DMP mutual support thread part 13 !!

lunting

Hi all,

I am new to the forum and have just read through the last few pages of this thread. Thank you for being such a fount of knowledge for all things DMP!

After a few years of debts spiralling out of control, and me naively telling myself that I could deal with things and get back on track, I am now seeking help with my finances. My unsecured debts are currently around £24,000, and monthly repayments are in excess of my monthly earnings, which I very stupidly was filling with more unsecured debt.

Last week I contacted PayPlan who have suggested I start a DMP, and together we have worked out a reasonable budget that I'm confident I can stick to. I'm anxious to get started and hopefully will be able to live some semblance of a life again, rather than being consumed by the fear of my debts, and not being able to afford basic things.

Alongside my full time job, I'm also studying for my Masters, the payment of which is currently part of a finance agreement. I factored this monthly cost into my priority expenditure (under education costs), but have not included the finance agreement in my list of creditors for PayPlan, in fear of the impact it might have on my course if they do not receive full payment each month (I'm currently paying £400 a month for the course).

How long does a DMP tend to take to come into effect, and are creditors likely to reject my income and expenditure when they see such a high figure for education costs? PayPlan didn't seem to think it was a problem, but I guess I'm a little over-angsty at the moment.

I'm also quite concerned about the barrage of phone calls I'm going to receive from lenders once I start the DMP - I'm not too comfortable with phone calls at the best of times, let alone when being hounded for payment. Are there other ways to communicate with lenders without having them thinking I'm ignoring them?

Sorry for the long message - this is all new to me!

lola_girl

I have had a response to one of my recent 5 CCA requests from M&S.
They have sent me a copy of original agreement, and stated that any terms personal to me including interest rates can be found in my recent statement. They have sent a copy of their agreement terms (non personal).
So - the agreement contains the following... my name, address, credit card number. Signature, dated 25.9.06. A direct debit mandate.
All other info is generic. Can I assume this doesn’t include the required prescribed terms?

Suseka97

lunting wrote: »

........
How long does a DMP tend to take to come into effect, and are creditors likely to reject my income and expenditure when they see such a high figure for education costs? PayPlan didn't seem to think it was a problem, but I guess I'm a little over-angsty at the moment.

I'm also quite concerned about the barrage of phone calls I'm going to receive from lenders once I start the DMP - I'm not too comfortable with phone calls at the best of times, let alone when being hounded for payment. Are there other ways to communicate with lenders without having them thinking I'm ignoring them?

It takes a long as the paperwork does - so if you've sent everything off to Payplan, it could easily be up and running within the month. With that said - us, more seasoned. DMPers will advise folks not to rush into setting the plan up too soon. I note you've put in place what you consider to be an affordable plan, which is good - but we tend to suggest you give yourself a good 3 months (as a minimum) before launching in. During that time you stop all your non priority debt payments and put that money aside into your emergency fund.

As to whether your creditors will accept the payment plan or not doesn't matter. The I&E Payplan send will demonstrate what is affordable and that's all they can have. Payplan will just send them the arranged amount on a monthly basis and your DMP will trundle along.

If you don't want creditors to call you - then best to put that in writing. Most will abide by your request, some will persist in calling and if they do you follow up with a stronger worded letter advising that you will complain to the ICO if they do not remove your phone number from their records.

It's all pretty straightforward and hopefully everything will bob along nicely for you.

Suseka97

lola_girl wrote: »

........
They have sent me a copy of original agreement, and stated that any terms personal to me including interest rates can be found in my recent statement. They have sent a copy of their agreement terms (non personal).
So - the agreement contains the following... my name, address, credit card number. Signature, dated 25.9.06. A direct debit mandate.
All other info is generic. Can I assume this doesn’t include the required prescribed terms?

I'm no expert, but I rather think that what you've received does include the required documentation under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and especially as it comes from the original creditor. It's generally when debts have been sold on to DCAs over time, that finding the paperwork proves to be trickier and debts become unenforceable.

lola_girl

Hi - thanks for responding...I have emailed it across to the AAD website as I had read that the document had to include the terms personal to you such as credit limit, repayments, interest rate etc. Will see what they come back with.

jools1985

I've been on my DMP with Stepchange since December 2018. My last non DMP payments were all made in September 2018.


All had been going well with all interest stopped. Today I've had a statement from MBNA. I'm paying them £102 per month via SC. This month MBNA have added on £92 interest so my debt with them has only reduced by £10. This is one of my higher debts. I'll phone them on Thursday when I'm off work. Just wondering how to play it really. I've paid off £900 of this debt since December. I could go self managed and offer token payments only but if I did that the debt would soon rise back up again.


Bit gutted really especially as I have 2 debts with MBNA and expect they will also start charging interest on the other one also.

ditty1234

Hi I am now on a DMP w Step Change for 3 month and will stay with them for the foreseeable future. The difficult months in the year are coming up now with me not getting any hourly pay to top up my 0.6 contract. Since I stopped paying off my debt in April I have managed to put money away every month as well as paying for emergency bills - so I am very happy with this. I now have about £600 stashed away to help me get through till November when I get my next full pay. But that is a long time off and I would then have 0 funds again.
Just this weekend I had to spend £260 to get my car towed when the clutch broke and miraculously the clutch was under warranty so that was pure luck. So this leaves me scared of what is next.
Should I tell Step Change that due to the extra expense with the car I need to halt my DMP payments for 3 month (£125 a month) as this would help massively and keep me afloat.
Do you think they would accept it?
Would the creditors accept it?
Will they require a new I and E?
Just trying to be prepared.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

lola_girl

Hi - by way of an update the CCA from M&S has been checked by AAD and come back as unenforceable. There is a term missing that is quoted. They advise me to keep the reason from M&S - would you just write and say I deem it to be unenforceable? Thanks

Hercules_Rockefeller

Hi guys, first time posting. After struggling on for the last few months, I've decided that DMP is probably going to be the way for me. I've a loan with HSBC (my bank) as well as 3 credit card debts..totals around £28k.

Went through StepChange yesterday, my package is on the way. I've applied for another bank account (I think I saw this here before, so HSBC can't automatically take my money for their loan?) Is there anything else I need to do? Quite nervous about it tbh and don't know what to expect!

PMarie1981

Hi I have received this email regarding making an offer, does this mean once paid they will not pass on the remaining debt in the future?

Thank you for your offer of £678.00. Whilst we appreciate this offer, it is below what we can accept as a full and final settlement. The settlement we can accept is a payment of £904.61, which means your account will be closed and we will not contact you again about it.

Where appropriate, your credit file will be updated to reflect the payment you make. Please be aware paying a settlement will not reflect as positively on your credit file as a payment in full would.

If you would like to accept this offer, we would appreciate if you could help us ensure the payment is affordable for you, by answering the following questions:

Are your main bills (mortgage, rent, council tax, utilities) up to date?*If not, do you have repayment plans in place?Will making the proposed payment stop you from paying future main bills?Where will the money be coming from to make the proposed payment?Do you have any other debts?If so, do you have repayment plans in place?

This offer is available until 11 September 2019, if you want to accept it, please contact us to set it up. I have put your account on hold for 7 days.