DMP mutual support thread part 13 !!

Suseka97

fullofcold wrote: »

......Husband went into this DMP about 7 years ago with Gregory Pennington and I'm thinking that once my loan is done I'll be in a much better position to start hammering the money owed.

This makes me so sad to hear... 7 years of paying goodness knows what % out of his monthly payment. I really wish these companies were scrutinised much more closely. It's a real shame he didn't reach out to the (free) debt charities out there then. But you are where you are and its really great you are looking to help resolve things.

fullofcold wrote: »

I've offered many times to speak to his creditors and get a payment plan set up directly but he says he wants to let sleeping dogs lie until we're in a position to repay it in full. I've told him I think he's an idiot, but I think he is afraid that they'll start being difficult.

To some degree I can understand why he feels this way - but he's being very blinkered here. There are no 'sleeping dogs' to awaken. It's pure maths - stop paying unnecessary fees and put that money towards the debts. If he has been in a DMP for 7 years, then I would hope they all defaulted in a timely way and those defaults should already be off his file. To clarify - a debt that is defaulted (D) will drop off your credit file 6 years from the date it was applied, irrespective of whether the debt still exists. If debts are marked as AP or AR, then they stay on your file for 6 years after the date they are settled. So it's worth checking.

Also, have his debts been sold on? Or are they with the original creditor - these are all things that you need to know. Regardless, all you would be doing is making the exact same payment to each creditor or DCA (if sold on) and they won't care whether that money comes direct from him (you) or via GP. So why does he feel they would suddenly become difficult?

Consumer debt as at an all time high - and if you read back on this thread, you'll get a sense of just how many people are in the same situation. I say this because your husband is just an (account) number to those companies and once a repayment plan is in place - they basically just let it run on and have no cause to 'be difficult'. That would only happen if suddenly all payments stopped, with no good reason.

You can only do what you can and if he insists on the status quo and you are okay with that (or maybe not okay, but accept it for what it is) then there's not much more to be done

Suseka97

ditty1234 wrote: »

....... My house and car insurance is coming up for renewal, and while I think my house insurance might be reasonable as I have had no claims, I still will not be able to pay it in full, so it will have to be monthly. Will the company do a credit check when I'm already with them? My car insurance is an other story......... As I have defaulted 3 credit cards since May, will this affect the cost of insurance over the year - I won't have £800 spare in December.

We were in a DMP for over 5 years and it never stopped us renewing any form of insurance, changing utility suppliers, swapping broadband suppliers, getting an upgrade on a mobile phone, taking out a new mobile contract or remortgaging. It doesn't even stop people taking out more credit, because there are sub-prime lenders out there that offer (very) high interest rates to people with poor credit records.

So I would just either stick with your current insurers (to protect your no-claims, as you mentioned) or go on a few comparison websites and see what's on offer. I'd definitely shop around for better car insurance offers. And there should be no reason you cannot pay any of these monthly, the simple fact is if you stopped paying them - they would cancel your insurance, so they hold the final card.

russmr

Good Morning,

Over the last few weeks I’ve come to the stark realisation that in 3 months time I will be no longer able to afford my debts.

My wife’s maternity pay will end at the end of January and due to mental health she will not be returning to full time work and I will need to pay for full time childcare whilst I am in work.

I have debts totalling circa £50k, they’ve amassed over many years and it’s now a problem for the reasons above, the debt is across 2 loans (Tesco, Halifax) and 6 credit cards (MBNA x 3, Nationwide, Halifax and Barclaycard).

I’ve looked into things and I think I need a DMP to help me get out of debt but on payment terms I can actually afford to pay come January, I don’t have a choice about childcare and my wife’s mental health issues did not exist before our child she had a successful career so please don’t judge as this is really hard.

Can somebody let me know where to start so that I start off a DMP on the best route of my accounts having defaulted so my credit report is back to good order in 6 years and being able to build a emergency fund for 6 months or so as I’m going to need some savings for home repairs, incase the boiler goes, roof etc (have mortgaged home and can afford mortgage).

I appreciate any and all advice, this post has been really hard for me and has taken weeks of deliberation.

Thank you.

PurpleFairy26

Russmr I would speak to one of the charities that will help you with a DMP, but make sure it’s one that doesn’t charge like Stepchange. Ideally yes, you will want a EF before you start as you won’t have access to CC when it starts.

Best of luck with it. I hope your wife is able to access some support for her MH

Oh2befree

Hi everyone. I’ve finally bit the bullet and taken advice from stepchange about my debts. I owe £38000 over 2 loans and 6 credit cards, plus 2 small overdrafts with Santander.
They have recommended a DMP with payments of £608 per month and have advised it will take around 5 years and 4 months to pay every thing off. It’s a scary prospect because I’ve not missed payments on anything but I am robbing Peter to pay Paul every month, and relying on credit to meet basic living costs. All of my cards are now maxed out (as of this month) however and therefore this is no longer an option.

