DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 12

January2015

Suseka97 wrote: »

A quick update on my current situation.
I've arrived home tonight to find a similar letter offering me a 65% discount on the third one. The third one is the lowest value, but its a good discount so I'm considering accepting using the F&F template as guidance. I do have to say that PRA seem to be better organised than Link, who I feel are basically incompetent.

You could (and I would) write back and say all you can raise is 10% via a gift from a family member in full and final settlement..... that's if you want to communicate with them about this. Me.... I just kept letting PRAT send me letters until they offered 10%. It took a while but they got there in the end :rotfl:

tillboy

Have sent holding letters out and while most have replied quite a few are conspicuous by their silence. What would be the best course of action? Try again or sit and wait?

January2015

tillboy wrote: »

Have sent holding letters out and while most have replied quite a few are conspicuous by their silence. What would be the best course of action? Try again or sit and wait?

You've written to them..... ball is in their court to get back to you now. Don't worry about writing to creditors again and again. They may take a while, but they will keep in touch with you.

DMP_Tiger

January2015 wrote: »

You've written to them..... ball is in their court to get back to you now. Don't worry about writing to creditors again and again. They may take a while, but they will keep in touch with you.

I have had letters of response asking for I & E details from all creditors apart from Aqua CC and Barclays Loan. Both of these are calling repeatedly, I'm not answering their calls and I was planning on just sending them I & E details, along with a copy of ,my initial letter. Is that not a good idea? I would like to stop the phone calls if at all possible - I did tell them not to call me in my initial letter.

January2015

tillboy wrote: »

Have sent holding letters out and while most have replied quite a few are conspicuous by their silence. What would be the best course of action? Try again or sit and wait?

DMP_Tiger wrote: »

I have had letters of response asking for I & E details from all creditors apart from Aqua CC and Barclays Loan. Both of these are calling repeatedly, I'm not answering their calls and I was planning on just sending them I & E details, along with a copy of ,my initial letter. Is that not a good idea? I would like to stop the phone calls if at all possible - I did tell them not to call me in my initial letter.

January2015 wrote: »

You've written to them..... ball is in their court to get back to you now. Don't worry about writing to creditors again and again. They may take a while, but they will keep in touch with you.

My response of the ball is in their court was in response to Tillboy's query that come creditors are "conspicuous by their silence. What would be the best course of action?"

DMP_Tiger - the first thing you need to do is write to every creditor and remind them that you have specifically stated in previous letters you do not give them permission to telephone you and all communication regarding this account must be in writing. If they fail to adhere to your instruction you will deem their continued telephoning as harrassment and file a formal complaint.

You definitely need to send I&E to all creditors. They will not stop chasing you unless you do this. In fairness to them they need to assess what you can afford to pay. Make the I&E include all your debt balances and what you pay (or are offering to pay) each debt. Creditors and DCAs want to ensure they are being treated the same and any other creditor you have.

LynseyB10

Hi, i have just joined this forum and i would like some help/advice, I am in debt of 32k and I have looked around and StepChange have said i should go on DMP paying back £749 a month and they said i will be debt free in 3.5 years (which actually seems amazing)! My problem is my Nan left me a holiday home worth 12k - i can not sell it as my parents pay all the bills and upkeep of it - its just in my name. Will StepChange or my creditors expect me to sell it if going in a DMP?
Also, one of my creditors is Zopa - i read people have had trouble with them. My loan is for 60 months and i have already paid off 12 months of it, with StepChange they have said all debt will clear in 3.5 years which means i would of paid off Zopa quicker then i actually got the loan out for, does that even make sense?
Also, how scary is it with all the letters or threats from creditors? can StepChange step in with the letters? people also say interest doesn't stop but should i ring the creditors myself before going on a DMP to see if they will stop interest?
any advice welcomed

thanks

January2015

LynseyB10 wrote: »

Hi, i have just joined this forum and i would like some help/advice, I am in debt of 32k and I have looked around and StepChange have said i should go on DMP paying back £749 a month and they said i will be debt free in 3.5 years (which actually seems amazing)! My problem is my Nan left me a holiday home worth 12k - i can not sell it as my parents pay all the bills and upkeep of it - its just in my name. Will StepChange or my creditors expect me to sell it if going in a DMP?
Also, one of my creditors is Zopa - i read people have had trouble with them. My loan is for 60 months and i have already paid off 12 months of it, with StepChange they have said all debt will clear in 3.5 years which means i would of paid off Zopa quicker then i actually got the loan out for, does that even make sense?
Also, how scary is it with all the letters or threats from creditors? can StepChange step in with the letters? people also say interest doesn't stop but should i ring the creditors myself before going on a DMP to see if they will stop interest?
any advice welcomed

thanks

Don't mention the holiday home. A DMP is an informal agreement.

