DMP mutual support thread part 13 !!

SkintDad87

Beautiful, thank you Willing2Learn! Also getting emails from companies asking why I can't pay until October, and can I just pay £00.01 a month...I still refused. Should I even reply to such emails, or leave it all until 01/10/2019?

Willing2Learn

You can reply if you want to, always by letter (Royal Mail). You could reiterate that you only consent to correspondence by Royal Mail, that the accounts will on hold until October 1st. You could give a reason for the delay for things such as emergency boiler repair, emergency car maintenance, that sort of thing. In my book, that isn't actually lying, as you are saving an EF to cover you against those types of unknown costs that will crop up from time to time...

SkintDad87

You can reply if you want to, always by letter (Royal Mail). You could reiterate that you only consent to correspondence by Royal Mail, that the accounts will on hold until October 1st. You could give a reason for the delay for things such as emergency boiler repair, emergency car maintenance, that sort of thing. In my book, that isn't actually lying, as you are saving an EF to cover you against those types of unknown costs that will crop up from time to time...

Thank you again. I have replied to say it was due to training in job (which isn't a lie) and coming off of shift work, therefore losing shift premium, therefore a lower wage until September, and payments will begin in October, when I will start to get paid normally again!

They can be very pushy with wording, but I'm looking at the plus side, biggest debt and with 3 of the debts, Halifax have defaulted...that said, I only sent them a letter yesterday, stating I will start payments in October, and recieved notice of default today - will it be an issue to now move that date to October?

phoenixx

It’s been a while since I posted but a momentous day brought me back here - to the forum I visited first as a newbie about 7 years ago. I was too scared to post at first and lurked around for a while until I gained the courage to engage. We started out in 2011 with over £98,000 of unsecured debt. Credit cards, loans, overdrafts - you name it, we had it. We were barely surviving month-to-month. We went to Stepchange first and made rookie errors like trying to pay too big a monthly payment. Learnt our lesson there! Eventually we got the courage to self manage with help from contributors to this forum.

It’s been years of hard slog, extra jobs, cutting corners and mental health issues. Our car is knackered and our house has had no attention for ages. It’s shabby and our clothes are old. But...today my husband rang Shoosmiths to pay off his last £3.85 from an original debt of £1800+ and we realised that was the last one! We still have the mortgage and I owe the Milkman a few quid but that’s it. To anyone who has supported me - thank you! I can’t quite describe the feeling but I can tell you - there is light at the end of the tunnel and we are standing in it.

phoenixx

After posting my news I realised my signature is wholly out of date. It should read £0 for unsecured debt. I tried to change it but looks like it’s stuck...

I did mean to give some awards to creditors for different things, so here goes:

Most threatening creditor - ‘Next’. Even with Stepchange involvement, they tried to take me to court for £600. I avoid going anywhere near the shop.

Most relentless interest charged - ‘Barclaycard’. They were stubborn as hell about interest. Constant agreements to freeze or backdate and then carried on charging. Ghastly bit we got there in the end! Don’t give up!

Most antagonistic and unpleasant creditor - ‘Northern Rock’ - vile customer service and frequent lies. We still have a mortgage with them as our credit ratings are screwed. But we have a plan to get rid of them soon.

Tried to help prize - the Ombudsman. Overwork and pressure meant our first one went sick with stress and the second resigned after 2 weeks. The third ruled in our favour against NR.

Best, most helpful creditor - Shoosmiths. Bent over backwards to help. Not everyone’s experience I know.

Most prying into personal business - PRA Group. A horrid experience being questioned about my children’s dinner money by a patronising man insisting on doing an I&E. Always write to them. Phoning sucks.

Championship award - Stepchange - although we went on our own in the end, they pretty much saved us in the beginning. I would recommend them wholeheartedly.

maggies1970

Hi Im new here.
I have been reading a lot of the post on this forum for the last few days.
I am in debts, I can not cope with my minimum payments any longer...
I have stopped some payments in January.
My debts are 11000,00
I’ve done my calculation and I have £105 to pay all my debts per month. All my debts are unsecured: credit cards, overdraft, catalogs.
I have sent letter with my income and expenses and offers to my creditors already (awaiting response) however I am worried that I’ve done it prematurely.
None of my debts are default yet. Should I wait till there are marked as default before arranging payment plan?
Who should I contact? Original creditor or debt collectors as 2 of my debts have been passed to them for collection but not sold? Any advice would be great as I feel less and less confident with my self managing
Thanks

