DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 12

Finallyfacingup

Well after lurking for a short time I have finally found the courage to face this all head on and go down the dmp route... and for a few reasons (mainly the fact that I know that if I go thru SC then my payments to barclaycard will exceed 1% making it hard for me to default the account) I have decided to self manage. This is a really scary thought but I’m quite methodical and organised so hoping this helps. As you guys are slightly more familiar with the proceedings of this process I thought I’d lay down my plan of action and if I’ve missed anything off or anyone has any advise please let me know. Also hoping that my bullet points below may help others starting out

1. Make a formal budget sheet so I know my outgoings and know my incomings and know what I have left to pay creditors ( have done a rough plan today and seem to have about £220 - although I sometimes earn commission in work and as I understand it I don’t need to disclose this so will save this to hopefully offer some f&f settlement at some point further down the road)

2. Cancel my direct debits to non priority creditors

3. Get writing my letters to credit card companies ( currently only have 2 credit card debts but they do come to approx £20,000) to advise current difficulties, aak them to freeze interest and charges and advise will pay token £1 for next few months to build EF and need account details to pay into.

4. Write and ask for copy of CCA for both
cards so I have full understanding of
where I stand with these

5. Wait for letters of acknowledgement from 2 credit cards (barclaycard and Halifax if anyone has any experiences with
these). Once heard from them need to set up standing order for £1

6. In approx 1 month contact credit cards with copy of budget to say I will start to
make monthly payments of £x starting on 1st jan and make sure I change my standing order to this amount

And then count the months until my debts start to diminish (remembering to monitor when defaults happen and chase them in 6 months if not done)

This all sounds a little too easy and unstressful which I’m fully aware it won’t be and I know that I will panic when the letters start to arrive. But I’m looking on the positive side and thinking that at least I only have 2 creditors to deal with and pray they both default me ASAP!

Can I just ask a couple of questions that may seem obvious -
1. do all creditors contact you to advise when they have put your account into default and can they not back track then?
2. If barclaycard sell on the debt am I then able to pay more than 1% of the balance off or will this still generate interest (I know BC are a pain for this)
3 if you offer a f&f settlement and they
agree to this it gets marked as satisfied rather than settled. Does this have a negative effect and does this also disappear after the 6 years or is this always available for future creditors to see

So sorry for the long post and hope people find it useful or can advise on it with their own experiences

Suseka97

Finallyfacingup wrote: »

Well after lurking for a short time I have finally found the courage to face this all head on and go down the dmp route... and for a few reasons (mainly the fact that I know that if I go thru SC then my payments to barclaycard will exceed 1% making it hard for me to default the account) I have decided to self manage.....

.......This all sounds a little too easy and unstressful which I’m fully aware it won’t be and I know that I will panic when the letters start to arrive. But I’m looking on the positive side and thinking that at least I only have 2 creditors to deal with and pray they both default me ASAP!

Can I just ask a couple of questions that may seem obvious -
1. do all creditors contact you to advise when they have put your account into default and can they not back track then?
2. If barclaycard sell on the debt am I then able to pay more than 1% of the balance off or will this still generate interest (I know BC are a pain for this)
3 if you offer a f&f settlement and they
agree to this it gets marked as satisfied rather than settled. Does this have a negative effect and does this also disappear after the 6 years or is this always available for future creditors to see
So sorry for the long post and hope people find it useful or can advise on it with their own experiences

You are definitely approaching this in a methodical and organised way - so there's not much to add to the steps you've laid out. Just keep on top of pushing for defaults when the time comes and be prepared for a barrage of computer generated mail.

In response to your questions:-
1. Some will acknowledge and others won't -but I think BC and Hfx are fairly on the ball with DMPs.
2. BC are a pain when it comes to not stopping interest, but hopefully if you're keeping your payment to them low enough it'll happen more quickly. The main thing, if they do sell the debt on, is to make sure (if you can) that its defaulted when they do. Once defaulted all interest and charges have to cease. If they sell on and its not defaulted drop payments to tokens and you'll soon find the DCA will default.
3. It doesn't matter what 'outcome' is placed on your credit file (in terms of satisfied or settled) what matters is the 'marker' and that's why you need that Default. A default remains on your file for 6 years from the date its registered and then the account drops off your credit file, even if you still have an outstanding balance. If they mark the file as AP, or DM then it'll stay on the file for 6 years from the date it is settled/satisfied (so far longer than you would like).

