my DMP with SC in 2013 I had unsecured debts of just under £57000 of my own:o. As a pensioner on a state pension plus a work pension I had a regular source of 'income' but wasn't really coining in the money. I do not own a house or have a mortgage. The house is in OH's name and, thankfully, long paid for and the debts were all totally in my name. He has never known anything about my debts as I never wanted to involve him. The repayments were all made from my own disposable income which wasn't enormous once the 50/50 split of all household bills and utilities had been deducted. SC never suggested bankruptcy to me as an option. All my dealings with them were by phone in those days and they were pushing a DMP all the way which was fine by me. I wouldn't have wanted to go down the bankruptcy route anyway.


Move on 5 years and on 1st May I'll 'only' have just under £10000 of debt left:j and now I'm self-managing I plan to offer F&F settlements to all my creditors in the next few months. I've been saving money like mad, including lifelines like 2 smallish PPI payouts and another in the pipeline:j. I'm keeping everything crossed that I can be totally debt-free, a day I feared would never come:o, by the end of this year.

Lyntonsbird

Please help Ive been on my DMP journey with SC since September 2016 £25,000 to go over 4 creditors all but one have been sold on and defaulted.
My question in how do I get Bank of Scothland to default me?

They keep giving me a 6 month reduced payment with frozen interest then start interest payment without review. I have sent a letter today saying my circumstances have not changed and will ring SC tomorrow to send another copy of my yearly review.

Thank you all again for the fab support this journey has been less daunting and no where near as frightening as I thought it would.

sourcrates

the-mrs wrote: »

Just tried tweaking it tonight, SC deemed the new budget not suitable for DMP and recommended bankruptcy instead, which may cost me my job. Damn.

Did you do this on their website using the debt remedy tool by any chance ?

If you did, then that will explain it, its a computer, it looks at the your debt amount, then provides you with any and all available solutions, starting with the one most suited to your situation.

Even if you spoke to someone, and they recommend Bankruptcy, it does not mean you have to do it, it is a free country, and you are able to take whichever option is legally available to you.

If you want to post your SOA in the main DFW forum, we can take a look at it for you.

NeverendingDMP

Carboot crazy. That's an impressive payoff in five years. Thats a definite motivator for us all. I've recently sent cca requests and also contacted step change to go self managed and I now have 7 pounds in my f and final savings pot. Ha ha. I'm in it for the long game but having read through various forums and discovering things such as CCA requests and full and finals I'm realising there are more savvy ways of doing it.

the-mrs

Importantly, have you sent CCA requests to all your creditors? You might discover that some or even all your debts are unenforceable, especially if they were pre 2007. This means that you may not have to pay them back at all, although some of us have offered a payment of as little as 10% of the existing balance and had it accepted to finish off the debt once and for all. Creditors could take weeks (one of mine took about 8 months) before they can confirm matters one way or the other but it's always worth doing.

Sorry, I'm not all that familiar with some of the abbreviations. What's CCA?

Not holding my breath for any of them being unenforceable, think the oldest one is only from 2014.

sourcrates

the-mrs wrote: »

Sorry, I'm not all that familiar with some of the abbreviations. What's CCA?

Not holding my breath for any of them being unenforceable, think the oldest one is only from 2014.

You would be surprised how lax some lenders actually are.

CCA (consumer credit act) sec 77/79 the right to ask for information about your credit accounts, in the form of a copy of your credit agreement.

Failure to comply could render the account unenforceable.

Information and template letter here :

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/sampleletters/Pages/Information-about-your-agreement-under-the-Consumer-Credit-Act-%28sole-name%29.aspx

Read up on the process first, or google CCA request.

Louisejane123

Hi . New here and contacted Step change today regarding a DMP.

Total debt = £17,000 ( give or take a little )
Total creditors = 5

I have finally decided to make a change and get rid of this debt. I am so young im ashamed that this has even happened but at least I!!!8217;m starting now and can get rid of it ASAP.

I am getting a call tomorrow Monday morning at 11 regarding my DMP. Unfortunately I have a guarantor loan so they can!!!8217;t add that one into it ( I pay £326.08) per month to that one and that is my biggest outgoing per month. But hopefully we can consolidate the rest or freeze some interest or do something to make this nightmare seem a little easier.

If anyone wants to fplllow my journey I will be posting frequently as I!!!8217;ve been reading these forums quite abit and they are so helpful!