DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 12

sourcrates

Time_To_Change wrote: »

Is there anybody that would be willing to read over my letter I was going to send my creditors? I am not sure if I should mention how I got into the debt although they will be able to see from my statements. Thanks.

If you want to PM me a copy of it, I’ll take a look for you.

Time_To_Change

January2015 wrote: »

It really doesn't matter to creditors how you got into debt. There are standard letters). I wouldn't go into how I got into debt - least said the better in my view.

However, if you are in debt due to mental or other health problems then there are letter templates for those scenarios as well.

I am sure someone would be willing to view your letter if you still want someone to

sourcrates wrote: »

If you want to PM me a copy of it, I’ll take a look for you.

Thanks guys much appreciated. I will message over a copy tomorrow afternoon if that's ok. I can't believe how helpful everybody is. I wish I joined sooner instead of spending weeks worrying about it all.

jak669

Time_To_Change wrote: »

Thank you LexieLou it means a lot to know I can talk to people on here that understand and are in the same boat. I am going to get my letters sent out tomorrow and hopefully it will not be too bad self managing with just the 3 creditors.

Does anyone have any
experience in dealing with Tesco MBNA or Barclaycard? Just wondering how likely they are to agree to freeze interest. The last thing I want is for the interest each Month to be higher than my payments.

Hi

I have both barclaycard and MBNA both with close to 10k debt each and they were brilliant. They stopped interest and charges straight away when I contacted them . MBNA even took chanters off from months before as they asked when I started struggling.

Neither of them have hassled me - even letters were minimal.

Try not to worry - I was where you are a few months ago. I have 9 different creditors and they have all been excellent. I called all
Mine rather than writing to them and have stayed In touch via phone. I have already had one default - just waiting for the other 8 now.

Good luck 🙂

Time_To_Change

jak669 wrote: »

Hi

I have both barclaycard and MBNA both with close to 10k debt each and they were brilliant. They stopped interest and charges straight away when I contacted them . MBNA even took chanters off from months before as they asked when I started struggling.

Neither of them have hassled me - even letters were minimal.

Try not to worry - I was where you are a few months ago. I have 9 different creditors and they have all been excellent. I called all
Mine rather than writing to them and have stayed In touch via phone. I have already had one default - just waiting for the other 8 now.

Good luck 🙂

Hi thanks for sharing this. Is it better to try and get defaulted early on? I was under the assumption that it will still be on your credit file 6 years after your dmp finishes?

Willing2Learn

Time_To_Change wrote: »

Is it better to try and get defaulted early on? I was under the assumption that it will still be on your credit file 6 years after your dmp finishes?

You want all your creditors to mark their accounts as defaulted on the date you were 3-6 months in arrears. That way, the defaulted credit accounts are removed from your file(s) earlier.

Edit: If they are not marking the accounts as defaulted when 3-6 months in arrears, then you want to request that they do so. (It would be in accordance with ICO guidelines regarding defaults)

[Deleted User]

Time_To_Change wrote: »

Hi thanks for sharing this. Is it better to try and get defaulted early on? I was under the assumption that it will still be on your credit file 6 years after your dmp finishes?

Defaulted accounts drop off your credit file 6 years after the default date regardless of whether you still owe money on the accounts. That's why we love defaults on here:j. I started my DMP in early 2013 and was defaulted by all but one creditor by mid 2013. By this time next year all but that one debt will have disappeared from my credit file:j even if I still have an outstanding balance owing. Doesn't mean I don't have to finish paying the debts off but it makes the credit file look a lot more respectable to anyone else who may see it;)


I've been paying token payments to all my creditors for over a year now and have saved a nice little fighting fund to negotiate Full and Final settlement offers with. I'll be trying my very best to be debt free by the end of this year. Settlements stay on file for 6 years from the settlement date but if already defaulted they disappear on the 6th anniversary of the default which is obviously years sooner. That's how I understand it anyway but I could be wrong. I frequently am:o

Willing2Learn

carbootcrazy wrote: »

...I started my DMP in early 2013 and was defaulted by all but one creditor by mid 2013. By this time next year all but that one debt will have disappeared from my credit file:j even if I still have an outstanding balance owing...

You should ask the creditor that hasn't defaulted you, to correctly mark your file as defaulted when you were 3-6 months in arrears (except for overdrafts). That way, they will be in full compliance with ICO guidelines, and all your debts will be removed from your credit file(s) at the same time.

Time_To_Change

My original plan was to pay set up a payment to clear around half of the debt in the next 6 years and then release some equity from my house to settle the rest. However after looking into it I thought the likelihood of being able to remortgage would be virtually impossible with my credit file.

Red_Athena

Question about StepChange. Where online do I see how much each creditor will now be getting instead of what the minimum payments were? I’m sure I’ve seen it, and I wanted to check because I think that the amount it was allocating to one creditor was higher than the actual minimum payment is. I just can’t find the info now :mad:

Aha! Found it. It was in an email. Ok, so I’m right. The amount they’re allocating to a particular debt is £34.17. The minimum payment is £26.13. I’m not really sure what to do about this, has anyone got any previous experience with this?

JohnnyRotten

Does anyone have any experience with HSBC not offering a 30 day ‘breathing space’ period?

I cancelled my DDs and wrote to them to explain that I was in financial difficulty, taking advice from SC and asking for the 30 day period. I had a reply from the credit card section to say they had put a note on my file but today they have charged interest and a late fee. The loan and current account section replied to say they couldn’t freeze any charges or action until they heard from SC with a payment plan. I’ve never missed a payment previously.

BC & MBNA have both frozen charges and action with no problem. Is it worth writing to HSBC again?

Starting a DMP in November but saving an emergency fund first.