DMP mutual support thread part 13 !!

sourcrates

Annie0707 said:

Good morning,

I have posted a couple of times for advise early on in the DMP journey, thank you for your previous responses, I find this forum very useful and reassuring.  I stopped paying my debts and have ignored all contact with the creditors since around Oct/Nov time.  Several of the accounts have defaulted but many have not.  I am not sure what to do now, do I set up my DMP and start paying the defaulted ones, but wait for the others to default before I start paying them? They are more than 6 months in arrears.  I have had a couple of aggressive letters from debt collectors, should I respond to them?

I am worried about being taken to court.  I also wonder if they will want to see my bank statements and if they ask do I have to show them, or just give them a statement of affairs to prove I can't pay?

Thank you 

Hi,

Its a difficult one, as various creditors interpret the guidence on defaults in different ways, by all means write and ask them to default you, it is allowed, as for court, there is a process to go through, and this starts with a pre-action letter, so you have plenty of time to arrange terms without it getting to the court stage, and original creditors wont follow this path anyway, they will always sell the debts on, and its the purchasing companies that will follow the legal path if ignored for long enough.

You are in charge of the situation, not them, there is no requirement for you to show anyone anything, data protection and all that, you can do a standard SOA and just send a copy of that, ignore any request for anything further.

As for debt collector letters, have you really read them ? they are actually quite funny, and are full of what if`s and maybe`s, they are all computer generated, collectors go through a standard series of letters with everyone, each ramping up the threat level, they are all designed with one thing in mind, and thats to get you to contact them, once you realise and understand only the owner of a debt can take legal action, and that is as bad as it can ever get, they don`t seem that scarey any more, paying your debt at a rate set by the court, according to your budget, oh yea, very scarey that, its all mind games you see.

sourcrates

cottonbud12 said:

Hi all,
I started a thread on one of the other posts regarding me considering a DMP.
I've been looking through these posts aiming to get some more advice and information and have a couple of queries - 
1. People talk about not paying cards etc for 6 months to get a default - is this a good idea?
2. People say that as a result of this, they can save an emergency fund - what is this used for?
3. People are referring to getting a CCA - what is this and how does it help?
4. Is getting a default from a card provider a good idea?
I realise some of these may be daft questions but just looking fro a bit of guidance.
Thanks

Hi,

OK,

(1) Yes, once defaulted, all interest and charges stop, forever, and you know that come what may, in 6 years time your credit file will be clear once again.

(2) Emergency fund is just that, for emergencies, instead of reaching for the credit card when the washer blows up, use your EF.

(3) see here - https://debtcollectoradvice.wordpress.com/advice-and-templates/how-and-when-to-send-a-copy-of-your-credit-agreement/

(4) Same answer as (1).

Headabovethewater

Any advice welcome please. We were saving ef fund and a couple of months in before this covid situation. Hoping to start payments in about 4 months.  Received a letter from a company called Moorcraft today requesting I call them.  Seems scary but I need to bite the bullet and just call to see which debt this relates to - the letter doesn't state. Does this mean 1 has been sold and defaulted on or is moorcraft an in house agency for one of my debts? Can I just say exactly how it is- saving ef fund we will be in touch when we can start payments?

Many thanks

mrspendle

I have spent the past three days reading all 291 pages of this thread, and I just want to thank everyone who has contributed! I have been following the stories of everyone closely - fullofcold I'm glad to see that you've sold the house and sorted out your husband's debts, I was rooting for you so much as I was reading along! 

I wish I had found you before - I am on a DMP with Payplan (two months in) and had no idea about amassing an EF beforehand. The letters of default notices are starting to arrive - which is what prompted me to find this forum, I was panicking at first, but after three days of reading I now know it's a good thing! My DMP is forecast to run for 4 years, so if defaults are applied in a timely manner, I will have a clean credit file in 2026, which is better than nothing!

My total debts are just under £20k, mostly loans and credit cards taken to try and consolidate but it made it worse. It all stemmed from problems with depression, and a few family issues that didn't help, but at least I am on the right track now. 

sourcrates

Headabovethewater said:

Any advice welcome please. We were saving ef fund and a couple of months in before this covid situation. Hoping to start payments in about 4 months.  Received a letter from a company called Moorcroft today requesting I call them.  Seems scary but I need to bite the bullet and just call to see which debt this relates to - the letter doesn't state. Does this mean 1 has been sold and defaulted on or is moorcroft an in house agency for one of my debts? Can I just say exactly how it is- saving em fund we will be in touch when we can start payments?

Many thanks

Hi,

As I have posted countless times in the past, Moorcroft are just a collection company that acts on behalf of its client banks.

They do not own your debt, and the worst they can do is write you a letter, you do not phone a debt collector ever, you conduct the matter in writing only, so if you are unsure what this relates too, then send the provit letter available from the sticky section, and get them to prove their clients claim.

