DMP mutual support thread part 13 !!

Moveslikeagger

Hi all,

I am new to this. Im 70k in debt and am about to start a DMP. I have been honest with my finances and i can pay £460 pounds to my DMP each month which is all good. However I just had news, the best news ever. My wife is pregnant. Obviously my money will change once our baby is born. We have equity in our house but dont want to sell particularly now we have a baby on the way! What is my best way forward? As when baby is born my wife will only get statutory maternity so I wont be able to afford the payments I can now. Any advice appreciated! Thanks in advance!

January2015

Moveslikeagger wrote: »

Hi all,

I am new to this. Im 70k in debt and am about to start a DMP. I have been honest with my finances and i can pay £460 pounds to my DMP each month which is all good. However I just had news, the best news ever. My wife is pregnant. Obviously my money will change once our baby is born. We have equity in our house but dont want to sell particularly now we have a baby on the way! What is my best way forward? As when baby is born my wife will only get statutory maternity so I wont be able to afford the payments I can now. Any advice appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Congratulations on the DMP and the wonderful news of the baby :beer:

Don't panic. Settle into your DMP and as and when you need to reduce the payments to your creditors just let them know the circumstances - they will be fine. I started in January 2015 owing £95k. For the last two years I have only paid £1 per month to each creditor - they have all been absolutely fine. Just explain your circumstances and let them know you will increase payments as and when you, i.e. when wife is back at work.

They know the payments will change and they will be fine. You can relax and look forward to the new addition to your family far easier than if you were not on a DMP.

January2015

Keikei wrote: »

Hi,

Just a newbie lurking the forums at the moment. I'm currently on a DMP with Stepchange and have just three debts remaining, two with Nationwide and one with Link Financial (which was originally Barclaycard)

I've recently sent a CCA request to Link Financial as this debt was taken out about 16 years ago and wanted to see if it was enforceable (I haven't sent any to Nationwide as I'm pretty sure these were enforceable as they were from 2013 and applied for online)

If it happens that the link debt is unenforceable, is it better to go and self manage my DMP? I read a previous post where Stepchange don't recommend favoring one creditor over another and was wondering what action to take if I were to offer a Full and Final Settlement to link?

The link debt is about £11000 whereas the Nationwide credit card is £3500 and loan £2990.

You can make settlement offers directly to creditors and bypass Stepchange (SC), whilst still using them for your DMP. Or, you could go self-managed. Wait and see what the CCA request returns and make your decision then.

If it is unenforceable (UE) then you can either just not pay it, or make a low settlement offer. I had a debt of just under £12,000 that was unenforceable and I chose to settle if for £1,200. The reason I chose to settle it was to get it marked a settled on my credit file and no-one could sell or transfer the debt and I wouldn't have the hassle of evidencing again it was UE. My choice, but others choose to just not pay. Again, make a decision when you have the information back from the CCA request.

Moveslikeagger

Thanks for your swift reply January. I have read lots on this forum and I must say that yourself and a few others are an inspiration and I feel positive about my debt and life now. Just a question. How bad and frequent is contact from creditors? My wife knows the circumstances but could do without constant calls etc especially while she is pregnant!

Keikei

January2015 wrote: »

You can make settlement offers directly to creditors and bypass Stepchange (SC), whilst still using them for your DMP. Or, you could go self-managed. Wait and see what the CCA request returns and make your decision then.

If it is unenforceable (UE) then you can either just not pay it, or make a low settlement offer. I had a debt of just under £12,000 that was unenforceable and I chose to settle if for £1,200. The reason I chose to settle it was to get it marked a settled on my credit file and no-one could sell or transfer the debt and I wouldn't have the hassle of evidencing again it was UE. My choice, but others choose to just not pay. Again, make a decision when you have the information back from the CCA request.

Thank you for your quick response, yes I will wait and see when I get a response back before deciding on what to do next!

January2015

Moveslikeagger wrote: »

Thanks for your swift reply January. I have read lots on this forum and I must say that yourself and a few others are an inspiration and I feel positive about my debt and life now. Just a question. How bad and frequent is contact from creditors? My wife knows the circumstances but could do without constant calls etc especially while she is pregnant!

Whenever (and I mean everytime) you write to your creditors, advise that all communication regarding this account must be done in writing, and state you do not give them permission to contact you by phone. Let them know you will always respond promptly to written communication. They have to honour this request provided you do remain in contact with them.

Creditors write to me every now and then - I haven't had any phone calls since early to mid 2015.

I seriously love my DMP and I never stress over the amount I owe anymore - it will get cleared as and when I am can afford it, but life comes first

sourcrates

Moveslikeagger wrote: »

Thanks for your swift reply January. I have read lots on this forum and I must say that yourself and a few others are an inspiration and I feel positive about my debt and life now. Just a question. How bad and frequent is contact from creditors? My wife knows the circumstances but could do without constant calls etc especially while she is pregnant!