System

Suseka97 wrote: »

A quick update on my current situation.

Link are still not responding to the CCA requests (x3) but continue to send letters asking me to contact them to make arrangements to pay. Recently sent letters offering me a very low cost repayment plan - bless them. Current plan is to continue to ignore them.

PRA are a bit of an enigma - letters received some months ago confirming (x3) accounts are currently UE. After a couple of attempts via calls to my mobile to encourage me to start a repayment plan - they have finally stopped calling (as I requested) and have sent various letters. Interestingly their letters just advise the outstanding balance but is headlined 'This if for information only and not a request for payment', however they include a separate letter offering various options for repayment. Last month they offered me a 10% discount on one, a 20% discount on another - and I've arrived home tonight to find a similar letter offering me a 65% discount on the third one. The third one is the lowest value, but its a good discount so I'm considering accepting using the F&F template as guidance. I do have to say that PRA seem to be better organised than Link, who I feel are basically incompetent.

We haver never had replies from L*nk regarding our CCA requests either. Although they were quick to write after I stopped paying them as they hadn't complied with my request. They said we had broken the terms of our agreement etc etc. I wrote back and said that as they hadn't even acknowledged our request for CCA, we would not pay anything until they did. Never heard anything from them since.


PR* did tell us that all of our accounts are currently UE as they cannot find the relevant paper work and that they would put the account on hold. Since then we have heard nothing from them. This was about 6 months ago, so hoping for some F&F's soon.

sourcrates

LynseyB10 wrote: »

Hi, i have just joined this forum and i would like some help/advice, I am in debt of 32k and I have looked around and StepChange have said i should go on DMP paying back £749 a month and they said i will be debt free in 3.5 years (which actually seems amazing)! My problem is my Nan left me a holiday home worth 12k - i can not sell it as my parents pay all the bills and upkeep of it - its just in my name. Will StepChange or my creditors expect me to sell it if going in a DMP?
Also, one of my creditors is Zopa - i read people have had trouble with them. My loan is for 60 months and i have already paid off 12 months of it, with StepChange they have said all debt will clear in 3.5 years which means i would of paid off Zopa quicker then i actually got the loan out for, does that even make sense?
Also, how scary is it with all the letters or threats from creditors? can StepChange step in with the letters? people also say interest doesn't stop but should i ring the creditors myself before going on a DMP to see if they will stop interest?
any advice welcomed

thanks

Lynsey,

A debt management plan is more of a DIY job than anything else, it’s not a formal debt solution that has rules like insolvency, it’s an informal affair where you retain control of your assets, and no one else.

You are in control of how it’s run, and what you pay, not any debt charity, debt collector, creditors, or anyone else, just you.

You work out an affordable payment by way of a budget, and then make one monthly payment to stepchange (if that’s who you use).

Do not mention anything about your other assets.

Writing to your creditors asking them to stop interest and charges for you is seen as good practice.

NeverendingDMP

Hi Lynsey. It's not scary. I can safely say that stepchange will be with you every step of the way if you want them to. I was with stepchange up until a few months ago and they helped me with budget plans and contacted everyone for me. I got some official looking letters but if you ring stepchange or post here then you will find that a good percentage of letters you get are standard letters or information only as you have to be informed you have defaulted etc etc. People you owe money should all know who stepchange are. I contacted my own debts to say what was happening but my hubby to this day still hasn't made any effort. They have all stopped interest on both our debts though.
Stepchange are thorough in their budget plan and do encourage you to put all available funds to your debts. For example even my banks fiver a month cash back was counted as income. Please check you have got enough wiggle room in your budget and won't be really skint for 3.5 years. If you think you might struggle then please up your petrol food insurance budgets etc by a few quid each to have some spare. And you don't need to tell them your assets if you don't want.