DMP mutual support thread part 13 !!

Suseka97

Nix89 wrote: »

.................Unfortunately, I came across or really understood StepChange after I already signed up to a paid DMP and I fully intend to move to SC at some point because I understand why it's better to use than a paid one but in honesty it took so much effort and strength to even get to this point that the anxiety surrounding moving the DMP is just too much for me for the next couple of months.

................. so I'm starting to feel more capable and feel like I finally will get some breathing space and I know people might think if I can do all that I can change to SC but the thought of that last step is freaking me out at the minute.

Hi there and welcome to the forum.

Firstly I just wanted to congratulate you for facing up to your financial situation and taking steps to resolve it. That is the hard part over - honest

I just wanted to focus on the two points you make about moving from your current (fee charging) DMC to the free services offered by SC. Now, I really do appreciate that it seems like a big deal - but trust me, it isn't. Just take it one step at a time. Call SC and explain the situation and they will talk you through the process. Yes, you may have to fill out more forms etc., but it'll be worth it. You'll no doubt have already completed an I&E for the current DMC and you'll have all the details of your debts to hand - and you can use those to work with SC to arrange the DMP. They will contact your creditors - all you'll need to do is contact the DMC and tell them you are cancelling your contract. There may be a clause whereby you have to give them a months notice, or something along those lines -but that should be it. Check your paperwork and write to them if you don't feel like talking to them -but give them your deadline (end date).

My concern is you'll let this drift and won't switch to a free service and the money you're paying to that DMC is effectively 'lost' and should be going towards paying down this debt. If you've read back on this thread, or the wider DFW forum - you'll read posts where some folks have paid £00s if not £000s to fee charging companies, and I find that really depressing.

We're here to help - so just shout when you need it.

Suseka97

Bexd12 wrote: »

.................I am after some advice, I need to build up an emergency fund, so I have written to my creditors and LCS have come back to me with this response...........
My question is this I'm not saying I can't afford the £5 a month, all I'm asking for is a 6 month payment break to build up my EF so how do I respond back to them?

You don't need to respond to the questions as posed by your creditor - just write back stating that you appreciate their position, but stand by your original request and that payments will cease until x month whilst you set money aside for unforeseen expenses (assuming that's what you've already told them). Be polite, but be firm.

Alternatively - you could just go with the £5 per month offer and see it as a token payment. Lots of people also set up tokens for several months and creditors are pretty much okay with that too.

TuxedoCat

One of my creditors has rejected PayPlan payment offer

Annoying as it’s the only one and actually one I asked PayPlan to leave off but they refused. It was £150 or so and was only £20 a month for a few tyres I had bought and I wanted to pay that off but they insisted I had to include it.

Very annoying as it’s now £234 and I am getting calls every day from this creditor

Nix89

Thanks Suseka97.


If you could help me figure out how to do that thing were you link another poster's excerpt to your reply, that would be helpful


I will this weekend, sit down and get all my documents together and download the pack from SC ready to talk to them on Tuesday. I think I'm just going a bit doolally because I'm worried that the DMC has put in allthis work and/or will have and then the creditors will then receive an offer from SC and think I can't make up my mind or commit to anything, credit agreement, DMP Provider, crazy thinking I know, I'm being irrational. I'm also scared that SC will ask me to pay more back a month than the £705 that this company want me to pay as I don't know whether these companies all judge I&E differently and I honestly couldn't afford any more.

Suseka97

Nix89 wrote: »

...... If you could help me figure out how to do that thing were you link another poster's excerpt to your reply, that would be helpful .

To 'quote' someone's post like this you just need to click on that orange coloured speech bubble at the bottom of the thread and it'll open a window with the text of that thread inserted. You can then just enter your text below it and voila! You can check its worked by clicking on the 'preview post' button and when you're happy click on the 'submit reply'

Nix89 wrote: »

I will this weekend, sit down and get all my documents together and download the pack from SC ready to talk to them on Tuesday. I think I'm just going a bit doolally because I'm worried that the DMC has put in allthis work and/or will have and then the creditors will then receive an offer from SC and think I can't make up my mind or commit to anything, credit agreement, DMP Provider, crazy thinking I know, I'm being irrational. I'm also scared that SC will ask me to pay more back a month than the £705 that this company want me to pay as I don't know whether these companies all judge I&E differently and I honestly couldn't afford any more.

