DMP mutual support thread part 13 !!

sourcrates

Treadingwater02 wrote: »

Hi, I wonder if someone can answer a question for me?

I’m currently in a DMP with Step Change, all my payments (apart from 1 missed one several months ago which I did inform them about) are up to date. Just out of curiosity I logged on today and checked my credit score and Lowell are recording all my payments as late! Is their a reason for this?

Thanks very much.

The DMP payment may be up to date, but the contractual payment is not, you must have missed some payments with the original creditor, is it defaulted or an arrangement to pay ?

Changingtimes

Evening all. Was wondering if some can help please. Been in my DMP since Jan 19.
I have 10 creditors and only 2 have defaulted. The rest all have AP markers. Also 2 have started charging interest again which is only a little bit less than the monthly payment that Stepchange are making to them.
Is there a way to get them to stop applying interest as balances are not reducing. Is this something I should speak to SC about? Also as we are at month 10 of my DMP should I be trying to get them to default me. I have say another 12 months left on my DMP to be debt free. Any advice welcomed please..

sourcrates

Changingtimes wrote: »

Evening all. Was wondering if some can help please. Been in my DMP since Jan 19.
I have 10 creditors and only 2 have defaulted. The rest all have AP markers. Also 2 have started charging interest again which is only a little bit less than the monthly payment that Stepchange are making to them.
Is there a way to get them to stop applying interest as balances are not reducing. Is this something I should speak to SC about? Also as we are at month 10 of my DMP should I be trying to get them to default me. I have say another 12 months left on my DMP to be debt free. Any advice welcomed please..

Best method is to pre-plan what you are going to do, cease all payment until accounts default then start debt management, that way all charges and interest stop, unfortunately most people rush in too quickly and get AP markers instead.

You can write and complain, but I thing your stuck with your current position now to be honest.

Changingtimes

Thanks sourcrates. I will write and ask them to default. If they dont agree I will go self managed and stop payments until they do but I guess the risk there is them taking me to court right?

Suseka97

Changingtimes wrote: »

Thanks sourcrates. I will write and ask them to default. If they dont agree I will go self managed and stop payments until they do but I guess the risk there is them taking me to court right?

It's highly unlikely that will happen. If you read back on this thread you'll find that a lot of people have held off making their DMP payments for up to 6 months, if not a little more - and no court action has ensued. Hopefully they'll default you and you can carry on, but if not then the only way to force the issue is to stop paying I'm afraid.

Suseka97

Yikes318 wrote: »

They are asking for the reason I’m not able to pay for a few months but I don’t feel like they will accept the fact I’m building an emergency fund as a valid reason. They are my biggest debtor and want to be extra cautious with them but I can’t think of an alternative reason. They’ve asked to see an I&E for my current financial situation which I’ve never seen anyone mention on here.

Then write back and say an unexpected bill has just landed - car, boiler, washing machine breakdown - anything you like. You may not have read before about being asked for an I&E, but that's pretty much the norm - they do ask, because they also need to know that any payment arrangement is affordable. It doesn't matter that you've sent something to prove what you can afford - all you are looking to do is stall things a little. Just keep at it - play a bit of letter tennis and a few months will have passed quite easily. The wheels turn very slowly in DMP land.

Wickedphantom24601

Hi lovely people!

Due to me being overconfident in my ability to make all my payments I’ve run up £7400 worth of debt :eek: I’ve filled in the form on StepChange’s website and I’m just waiting for the pack to arrive. They’ve recommended a DMP, which is what I was looking for.

I’ve set up a ‘clean’ bank account so that I’ll be able to keep my money separate from my account with the overdraft and have a savings account which again is separate. Is there anything else I need/ought to do while waiting for SC to sort the DMP?

Willing2Learn

Wickedphantom24601 wrote: »

...Due to me being overconfident in my ability to make all my payments I’ve run up £7400 worth of debt :eek: I’ve filled in the form on StepChange’s website and I’m just waiting for the pack to arrive. They’ve recommended a DMP, which is what I was looking for.

I’ve set up a ‘clean’ bank account so that I’ll be able to keep my money separate from my account with the overdraft and have a savings account which again is separate. Is there anything else I need/ought to do while waiting for SC to sort the DMP?

One of the most important things to do when setting up a DMP is to stop paying your creditors for a few months, so that you can build an Emergency Fund (EF). An EF will protect you during your DMP journey, from any unknown emergency costs that WILL occur from time to time. It also means your creditors are more likely to default the accounts nice and early. This will result in your credit files being 'cleaned up' sooner.

You can write to your creditors, to request they place your accounts on hold whilst you are seeking advice.

Wickedphantom24601

Thank you! Definitely something I need to have, it’s part of the reason I ended up like this.

sourcrates

Changingtimes wrote: »

Thanks sourcrates. I will write and ask them to default. If they dont agree I will go self managed and stop payments until they do but I guess the risk there is them taking me to court right?

Always the risk, but normally they just pass to a debt collector instead.
Less than 10% of defaulted debts go to court.