DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 12

booksandbacon

Motivated & DMP_Tiger thank you so much for the pep talk, very much needed! I'm getting phone calls now and I can feel the anxiety in my belly. I know that DMP's are common but it still feels very alien not paying, even though a) I can't actually pay them and b) it will work out in the end.

Another question: At the moment I'm in stage one of my DIY DMP - letters have gone out to creditors asking them to freeze interest for 30 days while we sort out our budget. I know that at the end of this month we will have enough 'excess' to knock out one of the debts straight away (there are four mini ones, and at £167 this is the smallest by a long way). I'm tempted to just get rid of it then as I know the interest for this is normally very high.

What do you all think?

motivated

Hi booksand bacon

If you do happen to pick up the phone to any creditors chasing you for money. State quite clearly and firmly that you will only be communicating with then in writing from now on. This will allow you to keep a record of any communication with them. You do not give them permission to contact you over the telephone.

I found that once I told my creditors this they totally left us alone and only wrote to us to explain what was happening with our accounts etc.

All very daunting I know but in the words of dads army 'don't panic mr mainwaring'

As for the small debt you are thinking of clearing, if it's only a small amount compared to what you have been paying overall. Maybe pay it, close it and this may give you a little boost. It's your DMP, your choice.
Good luck
M

daisy_jean

OohSoHolly wrote: »

Soooo....

DMP is due to start on the 1st August :j I can’t express the relief of this and how happy I was to receive the email informing this had been setup. I’ve already had contact from one creditor accepting what StepChange have offered and hope that the rest will follow suit and the phone calls will stop!

I am having difficulty with PayPal Credit, who don’t seem to be interested in my DMP. Has anyone else had any experience with these while on a DMP? I contacted them back in May to inform them of my financial difficulties and that I had contacted StepChange however they haven’t acknowledged any of this and still keep applying late payment fees to my account. I’ve contacted them again now my DMP is setup and just hoping I’ll get some acknowledgement of my arrangement

I also had issues with paypal credit - contacting them via their online forms simply brought back automated messages. I eventually got thru to a real person via a call centre who was very helpful, and froze interest (even removing late charges etc).

The only ongoing issue I have, is that SC send the payment to Paypal via Cheque, so every month Paypal credits it to my account before the day after using it as a payment towards the credit account, and then accuses me of something to do with a returned cheque/wrong name/address. As a result they have completely frozen my Paypal account, and to use eBay I've had to set up a whole new account. Complete faff!

Hitmanandher

I have been in a self managed DMP for about 3 years. Paying a fraction of the original contractual repayments. Most debts have been sold on. However Royal Bank have retained our huge loan accounts. They've been lovely, don't get me wrong. BUT every now and then I look at the huge number we're owe them (over 50k) and the tiny amount we're repaying, and I panic. Surely they'll want more eventually? Will they bankrupt us? It would take all the equity in our house to repay.

Suseka97

Hitmanandher wrote: »

I have been in a self managed DMP for about 3 years. Paying a fraction of the original contractual repayments. Most debts have been sold on. However Royal Bank have retained our huge loan accounts. They've been lovely, don't get me wrong. BUT every now and then I look at the huge number we're owe them (over 50k) and the tiny amount we're repaying, and I panic. Surely they'll want more eventually? Will they bankrupt us? It would take all the equity in our house to repay.

I've no experience with Royal Bank, but to be honest - 3 years isn't that long in DMP land. Have they defaulted the accounts? If not, and accepting that they have 'been lovely', I would start pushing for a default. I assume they've stopped all interest and charges.

motivated

Hitmanandher wrote: »

I have been in a self managed DMP for about 3 years. Paying a fraction of the original contractual repayments. Most debts have been sold on. However Royal Bank have retained our huge loan accounts. They've been lovely, don't get me wrong. BUT every now and then I look at the huge number we're owe them (over 50k) and the tiny amount we're repaying, and I panic. Surely they'll want more eventually? Will they bankrupt us? It would take all the equity in our house to repay.

Hi hitmanandher

Our 2 huge Halifax loans approx 40k :eek: are being managed by Wescot. Not sold on just being managed. However they did default us after a few months of very low to zero payments. I had to push for defaults though. They kept threatening it but nothing happened so I phoned them and reminded them they they were only delaying the inevitable and after a couple of weeks the defaults came through.

We too are only paying a fraction of the original amount but so far they have not bothered us at all.

Try not to panic, every payment you make to them is another step closer.

Good lick
M

tillboy

Anybody got any experience of getting rid of a lease car as part of a DMP? Wife has rheumatoid arthritis, and has recently been forced out of her job as a result.
Can just about scrape by but her car lease is a problem, there's about 16 months left to go, if we could get rid we'd potentially have another £225 per month.

OohSoHolly

Update on the beginning of my DMP..

So two creditors have now confirmed that they accept my DMP payment. One is asking for a review after 6 months which is fine.

However I am concerned as I have just received a Default Notice from AQUA but no confirmation of them accepting the payments offered.

I notice on the letter sent out by StepChange it doesn’t ask creditors to confirm which I get they couldn’t have millions of letters/contacts coming back but it just seems daft. I feel like I now need to write to my creditors again to ensure they accept the DMP? Also I finally got an answer from PayPal Credit and they claim they haven’t received anything from StepChange. I really don’t know what to do.

DMP_Tiger

OohSoHolly wrote: »

However I am concerned as I have just received a Default Notice from AQUA but no confirmation of them accepting the payments offered.

I sent first letters to creditors in May, followed up by full I & E. I haven't heard anything back from Aqua either. They have stopped trying to call me though so I'm assuming that they are dealing with me in some way without telling me anything.

Aqua do give CC's to people with not so good credit reports so presumably they have a high rate of defaults/DMP's They may have a different system of dealing with things, maybe somebody on here knows more?

2017spark

2017spark wrote: »

Hi all,
Just an update - On Friday evening I emailed SC and have requested they delay the start of my dmp to the beginning November (was scheduled for beginning August) - so i can build an emergency fund, clear CTAX debt (just 1 month) and get car through MOT/ Service...... Not sure what they will say, or my creditors but I think its the right thing for me to do.
In fact, next I will be telling them, rather than requesting..... its my DMP and this will enable me to start it properly and not be struggling to stick to my planned budget. (I am starting to change my mind set!)
Fingers crossed they understand - I have £0 emergency fund right now, so that's the main reason behind this - and once I start payments into my DMP I want it to happen each and every month until my DFD.
Hope you are all well xx

HMMMMMMMMMMM Had an email from SC saying they will pass to relevant dept but clearly not happy with delaying the start date. Has anyone had experience of this?
As far as i'm concerned its my plan so I need it to work for ME - I'm waiting to hear back from them but it may be a case of stopping the plan with them before its started and then starting from scratch in November - not ideal though.
I will let my creditors know the status once agreed with SC though.