I really couldn’t see any way out of this until I contacted StepChange and since doing that on Friday I have read most of this thread and feel so inspired by everyone. I feel like a weight has been lifted and that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

The payments will leave me enough spare each month that we should be able to manage so much better. At the moment we can’t even afford things like hair cuts and struggle to find the money for health needs such as prescriptions and dental costs etc. These will all now be budgeted for under the DMP. Is it wrong that we will be better off once starting it?

Anyway I have cancelled the direct debits and moved my salary into hubby’s account (he isn’t included on the DMP). I have a basic account but need to figure out how best to manage my salary each month.

I am off work tomorrow so am planning to write to everyone with holding letters and then I need to send my wage slip and account numbers for the creditors to StepChange. I can’t get my salary redirected to a new account in time for my November payday and as I have debts with Santander I’m not sending them a letter just yet and won’t start the DMP until after November - January would be more preferable.

Hopefully I’m doing all of this right.

russmr

PurpleFairy26 wrote: »

Russmr I would speak to one of the charities that will help you with a DMP, but make sure it’s one that doesn’t charge like Stepchange. Ideally yes, you will want a EF before you start as you won’t have access to CC when it starts.

Best of luck with it. I hope your wife is able to access some support for her MH

Do I contact a debt charity now or in a few months, I cancelled my direct debits this morning. I (think) I need to write a holding letter going by this thread and can get that from online, do I just give the reasons I can no longer pay, say I will be in touch with a plan within the next 3-6 months and then nearer the time I have sufficient EF contact a debt charity for a DMP? Or do I not write a holding letter and just go silent for 3-6 months? I really do need the accounts to default as our life plans are pinned on moving home in the next 7 years. I appreciate your help PurpleFairy.

sourcrates

russmr wrote: »

Do I contact a debt charity now or in a few months, I cancelled my direct debits this morning. I (think) I need to write a holding letter going by this thread and can get that from online, do I just give the reasons I can no longer pay, say I will be in touch with a plan within the next 3-6 months and then nearer the time I have sufficient EF contact a debt charity for a DMP? Or do I not write a holding letter and just go silent for 3-6 months? I really do need the accounts to default as our life plans are pinned on moving home in the next 7 years. I appreciate your help PurpleFairy.

You don`t have to do anything straight away, debt collection is a long process, and like everything else, has different stages, best way to get a default is to ignore them until it happens, once defaulted make your arrangements to pay, that is the best way (for you) to do it, you can write and explain your situation, if you wish, but that will more likley lead to a temporary payment arrangement rather than a default, which you dont really want.


Be prepared for default notices, they can be very formal and demand full payment, this is just a legal requirement on their part, they have to send such letters, they can be ignored, and you just carry on with your plan.


Stepchange is your best bet for a DMP.

[Deleted User]

i have cancelled my monthly dmp payment i have with stepchange in the hope that my creditors will default all accounts. i was going to write to all creditors informing them i will be deferring payments for 2 months, but i have seen sourcrates above post that its best to ignore creditors until they issue a default. i think i will do this instead. thanks for the helpful advice

lobbyludd

Hi folks,

after a really difficult year with both my children having different but severe health issues, that meant I had to take lots of leave and slash my working hours to support them, as well as pay for private counselling and tutoring I've got into a hole with CC debt. Both are much improved now, I have gone back up to nearly full-time work and no longer have to pay for tutoring. Their health is paramount, and I'm glad I did what I had to, but the debt is too large to tackle on normal terms, the last year has left me with no savings and I couldn't catch up, 3 of the cards have defaulted and I was very worried I'd lose the house. After reading alot on here I've taken advice from StepChange and am about to start a DMP. If nothing changes my debts will be paid off in 5 years, which is very do-able.

so first thanks for this forum, and everyone who is on here it's helped me so much, but second, I still pay £50 month for counselling - this is down from over 250 a month at its max, is on a halved rate from the counsellor and should reduce to nothing over the next year, but right now the youngest needs this. There's nowhere on the I&E for stepchange for me to put this in, but it is a necessary expenditure. Would stepchange add a line for this or should I just hide it in other budgets (I can reduce our food, not have haircuts etc)?

vicki84

Hi

I have had a letter to say Lloyds have sold on my account to PRA group. I am abit confused now it has been sold on will I have to pay interest to PRA? or will I just be paying of the amount Lloyds sold on.

Thanks