DMP mutual support thread part 13 !!

OohSoHolly

Just popping in to this wonderful thread that has kept me strong throughout this journey. Been on my DMP for just over 8 Months Now and received my first DC letter. My AQUA account has been sold to Cabot Financial Management. They have acknowledged my DMP in the letter and wondered do I just contact Step Change and continue as is? :think:

Whatamidoinghere

I'm new to SC too but I think you just update the payment details online at SC so they have correct payment details for Cabot x

Willing2Learn

Marble030509 wrote: »

We have 21 creditors and the only one we had problems getting address details for were PayPal Credit. Does anybody happen to know the address, i'm not sure we even have an account number as the PayPal Credit section of PayPal is very vague.

Have you tried phoning PayPal and asking them for an address? (I just had a quick google and did not find a postal address for you )

Marble030509 wrote: »

We have the DMP forms from StepChange but need to save an emergency fund. We plan on doing this for 6 months in order to get a decent sized fund behind us as we currently have no savings whatsoever. Now we have sent the holding letters would we need to make sure we send letters again before 30 days have passed? Also i am a bit confused on the wording we should be using. Do i simply tell them that we will be starting a DMP in August and they will receive no payment until then?

If it were me, I would send out letters to your creditors confirming that the DMP is starting in August and that the DMP payments will begin at that time. (You could give a reason, but I don't think that is important.) With a bit of luck, it should result in most or all of your creditors defaulting the accounts. (Defaults are good as the accounts will drop off your credit files earlier).

Willing2Learn

Boris81 wrote: »

My question is if two of the creditors can not provide my CCA I presume Stepchange will want me to keep paying them. However if I went self managed would I just use the Pro Rata method and transfer the amount paid. I’m also wary as I’m hoping to get an increase so will need to declare this later.

Or would it be better to look at partial settlement rather then AP/ default on my credit file in several years.

A partial or full settlement are probably equally negative marks to have on your credit file, as either way you have broken the original credit agreement. A default is way better than having AP markers though, as the [toxic] accounts will be removed from your credit files much earlier. You can request that your creditors default you, dated from when you were 3-6 months in arrears, in accordance with ICO guidance. (This is only guidance though and they are not compelled to comply, although they must have due regard to the guidance). Have a look at the thread linked below, and pay particular attention to post #4.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5598629

Marble030509

Willing2Learn wrote: »

Have you tried phoning PayPal and asking them for an address? (I just had a quick google and did not find a postal address for you )


If it were me, I would send out letters to your creditors confirming that the DMP is starting in August and that the DMP payments will begin at that time. (You could give a reason, but I don't think that is important.) With a bit of luck, it should result in most or all of your creditors defaulting the accounts. (Defaults are good as the accounts will drop off your credit files earlier).

Thank you so much for your reply. We managed to get through to PayPal this evening and have obtained a UK postage address but it took some passing from department to department on the phone.

Great, we will get the letters out stating when the DMP will start. In the meantime is it really just as easy as saving our emergency fund and waiting for August to roll around to commence payments? Was strange not paying two of our creditors that were due today for the first time since we admitted our debt problem. Having never missed a payment before it will take some getting used to i guess.

Thanks once again for your help

Saor

hi all,
newbie here. I hope I've posted correctly. I've been trying to read as much as possible on this thread after being advised by CAB and referred to Payplan for a dmp. It has been really eye opening and I am so glad I've found it as I was completely clueless. So thanks to all you kind folks who have shared your experiences and knowledge.

Im really quite worried about living without access to credit though as my partner and I have three small children and I'm on maternity leave with very little income on my side until I return to work in September. He will have just about enough to cover our mortgage, car payments and food but it will be difficult. On the other hand I'm relieved and hopeful that this is the right thing to do.

We are planning on just me entering into a dmp and my partner will continue to service his own cc debt of about £5000.
We don't have joint accounts and aren't married so should hopefully be able to maintain his credit score and leave us with a possibility of credit access should we need it over the coming bare months.

I have credit card debts of approx £13000 with 5 different companies. I also have an overdraft of £1500 with Danske bank but the mortgage which is in my name only is also with them so it is not being included in the dmp. I'm still worried that they could offset the money my OH puts in for the mortgage in order to pay the overdraft. this would be a pretty cynical move though wouldn't it given I've never missed payments. I would hope they wouldn't, would they?