Red_Athena

HI everyone,

I've been keeping my head down for a bit, sticking to this month's budget and planning for the future etc etc. I'm just about ready to send my StepChange agreement and DD form back, but what happens then? Would my first payment be taken in September, or do I tell them what month I want to start payments? How does it usually work?

LexieLou

Red_Athena wrote: »

HI everyone,

I've been keeping my head down for a bit, sticking to this month's budget and planning for the future etc etc. I'm just about ready to send my StepChange agreement and DD form back, but what happens then? Would my first payment be taken in September, or do I tell them what month I want to start payments? How does it usually work?

Hey,

I told them what date it was to start on, and they agreed to that.

Good Luck

LL xxx

Red_Athena

LexieLou wrote: »

Hey,

I told them what date it was to start on, and they agreed to that.

Good Luck

LL xxx

Great, thanks LexieLou! How long have you been going?

LexieLou

Red_Athena wrote: »

Great, thanks LexieLou! How long have you been going?

Mine starts on the 10th Oct. The lady at SC told me that if you submit at the end of the month it can fall to the 10th or indeed the next month for payments to start. Just tell them when you want it to start.

Do you have a diary? I'll pop along and follow your journey

LL x

Red_Athena

LexieLou wrote: »

Mine starts on the 10th Oct. The lady at SC told me that if you submit at the end of the month it can fall to the 10th or indeed the next month for payments to start. Just tell them when you want it to start.

Do you have a diary? I'll pop along and follow your journey

LL x

Thanks, I’ve told them October so that I have another month for emergency fund

I don’t have a diary yet. I’ve thought about starting one, but I’m fairly boring so I’m not sure what I’d write :rotfl:
I have realised that I read yours last month when I first arrived looking into DMPs

Onebrokelady

Hi,I've been on my DMP with SC since March and have been paying £134 a month and it's all been going well so far.
I have now had to reduce my hours at work due to ill health and I think I'm going to struggle to meet my DMP payments.
I have reduced my hours by 18 a month so not loads but I won't know how it's going to afffect my budget properly until next months payday as that will be a whole month on the new hours
It's currently going to take me 8 years to pay off my debt so if I reduce the payments it will obviously take longer
My question is,will it be a problem to reduce my payments as far as SC is concerned I'm really worried I'm not going to be able to afford to live on my new reduced hours but my health problems have pushed me into this decision,I am thinking I could go self managed if it is a problem but would rather not if I can help it

sourcrates

Onebrokelady wrote: »

Hi,I've been on my DMP with SC since March and have been paying £134 a month and it's all been going well so far.
I have now had to reduce my hours at work due to ill health and I think I'm going to struggle to meet my DMP payments.
I have reduced my hours by 18 a month so not loads but I won't know how it's going to afffect my budget properly until next months payday as that will be a whole month on the new hours
It's currently going to take me 8 years to pay off my debt so if I reduce the payments it will obviously take longer
My question is,will it be a problem to reduce my payments as far as SC is concerned I'm really worried I'm not going to be able to afford to live on my new reduced hours but my health problems have pushed me into this decision,I am thinking I could go self managed if it is a problem but would rather not if I can help it

Hi,

Lowering your payment due to reduced hours will not be a problem.

It is what it is, so they cannot object can they.

Can you run through your circumstances for me real quick, see if a DRO may be possible instead.

Onebrokelady

sourcrates wrote: »

Hi,

Lowering your payment due to reduced hours will not be a problem.

It is what it is, so they cannot object can they.

Can you run through your circumstances for me real quick, see if a DRO may be possible instead.[/QUOTE

I don't know if they can object so mthats why I asked the question, thanks for the answer
I'm not eligible for a DRO because I own my own home