Under new data protection rules, you have the right to be contacted however you choose.

You tell them, either contact by phone, email, text or in writing.

Moveslikeagger

Thanks for your replies, Its great to have support here. Looking forward to starting a new chapter in my life!

JohnnyRotten

I thought it would be worth a quick update given that I’ve had so much great advice here.

I was planning to start a DMP with SC but ran in to a number of problems. First they set the direct debit up on the wrong date, then they entered a balance incorrectly which issued inaccurate offers to my creditors. As I only have five creditors I decided to cancel my DMP with SC and self-manage.

I used the NEDCAB website to generate my offers and letters with no problems. I sent each offer with an I&E and delayed the first payment by two months to establish an emergency fund; I didn’t explain this in the letter to the creditors.

All have responded positively, stating that they’ll accept the offer, freeze interest and default shortly (we’ll see!). Only my biggest creditor, HSBC, has said they’ll freeze everything for 2 months and then review.

Without the advice from this forum I wouldn’t have had the courage to self-manage from the start. Yes I’ve had the ‘scary’ letters but I’ve had no phone calls from creditors whatsoever and they’ve accepted the details I’ve sent them (using a NEDCAB reference). It’s not easy but I’ve set a reasonable budget, built up an emergency fund and offered what I can realistically afford. I’m so much happier than I thought I could be.

For those in or considering a DMP with SC don’t read this as a rant against them, on the whole they were brilliant and if I had more creditors I wouldn’t have hesitated going with them. I just wanted to reassure those undecided that self-managing is treated in exactly the same way and isn’t hard to do. We all have our own journeys and, prior to reading this forum, I wouldn’t have considered going it alone.

I’m over £50k in debt but on the road to debt free!

Good luck to all the DFWs!

[Deleted User]

JohnnyRotten wrote: »

I thought it would be worth a quick update given that I’ve had so much great advice here.

I was planning to start a DMP with SC but ran in to a number of problems. First they set the direct debit up on the wrong date, then they entered a balance incorrectly which issued inaccurate offers to my creditors. As I only have five creditors I decided to cancel my DMP with SC and self-manage.

I used the NEDCAB website to generate my offers and letters with no problems. I sent each offer with an I&E and delayed the first payment by two months to establish an emergency fund; I didn’t explain this in the letter to the creditors.

All have responded positively, stating that they’ll accept the offer, freeze interest and default shortly (we’ll see!). Only my biggest creditor, HSBC, has said they’ll freeze everything for 2 months and then review.

Without the advice from this forum I wouldn’t have had the courage to self-manage from the start. Yes I’ve had the ‘scary’ letters but I’ve had no phone calls from creditors whatsoever and they’ve accepted the details I’ve sent them (using a NEDCAB reference). It’s not easy but I’ve set a reasonable budget, built up an emergency fund and offered what I can realistically afford. I’m so much happier than I thought I could be.

For those in or considering a DMP with SC don’t read this as a rant against them, on the whole they were brilliant and if I had more creditors I wouldn’t have hesitated going with them. I just wanted to reassure those undecided that self-managing is treated in exactly the same way and isn’t hard to do. We all have our own journeys and, prior to reading this forum, I wouldn’t have considered going it alone.

I’m over £50k in debt but on the road to debt free!

Good luck to all the DFWs!

What a lovely, uplifting post, JohnnyRotten:T:beer:

I'm so happy that you have got your DMP life off to such a satisfactory start after the initial snags and really pleased that we on here (probably not me exactly but posters in general) have helped you on your way:j

I started my DMP at almost £57,000:eek: and went with SC because I hadn't discovered this forum in those days and was desperate. I'm not being over-dramatic when I say their help was a life-saver. I had 6 creditors at that time plus 2 small overdrafts and I don't think I would have had the confidence to 'go it alone' at the start even had I realised it was possible and relatively pain-free to do it.

4 years in and after discovering this thread and the wonderful advice and encouragement from the people who post here I bit the bullet and went self-managed. Like you I found the NEDCAB site an invaluable resource and have never regretted my decision to go it alone. I know I could never have coped without SC in the early days. I knew no-one who had battled debts (either in real life or in cyberspace) and felt my debt issues were unique;). I would have self-managed quicker than 4 years had I been more aware but as it was SC were wonderful and I certainly got my life back and slept soundly at night when they were 'holding my hand'.


I wish you the best of luck in your DMP 'journey'. I know you've got the gumption to make a real 'go' of it. Please drop in now and again to let us know how you're getting on. Any snags that may arise along the way, just let us know and there will no doubt be someone who has encountered the same thing and can help.