Okay good. You're not going doolally and these things do take a little working out. What you could do is go to the SC website and use their online debt remedy tool. You enter your details and follow it through and it'll allow you to complete an I&E and you'll see what it ends up at, in terms of the monthly payment. You are right that different companies use different tariffs, but it's a starting point. You can tweak your expenses (up or down) to get it close to or the same as you've already worked out is affordable. As for the 'effort' put in by that DMC - seriously, it won't have been much. All they would have done is enter the details YOU provided and their software would have churned out the result. Their letters to your creditors were likely self-populating as well and are little more than templates. Even if they spent say an hour or two on your case (perhaps even more) they are more than compensated by the amount of fees they plan to take from you over the life of your DMP. That's what bugs me the most.

As for your creditors - it won't matter a jot whether they get the money from you, the DMC or SC. People starting up DMPs experience lots of bumps along the way and all you are to those companies is an (account) number. So put any concerns about what they may think aside. Most, if not all, of the letters you get are computer generated blurb with some statutory warnings of what happens when you stop making your contractual payments. You'll get those letters irrespective of whether you are doing a self-managed DMP or a managed one.

Suseka97

TuxedoCat wrote: »

One of my creditors has rejected PayPlan payment offer
Annoying as it’s the only one and actually one I asked PayPlan to leave off but they refused. It was £150 or so and was only £20 a month for a few tyres I had bought and I wanted to pay that off but they insisted I had to include it. Very annoying as it’s now £234 and I am getting calls every day from this creditor

You have a couple of choices here... either block their number and Payplan will just go ahead an make the agreed payment - or, pay them off and adjust your account balance to that creditor to nil. I imagine you can access your Payplan account online and amend details - yes? I did that when I was in my DMP with SC - I just let the DMP get up and running and paid off one of the smaller debts and zero'd the balance. SC never queried it.

The thing to remember in all of this is that it is YOUR DMP... you are in control - no-one else

Bluscope

I'm just writing to seek some reassurance really, I'm 26 and suffer with severe anxiety that I take anti anxiety meds for. I'm setting up a DMP with Payplan covering just under 12k of debt across 10 lenders. I'm trying to clear my loans, cut up the cards and get my life back on track.

It's due to start in October, I'm planning on making my usual payments in September and then cancelling direct debits before October. I phoned Bamboo earlier to cancel my CPA and when I said I was speaking to Payplan they started warning me about arrears and defaults and said they've put a note on my account that I'm speaking to payplan.

I'm sure I'm being overly paranoid but I'm just terrified of an immediate backlash from creditors with demands of full payment, phone calls and debt collectors hammering on the door threatening legal action as my life spirals out of control.

I want to pay everything off but I just can't afford to keep doing it at the current rate I am.

Bluscope

And there's also a small part of me thinking, I live with my parents, I have no significant assets or savings apart from a car valued at £680. Should I phone Payplan, ask them to abandon the DMP and apply for bankruptcy, would there be more serious downsides to this approach than a DMP. I admit I'm quite uneducated about this matter.

Moveslikeagger

Hi Bluscope,
i am almost 70k in debt and only paying off £350 per month but all creditors have been fine in my DMP. Not many phone calls and certainly no debt collectors at my house! The creditors have all been understanding and not pressured me at all. Id advise you read back through these threads and see all the advice as I did and it really educated me on how to go about dealing with my debts. There is nothing to be scared of. As regards to your second question about bankruptcy, im not sure what is best for you but someone here will be able to advise you im sure. But please dont worry. Nobody will come looking for you. Creditors are far more sympathetic now!

sourcrates

Bluscope wrote: »

I'm just writing to seek some reassurance really, I'm 26 and suffer with severe anxiety that I take anti anxiety meds for. I'm setting up a DMP with Payplan covering just under 12k of debt across 10 lenders. I'm trying to clear my loans, cut up the cards and get my life back on track.

It's due to start in October, I'm planning on making my usual payments in September and then cancelling direct debits before October. I phoned Bamboo earlier to cancel my CPA and when I said I was speaking to Payplan they started warning me about arrears and defaults and said they've put a note on my account that I'm speaking to payplan.

I'm sure I'm being overly paranoid but I'm just terrified of an immediate backlash from creditors with demands of full payment, phone calls and debt collectors hammering on the door threatening legal action as my life spirals out of control.

I want to pay everything off but I just can't afford to keep doing it at the current rate I am.

Bluscope wrote: »

And there's also a small part of me thinking, I live with my parents, I have no significant assets or savings apart from a car valued at £680. Should I phone Payplan, ask them to abandon the DMP and apply for bankruptcy, would there be more serious downsides to this approach than a DMP. I admit I'm quite uneducated about this matter.

Hi,

Would you qualify for a debt relief order ?
Google “DRO” look at the criteria, see if you might qualify with a bit of budget tweaking, less intrusive than bankruptcy.

Don’t be fretting about what creditors may or may not do, you are in charge here, not them, they may shout a lot, but there bark is worse than their bite.