DMP mutual support thread part 13 !!

sourcrates

stormpassing wrote: »

Hi all,
Just thought I’d pop in and say hi. Last time I posted we were struggling with our DMP as hubby was made redundant unexpectedly ( this was some time ago now). Anyway after a few years and sleepless nights he opted for a DRO ( now done and discharged) and I continued with my DMP. I am happy to report that during my absence I have reduced my debt by half and have approx 3 years until I’m debt free. I thought about the forum randomly recently and decided to start following and participating again as it was so helpful to me in the beginning.

Anyway enough of my ramblings just wanted to say hi ��

Hi to you too,

Welcome back, and congrats on your debt busting!!

January2015

Hi everyone :wave:

Just dropped in to catch up with you all. We are still chipping away at our DMP. We've managed to settle another Helifex debt at 20% of the balance. They offered that to us out of the blue - so that was a bonus

Sorry I don't get on the forum as much now but I promise to keep dropping in and updating as and when I can

motivated

January2015 wrote: »

Hi everyone :wave:

Just dropped in to catch up with you all. We are still chipping away at our DMP. We've managed to settle another Helifex debt at 20% of the balance. They offered that to us out of the blue - so that was a bonus

Sorry I don't get on the forum as much now but I promise to keep dropping in and updating as and when I can

Hi January lovely to hear from you . Way to go on Halifax. I have 2 big ones with them being managed not bought by Wescot. I’m hoping as time goes on we will get a decent offer too. I’ve chanced my arm with offers but refused. I’ll keep playing the waiting game

My you was up early or late whichever way round it is lol
M

theatrelover1

I have been on a DMP with Step Change for almost a year, and I have only had one creditor default. The creditor who I owe the most to has not defaulted, and is still charging interest.

I was very keen when I began the DMP to make payments, and I didn't set aside any time to put together an emergency fund. I am considering moving to a self-managed DMP in order to give me the opportunity to arrange an emergency fund (and hopefully encourage the other creditors to default). Living month to month on a tight budget, without any money for unexpected costs has not been easy!

Would this be an appropriate option? How would I explain this to the creditors when they already know what my current budget is? Do I simply explain I am putting aside money in an emergency fund and tell them I will resume payments in 3 months?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Suseka97

theatrelover1 wrote: »

I have been on a DMP with Step Change for almost a year, and I have only had one creditor default. The creditor who I owe the most to has not defaulted, and is still charging interest. .............Would this be an appropriate option? How would I explain this to the creditors when they already know what my current budget is? Do I simply explain I am putting aside money in an emergency fund and tell them I will resume payments in 3 months?

You can say anything you like really, it is necessary to have an emergency fund and I'm always disappointed when I hear people being encouraged by SC to set up their DMP quickly without a financial buffer in place. Also bothers me that SC don't really do anything to help with getting interest and charges stopped. Yes, I know they have many accounts and lots of people to help, but still.

Anyway - if it were me I would write and tell them that you intend to take back control of your financial affairs and will be reworking your I & E. You could say that you have experienced unforeseen costs, like a boiler breakdown, repairs to the car, repairs to your home etc. etc. Give them a timeline when payments will resume - and make that at least 6 months (not 3). That should hopefully push all the others toward the default and result in interest charges being stopped.

motivated

theatrelover1 wrote: »

I have been on a DMP with Step Change for almost a year, and I have only had one creditor default. The creditor who I owe the most to has not defaulted, and is still charging interest.

I was very keen when I began the DMP to make payments, and I didn't set aside any time to put together an emergency fund. I am considering moving to a self-managed DMP in order to give me the opportunity to arrange an emergency fund (and hopefully encourage the other creditors to default). Living month to month on a tight budget, without any money for unexpected costs has not been easy!

Would this be an appropriate option? How would I explain this to the creditors when they already know what my current budget is? Do I simply explain I am putting aside money in an emergency fund and tell them I will resume payments in 3 months?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Following on from what suseka said I totally agree. I was with SC and then used the NEDCAB site and went self managed. It was the best choice for us as all creditors defaulted and all but 1 have now sold on the debts. It generates your I&E for you (I upped my payments on each category to the max that was allowed). I then added to the generated letters that I had high vet bills and car costs and would be paying token payments of £1 per creditor for 6 months. All creditors were fine with it all and still are.

Good luck

January2015

motivated wrote: »

Hi January lovely to hear from you . Way to go on Halifax. I have 2 big ones with them being managed not bought by Wescot. I’m hoping as time goes on we will get a decent offer too. I’ve chanced my arm with offers but refused. I’ll keep playing the waiting game

My you was up early or late whichever way round it is lol
M

Wescot very helpfully sorted a 10% of balance settlement with Helifex for us on a debt of approx £16k for which we were very pleased However, Helifex spread the love with our debts and they are with differing DCAs for some reason. We've managed to settle one at 20% as mentioned, but the other debt which is almost £10k..... no deal Helifex just don't want to talk about settling and seem happy enough to get a few pounds each month. Hey ho... we don't care :rotfl:

Definitely worth playing the waiting game. Wishing you all the best with Helifex and any other creditors looking over your shoulder

motivated

Thanks January

Our other DCAs have been offering us settlements but coming in at around 20% discount paid over 6 months. Clearly the payments would've been too high but at least I know they are open to offers as time goes on.
M

PMarie1981

Hi, im in the middle of offering settlements with creditors. One is with argos and although I still get statements from them, I have also received letters from moorcroft saying they are managing the account which is confusing to who is dealing with the debt. Also on my credit report the account hasnt defaulted even though the late payments has gone back to just under two years since starting DMP. I want to offer a settlement fee and close the account so it goes off my report in 6 years. Can I only offer a settlement figure if defaulted?

Suseka97

PMarie1981 wrote: »

Hi, im in the middle of offering settlements with creditors. One is with argos and although I still get statements from them, I have also received letters from moorcroft saying they are managing the account which is confusing to who is dealing with the debt. Also on my credit report the account hasnt defaulted even though the late payments has gone back to just under two years since starting DMP. I want to offer a settlement fee and close the account so it goes off my report in 6 years. Can I only offer a settlement figure if defaulted?

Lots of creditors pass debts to a DCA just to manage and don't actually transfer the debt, so Argos still own it. In this case I would send your offer direct to Argos. I don't think the fact it isn't defaulted should matter much - but it does mean that if settled, the account will remain on your credit file for another 6 years on from whenever that happens, rather than in 4 years from now (based on when your DMP started). When writing I would also complain that the account wasn't defaulted in accordance with ICO guidelines. Good luck with the offers.