So Payplan are in the process of setting everything up and contacting my creditors. a direct debit has been set up to come out April, it's only £24 in total. We don't have excess cash to build up an emergency find anyway but maybe when I go back to work we could put some money aside.

I have called most of my creditors and advised them of my situatuon and that Payplan woukd be in touch with them. Im now wondering how to i avoid an AP marker on my file? I'm understanding now that I really need them to default my debts asap, which is totally not what I would have expected! but I'm learning!
If we managed to get my credit file back clear again in 6 years or so that would be ideal as we had hoped to sell this house and move at some point in the future.

Just wondering does it sound like we are doing the right thing? I'm really having a wobble about it and sometimes I think we should just sell the house and use the equity to pay off our debts and start afresh.

Sorry for the rambling post, any and all advice appreciated! ��

Whatamidoinghere

Hi quick question I'm new to his 2 months in of my dmp. If I receive a demand for arrears etc from my credit card company do i have to respond or just ignore it. I'm in my 60s and never missed a payment so was quite shocked to find myself £40000 in debt. Thank you for your advice .

Suseka97

Marble030509 wrote: »

.........

Great, we will get the letters out stating when the DMP will start. In the meantime is it really just as easy as saving our emergency fund and waiting for August to roll around to commence payments? Was strange not paying two of our creditors that were due today for the first time since we admitted our debt problem. Having never missed a payment before it will take some getting used to i guess. Thanks once again for your help

Actually, yes - it is that easy. There are so many people facing financial difficulty nowadays that creditors are probably struggling to keep up with it. The wheels turn very slowly in DMP land and whilst you may get some computer generated bumpf over the next few days/weeks/months -that's all it is. You just stick with your plans and stay in touch with your creditors as and when required, Build your emergency fund (and do set it aside) and then start your payments in August.

Whatamidoinghere wrote: »

Hi quick question I'm new to his 2 months in of my dmp. If I receive a demand for arrears etc from my credit card company do i have to respond or just ignore it. I'm in my 60s and never missed a payment so was quite shocked to find myself £40000 in debt. Thank you for your advice .

Yes, pretty much so. You'll get variuos standard letters with demands for payment, threats of default etc. That's just par for the course and most are computer generated and triggered by the cessation of your monthly contractual payments. So you can now sit back and relax and just let your DMP trundle along.

Suseka97

Saor wrote: »

............
Im really quite worried about living without access to credit though as my partner and I have three small children and I'm on maternity leave with very little income on my side until I return to work in September. He will have just about enough to cover our mortgage, car payments and food but it will be difficult. On the other hand I'm relieved and hopeful that this is the right thing to do.

We are planning on just me entering into a dmp and my partner will continue to service his own cc debt of about £5000.
We don't have joint accounts and aren't married so should hopefully be able to maintain his credit score and leave us with a possibility of credit access should we need it over the coming bare months...........

I guess my only concern here is in relation to your concern about acess to credit and the fact that you feel there may still be a need for this in the coming months. I can understand why - but you need to change your mindset a little. I appreciate that you want to do your own plan and keep your partner out of it, but from what you say it seems to me that he cannot easily service his debts whilst paying for his other outgoings. Not when you say he'll just about have enough etc. Have you not considered a joint DMP so that all the debts are covered and ensure your I&E is sufficient for you to live comfortably and not have to worry about having access to credit.

Also - we do tend ot advice newbies to save up an emergency fund, which would resolve that issue for you to some degree.

Just a thought

Saor

[QUOTEHave you not considered a joint DMP so that all the debts are covered and ensure your I&E is sufficient for you to live comfortably and not have to worry about having access to credit.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for your advice Suseka. yes we both went through it with CAB and considered a joint DMP but it seems more sensible to keep him out of it for a few reasons. At least that's the advice we got from CAB anyway. I suppose maybe we could consider it later on if needs be.
I do have a wee pot of money saved away for the summer when I will be on zero pay. We just won't have any extra to add to it for a while and I may need it to get a car for going back to work as I'm considering voluntary termination of my current car which I have on pcp.
I had considered retuning to work early but to pay for 3 children in full time childcare over the summer would just not add up..
With the DMP in place and me back at work we should be ok I hope. it's just getting through the next few months will be hard.
I know I need to get my head around not being able to access credit. We are not extravagant by any means and I'm hopeful that the dmp will mean we can start to put a bit more aside for emergencies.
Do you know how I can avoid an AP marker on my file?
Thanks again.