Willing2Learn

maggies1970 wrote: »

I am in debts, I can not cope with my minimum payments any longer...
I have stopped some payments in January.
My debts are 11000,00
I’ve done my calculation and I have £105 to pay all my debts per month. All my debts are unsecured: credit cards, overdraft, catalogs.
I have sent letter with my income and expenses and offers to my creditors already (awaiting response) however I am worried that I’ve done it prematurely.
None of my debts are default yet. Should I wait till there are marked as default before arranging payment plan?
Who should I contact? Original creditor or debt collectors as 2 of my debts have been passed to them for collection but not sold? Any advice would be great as I feel less and less confident with my self managing

Hi and welcome to the forum

Your creditors are very unlikely to accept any offers before the accounts have been defaulted and then passed on to a DCA.

Self-managing (SM) is easy once everything gets up and running.

The first thing you need to do when SM, is to write to all your creditors with holding letters so that the accounts are frozen while you seek advice.

It is best practice to ask for the accounts to be put on hold for six months. This allows you to save an Emergency Fund (EF). An EF is a vital component of all monthly budgets as it ring-fences money for unknown situations such as emergency car maintenance or emergency boiler repairs for instance. Your creditors may moan that this is unacceptable, but at the end of the day, they have no choice but to accept your terms.

When you send off any letters, they should all be addressed to the current DCA that is managing the account.

Have a good read of the NEDCAB website. NEDCAB provides users with the tools to SM successfully. It auto-generates letters and makes any calculations for you. It is a valuable resource.
https://nedcab.cabmoney.org.uk/

Willing2Learn

SkintDad87 wrote: »

Thank you again. I have replied to say it was due to training in job (which isn't a lie) and coming off of shift work, therefore losing shift premium, therefore a lower wage until September, and payments will begin in October, when I will start to get paid normally again!

They can be very pushy with wording, but I'm looking at the plus side, biggest debt and with 3 of the debts, Halifax have defaulted...that said, I only sent them a letter yesterday, stating I will start payments in October, and recieved notice of default today - will it be an issue to now move that date to October?

I cannot see any issue with an October start date. Your creditors have no choice but to accept your terms. You have given your reasons for the delay and that will, at the end of the day, be satisfactory to your creditors (though they may still send auto-generated scary letters).

maggies1970

Thanks for quick response :-)
I stopped paying my debts in January. It has given me the time to get emergency founds.
I have sent letters asking my creditors to freeze all interest and charges and my financial statement and offer in one...
I used CAB website to calculate everything and to generate letters.
So far 2 of my creditors ( Moorcroft and Littlewood) responded and they happy with my repayment plan.
Others ignores my letter and I haven't heart from them at all. Only Arvato acting behave Marbles credit card keep calling 5 times a day.
In the letter I requested to contact me only in writing and to remove my telephone number but as I said they act like they has not received my request. ( all letters sent by recorded delivery).
I'm worried that if my debts are not default they will be forever on my credit report.
I have debts with look again and safetynet but despite not being paid for the last few months they just send me my monthly statement- no letters regarding areas or demands to pay outstanding balance. No respond for my letter so far.

Willing2Learn

maggies1970 wrote: »

… Arvato acting behave Marbles credit card keep calling 5 times a day.
In the letter I requested to contact me only in writing and to remove my telephone number but as I said they act like they has not received my request. ( all letters sent by recorded delivery).
I'm worried that if my debts are not default they will be forever on my credit report.
I have debts with look again and safetynet but despite not being paid for the last few months they just send me my monthly statement- no letters regarding areas or demands to pay outstanding balance. No respond for my letter so far.

If it were me, I would write to Avarto, reiterating your holding letter. I would add to the letter that you ONLY consent to written correspondence by Royal Mail, stating that all other methods of contact would be considered harassment.

The monthly statements are normal and nothing to be wrooried about.

As for defaults. They are a good thing. You want all your creditors to default your accounts. The sooner they are defaulted, the sooner your credit file gets cleaned up. This is because defaults are automatically removed from your credit files six years from the date of default. An Arrangement to Pay marker can stay on your credit file for [STRIKE]up to an extra six years![/STRIKE] six years after the account is settled/satisfied