DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 12

Onefortheroad

Hello julies123 - I am dealing with Credit Resource Solutions. I had a loan with drafty and as soon as I informed them I was struggling, they passed me straight over to CRS. I wouldn't say they have been difficult but they haven't been the easiest people to deal with either. I do all my communication via email and through their website - just type in your reference number and click on make arrangement to pay - that's how I've done it, followed up by letter of course. It's a bit of a faff but at least then I know I've done my bit. Good luck

DMP_Tiger

booksandbacon wrote: »

I've send out the initial letters to all my creditors stating that I am in financial difficulty and asking to freeze interest/charges for 30 days, I've heard back from some but not all. I have the I&E and offers letters ready to go - should I send these out to the creditors that have responded, as I feel this will be a sign of good faith, or should I wait until I have heard back?

B&B

I asked EXACTLY the same question a couple of weeks ago. I was advised to send I & E to ALL creditors. They will all need it, even if they haven't asked yet .

Suseka97

daisy_jean wrote: »

.......I might look into the self management but don't feel I'm ready for that just yet, maybe in a year or so once the debt gets down a bit. I felt so bouyant when I first started it all, and although I've had no major issues with creditors (defaults are coming in nicely) I've just hit a low point with it all.

It happens to most of us... I recall quite a few wobbles along the way Self-management isn't for everyone and it took me close to 4 years to do it myself, so take your time and do things in a way that best suits you. Do, however, make sure your DMP is adjusted so that its affordable and then just sit back and let it trundle on.

Suseka97

Harveyhelp wrote: »

.......I self excluded from all gambling sites. Went through my budgets and what was owed and for the first time noticed I wouldnt be able to make next months payments.....

I realise now I maybe should have let some accounts default while I made token payments and saved emergency funds but too late for that now. Thanks

I see you've had good advice from Jan15 and so I just wanted to say well done for taking control of the gambling issue and for dealing with your debt situation. It's never easy, but you're now on the right track :T

From what I read you've not yet started paying SC, so you do have time to build up an EF - just let them know you're going to start in, say, 3 months (as a minimum). Read back on this thread and you'll see many newbies have delayed the start of their DMP, so it's not unusual to do so.

Good luck

[Deleted User]

:wave:Harveyhelp and welcome to our supportive group. I hope your DMP journey will be a happy and uneventful one:beer:

Suseka97 wrote: »

I see you've had good advice from Jan15 and so I just wanted to say well done for taking control of the gambling issue and for dealing with your debt situation. It's never easy, but you're now on the right track :T

From what I read you've not yet started paying SC, so you do have time to build up an EF - just let them know you're going to start in, say, 3 months (as a minimum). Read back on this thread and you'll see many newbies have delayed the start of their DMP, so it's not unusual to do so.

Good luck

You've had some very good advice already and I second in particular what Suseka told you about delaying the start of your DMP so you can build up an emergency fund. I didn't find this support group until I was a few months into my DMP:( and by then I was already starting to struggle as I didn't have a penny to my name to cope with all the real and expensive emergencies that life threw at me during that first year on the DMP. I was hell bent on paying off my debts in the quickest possible time, I had cut myself no slack whatsoever in my budget and I soon began to panic. Without access to any credit and no savings I was in real danger of scrapping my DMP altogether:o


I sorted things out by rejigging my budget with SC and taking a short repayment break. They were wonderful and I never looked back after that but I should really have done all that at the outset not when I found myself backed into a corner:o. 5 years on (now happily and confidently self-managing:j) and with the end of the tunnel not too far away I can still recall those early days with horror that I got it so wrong at the beginning:eek:.. Life is full of 'if onlies' but it's genuinely true in my case of 'if only I'd known about this wonderful thread and the goldmine of advice it contains.....'

Jwatson

Just wondered if anyone had any experience of getting a mortgage. We are about to enter into a DMP but we want to move house. We currently have a mortgage and the house we would like is cheaper than our current home so not looking to lend anymore. Is this possible or very unrealistic?

January2015

Jwatson wrote: »

Just wondered if anyone had any experience of getting a mortgage. We are about to enter into a DMP but we want to move house. We currently have a mortgage and the house we would like is cheaper than our current home so not looking to lend anymore. Is this possible or very unrealistic?

If you have sufficient equity you will probably be able to find a mortgage, however if you are on a DMP it will most likely be at a sub prime rate, i.e. not a good deal.

You may be able to negotiate with your existing lender to port your existing mortgage. Many folk on here have negotiated new deals with their existing lenders once their introductory/existing deal has expired and in this way they can stay on a good rate. New lenders are very unlikely to offer good rates - if they will even consider people on DMPs.

LexieLou

Hi,

Need some advice, I have a DMP drawn up, I need to submit it to Stepchange this week to be within the 60 days, can I request that they start it on a certain date? I asked the lady from SC last week about this and she was a bit off with me about my request. I would like to start it on 1st Oct rather than 1st Sept ( if I submit details this week I will miss the Aug cut off)

Thanks

LL xx

DMP_Tiger

LexieLou wrote: »

Hi,

Need some advice, I have a DMP drawn up, I need to submit it to Stepchange this week to be within the 60 days, can I request that they start it on a certain date? I asked the lady from SC last week about this and she was a bit off with me about my request. I would like to start it on 1st Oct rather than 1st Sept ( if I submit details this week I will miss the Aug cut off)

Thanks

LL xx

I did mine in May, it's all ready to sign and send back to Stepchange but I wanted to delay the start for a few months.

I called SC and they said it was fine, just hang on to the pack and sign it and send it back when I was ready. The only drawback is that they won't do anything for me until they have received the signed pack so I have had to speak/write to all of my creditors :eek:

By the time I am ready to start, I will have done all of the hard work so will most likely go self-managed.

All you are doing is delaying by a month so I wouldn't have thought it will matter if you send back now or in August.

Suseka97

LexieLou wrote: »

Hi,
Need some advice, I have a DMP drawn up, I need to submit it to Stepchange this week to be within the 60 days, can I request that they start it on a certain date? I asked the lady from SC last week about this and she was a bit off with me about my request. I would like to start it on 1st Oct rather than 1st Sept ( if I submit details this week I will miss the Aug cut off)
Thanks LL xx

Start when you want to start and follow what DMP_T did. I must admit that when I was with SC, on occasion I would speak to someone less helpful than others, but perhaps she was having an 'off day'. DMPs are an informal arrangement and you are very much in the driving seat. There's absolutely no point starting before you have saved a good sum saved for your emergency fund and delaying it by just one more month shouldn't be a big deal.