DMP mutual support thread part 13 !!

DMP_Tiger

lulabelle01 wrote: »

Just a quick one I’m about to send holding letters out but which address did people write to regarding mbna credit cards? I’ve found two addresses on there website but I’m not sure which will be best?

MBNA Ltd
Chester Business Park
Wrexham Road
Chester
CH4 9WW

There's also a PO box number on the same business park with a slightly different postcode but the address above was the one I used and it was definitely received by MBNA.

January2015

lulabelle01 wrote: »

Thanks January2015 but the online messaging service is no longer in use ��

Sorry about that - as I said it was almost four years ago that I used it. Glad to see DMP_Tiger has given you a more useful response than I did

SpagBol

carbootcrazy wrote: »

Just meant to say, in case you think I'm superhuman to have paid off so much in such a relatively short time:rotfl: especially as I only have 2 unremarkable pensions as my source of income:( that I also have £6400 in Unenforceable Debts too. As I have no intention of repaying that money I have removed it from my total debt balance and (almost) from my mind;)


I just wish I'd realised the UE situation at the very start of my DMP when I was overwhelmed by debt. I could have saved myself thousands:eek:. As it is, I don't feel at all bad about not paying any more as they have had an obscene amount of interest payments from me over the pre-DMP years and kept upping my credit limits whenever it was obvious I was maxed out and struggling to cope anyway. I know I can't put the whole blame on them as no one forced me to accept the increased limits. At the time though I was like someone drowning being thrown a lifeline:o


While ever these two creditors don't hassle me I'm keeping quiet. Should the worst come to the worst I can always pay them off, hopefully, with a 10% F&F with money I have already saved from not paying them at all for several months:j. It's that or nothing and I'll tell them so.

Hi Carbootcrazy,


We have been in our DMP for a year now and sent CCA requests over a month ago.


I'm struggling with just cancelling standing orders again from a not wanting the angry mail to start again but about 10 of the 14 haven't sent replies to the CCA requests so I want to stop paying. Can I ask how you went about it as you did the CCA requests after settling into your DMP?


Spag

backandevenmorebroke

Hi there, I know I'm thinking far ahead but I've got another question!

I'm still in the process of building my emergency fund and offering £1 token payments to my creditors with a plan of setting up me DMP Feb/March. I went on stepchange again last night to fill in my I&E (I'm self managing but find their 'suggested' budget amounts helpful) and determine what I can realistically re-pay when my DMP starts. Now, I have two options, I can make my outgoings as high as realistically possible and pay less per month, this would give me leeway to build up good enough savings to eventually offer F&F settlements. OR I can be more honest and frugal with my budget, pay a higher amount per month and pay it off in full as I would have no leeway for building up decent savings.

Now the moral side of me says pay back the higher amount and just get it paid off but the savvy side is saying pay less, get a good amount of savings behind me (I am not yet a homeowner and have a car on finance which will eventually need replacing) and possibly be able to settle the debts at a lower rate. What would you guys do?

Also, how many years into a DMP is it realistic to offer F&F settlements? If I go with the lower payment route, my estimated DMP length is around 9 years.....

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[Deleted User]

SpagBol wrote: »

Hi Carbootcrazy,


We have been in our DMP for a year now and sent CCA requests over a month ago.


I'm struggling with just cancelling standing orders again from a not wanting the angry mail to start again but about 10 of the 14 haven't sent replies to the CCA requests so I want to stop paying. Can I ask how you went about it as you did the CCA requests after settling into your DMP?


Spag

Hi Spag

Well done on sending CCA letters to so many creditors:T. It took me ages to find the correct addresses and account numbers even with only 5 at that time.


If you've sent CCA requests then collection of payments on those account are frozen until they supply the paperwork. That's standard practice, I'm sure I'm correct in that. But, I don't suppose they inform SC or any other DMP management company that they have frozen collections. SC will just be paying as usual and the creditor will probably be accepting it. It could take a few weeks or, as in the case of one of mine, almost a year before creditors come up with CCA paperwork, although they are supposed to do it in a given time I think. The problem is, until they acknowledge receipt of your request and unless you sent a cheque (which most of us don't do and send Postal Orders instead) there is no way of knowing for sure if your creditors actually received your CCA request. It's just a waiting game I'm afraid.


I was very late to realise the importance of CCA requests and was already over 4 years in to my Stepchange DMP before I sent them off:o. I was already about to go self-managed anyway so it was no problem but I can appreciate that you have questions about not paying whilst CCA replies are still pending and then hopefully Unenforceable if you're in a DMP plan managed by someone like SC. I'm not sure what the situation is then. I hope someone else who has been in exactly the same boat will come along soon to give you a bit of advice more useful than mine.


