DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 12

Dannyb75

Thanks that's great. I did try Google but just wanted to make sure I sent to right address.

System

January2015 wrote: »

One of my creditors has 'reviewed' my account and decided they didn't deal with it correctly when I entered my DMP. Apologies and £500 credited to the account as compensation. This debt is still with the original creditor.

It's nice to receive post sometimes

wow, that's good news. Ours have all been passed on, so can't see that happening to us. But well done.:beer:

Money_mess

Hi there, I was hoping I could get some advice. I've recently decided to do a DMP self managed thiugh I did a budget with step change etc but decided to go self managed.
Anyway between me and DH our debts total 22k. We've been trying to pay off for ages but it was becoming progressively harder with no money left to live.
I've offered £1 pcm for 6 months to Next, Very, and Barclaycard. Next and very have accepted, BC have stopped account for 30 days and waiting yo hear back about token offer.
Capital one and aqua wanted pro rata offers and so capital one have accepted 13 pcm and aqua £58.
This means I can build up EF before offering more after new year.
However I was really positive about this until I had a read through this thread and now I'm wondering whether I should be just telling aqua and Capital one I can only pay £1. Or should I not pay at all. As it looks like this way they won't default me? I really don't want arrangment to pay on my credit file forever if I could default and have it disappear in 6 years.
I'm worried now I've gone about it wrong?
Thanks

Suseka97

Money_mess wrote: »

....I've offered £1 pcm for 6 months to Next, Very, and Barclaycard. Next and very have accepted, BC have stopped account for 30 days and waiting yo hear back about token offer.
Capital one and aqua wanted pro rata offers and so capital one have accepted 13 pcm and aqua £58.This means I can build up EF before offering more after new year. However I was really positive about this until I had a read through this thread and now I'm wondering whether I should be just telling aqua and Capital one I can only pay £1. Or should I not pay at all. As it looks like this way they won't default me? I really don't want arrangment to pay on my credit file forever if I could default and have it disappear in 6 years.
I'm worried now I've gone about it wrong?
Thanks

Okay, firstly - well done for taking control and its good to hear you feel confident enough to self-manage from the outset. That's a good start and will give you more control over your DMP over time. You should treat all your creditors pretty much the same, and by that I mean - don't treat Aqua or CP1 any different than the others. Don't pay them more because they've told you to. What you need to do is an I&E that demonstrates you can only afford X each month and then pro-rata that as you see fit and tell them that you'll be starting the DMP payments from x date whilst you give yourself time to build up an emergency fund. These days paying off debts (by way of a DMP) is all about affordability.

Basically 'own' your DMP and don't be told what to do by your creditors - and you really do need to push for defaults rather than APs.

Good luck :j

Fedupofdebt

Funnily enough having the same problems with the same companies. Not acknowledged anything I've sent. But not called either so I know they've received it. I've seen off council tax bailiffs so I'm looking forward to the battle ahead. I feel sad and embarrassed I've got into this mess but I'm positive about getting out of debtland and not returning. And reading this thread has made me more positive than ever.

Money_mess

Thank you Suseka.
I have felt uneasy about aqua and cap1 taking more. I would like to pay them all £1 until January so they all are paid the same. Then I would like to up payments equally or pro rata, however my budget works out at that time. I expect I will have a bit more free money then , Not loads but some so I should be able to offer more than £1 But I need this time to catch up and build that emergency buffer.
Should I write to them both again and say I can't offer the 58 and 13 that was wnated as I need to catch up on my household expenses and build an emergency fund. Is that ok to say to them? I guess I just tell them im paying £1 and if they don't like it they sell the debt? Which is fine. Is it that simple? Part of me feels it would be so much easier to manage the situation if they all get sold to DCA as then theyre defaulted and interest is stopped. But do i only get to that stage if I don't pay anything for a while? Is it worth doing that?
I'm saying this as I've actually been on arrangement to pay with aqua and very for 8 months (paying 140 and 100) monthly as I couldn't keep up with the minimums and they froze interest however it was still masisvely too much to afford to pay each month as ive now realised. Anyway 8 months marked arrangement to pay and no defaults.......

I definitely feel uneasy paying them different amounts at this point and I feel perhaps I jumped in too quickly there agreeing to what they asked. Im now wondeirng if I just don't pay anything and wiat for them to be sold on or just pay the all £1 and hope they default ?

DMP_Tiger

So today is the first payday into my new bank account. I keep looking at the balance because I am in the black to the value of my whole net monthly salary. For the last 20 years all my salary has done is reduce my overdraft temporarily but then the od has quickly gone up to the limit again (mostly because of the loans and credit card payments).

The positive figure looks so strange. I have budgets for everything I need for the month including the first contribution to my EF and I'll have £10 left when the next payday comes. It looks too good to be true......

Suseka97

Hi MM, I've inserted comments below...

Money_mess wrote: »

Should I write to them both again and say I can't offer the 58 and 13 that was wnated as I need to catch up on my household expenses and build an emergency fund. Is that ok to say to them?
Yes - write to them and include an I&E that demonstrates you can only afford a particular amount which, from what you say, needs to be much lower than you are currently paying. You could use the NEDCAB template (google them) as a guide and you need to do that for all your creditors.

I guess I just tell them im paying £1 and if they don't like it they sell the debt? Which is fine. Is it that simple?
Yes, it is that simple. Some will say not to bother with a £1 token payments because it costs creditors more in administration to process that £1 than its worth. When you write to them just say that you are having to re-evaluate your financial situation and that you'll be suspending payments until (insert a date that suits you) in order to do so. It may well result in them selling the debt or, or defaulting you - either/both is better than the APs you have. You could say you are in discussion with a debt management provider, even though you are not - if you want to give a reason for spinning the time out longer. When you go on the NEDCAB site (and I strongly encourage you to do so) it provides a lot of info about DMPs with letter templates etc.

Part of me feels it would be so much easier to manage the situation if they all get sold to DCA as then theyre defaulted and interest is stopped. But do i only get to that stage if I don't pay anything for a while? Is it worth doing that?
I've had no dealings with Aqua or Cap1 but it really doesn't matter whether your dealing with the original creditor, their debt collection dept or a DCA. The key here is getting the default and from experience it either happens as a matter of course, after a certain period of not paying the minimums, or you have to push for it -and one way of achieving that is to stop paying - yes.

I'm saying this as I've actually been on arrangement to pay with aqua and very for 8 months (paying 140 and 100) monthly as I couldn't keep up with the minimums and they froze interest however it was still masisvely too much to afford to pay each month as ive now realised. Anyway 8 months marked arrangement to pay and no defaults.......
That's why you need to reassess the situation and stop paying them what they've asked for. Stop paying them, give yourself time to build up an EF and take it from there. Your credit rating will be damaged with AP markers a lot longer than a default, so don't be persuaded otherwise..

I definitely feel uneasy paying them different amounts at this point and I feel perhaps I jumped in too quickly there agreeing to what they asked. Im now wondeirng if I just don't pay anything and wiat for them to be sold on or just pay the all £1 and hope they default ?
See all the above - but my comment about paying creditors differing amounts was mainly to encourage you to stop paying Aqua and Cap1 more than you can afford.

Money_mess

Thank you suseska! That really helps !

Suseka97

Money_mess wrote: »

Thank you suseska! That really helps !

Glad to be of help and here's the NEDCAB site I mentioned
https://nedcab.cabmoney.org.uk/.
Scroll down the page a little and you'll find the DMP section.