DMP mutual support thread part 13 !!

Fairyfeet2

Hi there, hope you can help , I’m in a DMP with step change, have been for 3 years now and I’m in a position to try to settle my £22,000, which I racked up through my husband leaving me and having a break down. I’m all good now, can any one advise me what is a fair percentage that I could offer to settle my debt?:

Thanks

needtodothis2020

I have now taken the second step and have signed all documents for stepchange, plucked up the courage to phone instead of writing to all creditiors apart from 2 as I was on hold to them for o long. I have to say they were all really lovely and very understanding especially when I mentioned stepchange.
I have also made the list of all the account number for stepchange and sent them details of my students finance instead of wage slips as not in work yet.
I have now sent all correspondence to stepchange posted first class.
So now all I can do I wait.

Hopefully now this is all sorted I can concentrate a bit more on the presentation that has to be submitted by next Monday, onwards and upwards and fingers and toes crossed for a smooth transaction.
Will keep you posted
Sam

vicki84

On my StepChange DMP one of my debts had the final payment made when my direct debit went out on the 02/01/2020. The payment was listed has been made to MyJar on the 07/01/2020.

I have checked and they are saying they have not received the payment but there has never been an issue before. I am not sure what to do. All my other creditors seem to have been paid so I am not sure what to do.

sourcrates

Fairyfeet2 wrote: »

Hi there, hope you can help , I’m in a DMP with step change, have been for 3 years now and I’m in a position to try to settle my £22,000, which I racked up through my husband leaving me and having a break down. I’m all good now, can any one advise me what is a fair percentage that I could offer to settle my debt?:

Thanks

Start at around 30%, do it all yourself, Stepchange will require you to pay them the money upfront if they do it.
Do CCA requests to all accounts first to determine enforceability, make sure you use the National Debtline standard settlement letter, get everything in writing.
Good luck.

sourcrates

vicki84 wrote: »

On my StepChange DMP one of my debts had the final payment made when my direct debit went out on the 02/01/2020. The payment was listed has been made to MyJar on the 07/01/2020.

I have checked and they are saying they have not received the payment but there has never been an issue before. I am not sure what to do. All my other creditors seem to have been paid so I am not sure what to do.

Contact stepchange, only they can help you.

ck1202

Hi all, so glad to have found this forum! You’re all so helpful and non-judgemental from what I’ve read, and I wish I had found this site before I went headlong into my DMP.

I had the confirmation today from SC that they’ve set up my DMP and have been in touch with my creditors, and that the first payment will come out on 1st Feb. I’ve only just read on here about defaulting ideally before a DMP - what should I do? I’ve been paying my creditors the minimum payments up until now as I thought that was what I had to do, and to be honest I was v scared not to miss any payments in fear of what they would do! I was so proud of myself for finally pulling my head out of the sand to get this DMP, but now I’m worried I’ve mucked it up before I’ve started. Any advice would be gratefully received!

MrLolly

EXACTLY the same situation as yours, and I felt exactly the same too. You are dealing with your debts so you feel that’s the right thing to do- but ultimately these AP / arrangement to pay markers are more damaging (in my opinion) for a longer period of time.

I did the same- started a DMP in October 2019, then found the info on this board and all of the great advice... so I bit the bullet and called stepchange to cancel my DMP. They were fine- although hesitant to cancel it they respected my decision.

I am now saving my emergency fund and have completely ignored my creditors. Along came the New Year and now 2 more of my creditors have defaulted me. Waiting on the rest to do so, then I’ll start a DMP again with Stepchange once I’m confident that I have a robust emergency fund.

I honestly advise you to do the same. Ignore, don’t pay, don’t call, don’t write to them. They will eventually default you (normally anyway). Once defaulted, all interest and charges have to stop- and that’s when to do a DMP.

sourcrates

ck1202 wrote: »

Hi all, so glad to have found this forum! You’re all so helpful and non-judgemental from what I’ve read, and I wish I had found this site before I went headlong into my DMP.

I had the confirmation today from SC that they’ve set up my DMP and have been in touch with my creditors, and that the first payment will come out on 1st Feb. I’ve only just read on here about defaulting ideally before a DMP - what should I do? I’ve been paying my creditors the minimum payments up until now as I thought that was what I had to do, and to be honest I was v scared not to miss any payments in fear of what they would do! I was so proud of myself for finally pulling my head out of the sand to get this DMP, but now I’m worried I’ve mucked it up before I’ve started. Any advice would be gratefully received!

MrLolly wrote: »

EXACTLY the same situation as yours, and I felt exactly the same too. You are dealing with your debts so you feel that’s the right thing to do- but ultimately these AP / arrangement to pay markers are more damaging (in my opinion) for a longer period of time.

I did the same- started a DMP in October 2019, then found the info on this board and all of the great advice... so I bit the bullet and called stepchange to cancel my DMP. They were fine- although hesitant to cancel it they respected my decision.

I am now saving my emergency fund and have completely ignored my creditors. Along came the New Year and now 2 more of my creditors have defaulted me. Waiting on the rest to do so, then I’ll start a DMP again with Stepchange once I’m confident that I have a robust emergency fund.

I honestly advise you to do the same. Ignore, don’t pay, don’t call, don’t write to them. They will eventually default you (normally anyway). Once defaulted, all interest and charges have to stop- and that’s when to do a DMP.

Can’t add any more to the excellent advice given here.

Suseka97

Norfolk_Jim wrote: »

...................I have said previously that I had some money coming to me in the New Year, around £3-4000 that, I think it might have been Fatbelly, suggested would make a good Emergency Fund and basis for future F&F offers when that becomes an option in the future.
However - recent communications from Stepchange have indicated that they would expect (I've not told them about my New Year funds) any extra money I come into to be given over to be distributed to my creditors and not doing so would constitute not treating my creditors fairly. I, on the other hand think I need an Emergency Fund.
This is a long-winded way of asking - Can Stepchange or my Creditors see when I get this money if I put it into a savings account thats not with any of them? Do savings show up on credit reports or any other monitoring systems? Has anyone else had this experience or found the same approach from Stepchange?

Just to add my tuppence worth....

I had a bit of a windfall during my DMP and no-one was the wiser. I just moved it into my savings pot and that's where it stayed. I also never put into my I&E the actual pay increases I got over the 5 years either. I did put a % increase on and therefore my monthly payment increased, albeit marginally, over that timeframe. As for SCs mandate on this, I guess they have to be seen to be encouraging folks to be transparent - but its your DMP and an informal arrangement, so how you handle things is up to you.

Its good to hear that with some pension lump sums heading your way later down the line - you'll be in a good position to start some F&F negotiations and do follow W2Ls advice re the CCA aspect.

Fairyfeet2

Can creditors get access to look at your bank account . I’ve had a bit of a windfall, but only want to offer part to my creditors as I want to keep some for a rainy day ?