Incidentally, although my debts date from 1999-2002 there was only one that came back with a letter from the creditor saying it was Unenforceable. I had the other agreements checked on the All About Debt website by their experts and only one of the remaining 4 turned out to be Unenforceable. Those are the ones that I've ceased any payment to and so far I've had no hassle. I'm paying the remaining 3 at a token £1 a month and have been doing so for over a year. I'm hoping they'll agree to a super-low F&F settlement figure. That's the joy of self-managing, you can do whatever you like:j

[Deleted User]

backandevenmorebroke wrote: »

Hi there, I know I'm thinking far ahead but I've got another question!

I'm still in the process of building my emergency fund and offering £1 token payments to my creditors with a plan of setting up me DMP Feb/March. I went on stepchange again last night to fill in my I&E (I'm self managing but find their 'suggested' budget amounts helpful) and determine what I can realistically re-pay when my DMP starts. Now, I have two options, I can make my outgoings as high as realistically possible and pay less per month, this would give me leeway to build up good enough savings to eventually offer F&F settlements. OR I can be more honest and frugal with my budget, pay a higher amount per month and pay it off in full as I would have no leeway for building up decent savings.

Now the moral side of me says pay back the higher amount and just get it paid off but the savvy side is saying pay less, get a good amount of savings behind me (I am not yet a homeowner and have a car on finance which will eventually need replacing) and possibly be able to settle the debts at a lower rate. What would you guys do?

Also, how many years into a DMP is it realistic to offer F&F settlements? If I go with the lower payment route, my estimated DMP length is around 9 years.....

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Hi

I understand your predicament, I know that it goes against nature not to repay as much as possible in the shortest possible time. Been there, done that:eek:


Why not strike a happy medium (happy to you anyway) and pay an amount just big enough to see the debt go down very slightly month by month (whilst making sure you still have a 'life') yet leave yourself a good amount to save towards F&Fs? Don't pay too much though, you need defaults and the accounts selling on to achieve a good settlement figure in due course. The defaults might happen within a few months but the selling on could take some time. One of my creditors defaulted me in summer 2013 but only sold the debt on last year:mad:


It sounds as if you are at very early stage and maybe you have managed to maintain full payments until starting the DMP, as lots of us managed to do somehow. Possibly your debts haven't even been defaulted yet. To get a decent F&F you really need to have your debts defaulted and sold on. This will happen quicker if you pay very small amounts or don't pay at all. Original creditors are very unlikely to accept discounted settlements:(. Also, it could take years before they see you as unlikely to pay the full debt off in an acceptable timeframe, if ever. I would imagine getting a F&F offer accepted until a few years of repayments have gone by is a no hoper.

make_the_change

Carbootcrazy Robinson Way (Hoist) got back to me with a counter off, reducing the overall balance by 15% and offered to allow me to pay this over 6 months.

Not quite sure what to do.

backandevenmorebroke

Carbootcrazy - thankyou very much, you have helped ease my mind a little. The lower amount would still be paying off over 2K a year, I think I'm happy with that

Thanks again!

purplepaws

Hi there!
Just a quickie - can anyone advise me if StepChange are likely to ask for payslips when setting up a DMP?
OH due a huge payment (pay increment that his employer 'forgot' to implement in January 2018!) which will (hopefully) be paid with this months wages.
So, whilst I'm keen to get the DMP started, the wage slips will show that he is paid more than he normally would be.
Thanks in advance.

wanttobethrifty

WOW, how quickly and easy that was. Set up my DMP with Stepchange in June. Still a long way to go, but what a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Paying £347 per month on debt repayments as follows;
TESCO, defaulted 14/9/18 with a balance of £2197.01.
BARCLAYCARD defaulted 21/7/18 with a balance of £8307.
FIRST DIRECT (2 accounts) defaulted 18/8/18 with a balance of £3847.15.
RBOS sold on to wescot, small balance of £159.15. (will be paid off in 4 month)
CREATION balance of £3459.76, not defaulted YET (will wait till December then push for it, backdated to August hopefully)
Fantastic support from Stepchange all the way, and my life is my own again.
Should be debt free in under 6yrs.

Massive THANK YOU to all on this forum, because without your knowledge, i would still have been struggling, robbing peter to pay paul, and sinking more and more into the abyss.