TheWickerMan

cottonbud12 said:

Hi, I've been a member on here for quite some time but generally just a reader to get advice. Now is the time that I could do with some advice. 
In a nutshell, due to issues with gambling and mental health over the years, I have run up huge credit card debts (approx £36k). I am completely ashamed of myself but as an addiction, I was only happy when gambling. I feel I now have this under control and would like to start getting back on track. 
I was until recently in a highly paid job (£66k per year) but due to Covid-19, I have had to change jobs due to being no longer required and looking at a significant reduction in income to around £30k per year. This is going to severely impact my ability to repay my debts, technically by only just managing the minimum payments per month. 
Part of me is thinking about getting a £30k loan to pay back at £500 per month for about 7 years, which whilst not clearing my total credit card debt and turning this in to a fixed payment per month, will potentially alleviate some of the stress I am under. 
I've researched other options on Stepchange and their recommendation (online) was a DMP. The thing is, I am married but whilst my other half knew I used to gamble quite heavily, they do not know the significance of my debts and it would destroy us if they were to find out. We own our home outright and I cannot re-mortgage or sell the house as again, I cannot involve my partner in my situation. 
So, my question is, do I attempt to ride this matter our hoping I can secure a better salary going forward, aim to repay my credit card debts and have absolutely no life or income left whatsoever or take the plunge and seek a DMP. All my creditors are up to date with payments and I have only ever missed one payment, which was an oversight on my behalf.
Apologies for the long post and thanks in advance for any advice. 

Hi Cottonbud12
I'm new to this DMP game, so there are many forumites better placed to give advice than I. However, I will say that it may depend on how confident you are that you have got the gambling under control? If there is any chink in your armour, then suddenly having £30k available would be a very risky business. 

TheWickerMan

sourcrates said:

Annie0707 said:

Good morning,

I have posted a couple of times for advise early on in the DMP journey, thank you for your previous responses, I find this forum very useful and reassuring.  I stopped paying my debts and have ignored all contact with the creditors since around Oct/Nov time.  Several of the accounts have defaulted but many have not.  I am not sure what to do now, do I set up my DMP and start paying the defaulted ones, but wait for the others to default before I start paying them? They are more than 6 months in arrears.  I have had a couple of aggressive letters from debt collectors, should I respond to them?

I am worried about being taken to court.  I also wonder if they will want to see my bank statements and if they ask do I have to show them, or just give them a statement of affairs to prove I can't pay?

Thank you 

Hi,

Its a difficult one, as various creditors interpret the guidence on defaults in different ways, by all means write and ask them to default you, it is allowed, as for court, there is a process to go through, and this starts with a pre-action letter, so you have plenty of time to arrange terms without it getting to the court stage, and original creditors wont follow this path anyway, they will always sell the debts on, and its the purchasing companies that will follow the legal path if ignored for long enough.

You are in charge of the situation, not them, there is no requirement for you to show anyone anything, data protection and all that, you can do a standard SOA and just send a copy of that, ignore any request for anything further.

As for debt collector letters, have you really read them ? they are actually quite funny, and are full of what if`s and maybe`s, they are all computer generated, collectors go through a standard series of letters with everyone, each ramping up the threat level, they are all designed with one thing in mind, and thats to get you to contact them, once you realise and understand only the owner of a debt can take legal action, and that is as bad as it can ever get, they don`t seem that scarey any more, paying your debt at a rate set by the court, according to your budget, oh yea, very scarey that, its all mind games you see.

Annie
It sounds like we are in very similar situations (you stopped your payments about a month or two before I did in December/January). So far I've followed the advice on this forum - saving an EF and not responding to demands from creditors (I wrote to them all initially before I stopped payments). I currently have 2 accounts defaulted (one of which has already been sold on and debt purchaser already offered me 30% reduction on the debt), 2 which say they will default me within the next 14 days, and another couple who are taking their time and don't appear to be on the verge of defaulting me yet.

Like you, I have been so tempted to reply to them (human nature I think) but have held my ground so far and will continue to wait even longer. I had provisionally planned to start EF in May but I'm thinking I will now delay it until around August. 

We are in this together! Stay strong! Like many, I am most worried about court action or having to send bank statements, but am confident we have at least a few months on our side especially given the current situation. If you have any further major developments, please let me know.

spreadtrader

Hi everyone hope you are all safe and well.

Short version is i contacted my 3 creitors in december 2019 telling them i could no longer make the payments after never missing any and that i was going into a self managed dmp. I have had numerous letters since but have just had a letter that i think is a default notice from Barclaycard which gives a date of 17/6 to repay missed payments or they will defult and can ask for full payment.

Is this good or bad?  also should I wait until its actually defaulted before offering them any sort of payments even though its going to be small due to current circumstances. yes i have a ef

thank you

sourcrates

spreadtrader said:

Hi everyone hope you are all safe and well.

Short version is i contacted my 3 creitors in december 2019 telling them i could no longer make the payments after never missing any and that i was going into a self managed dmp. I have had numerous letters since but have just had a letter that i think is a default notice from Barclaycard which gives a date of 17/6 to repay missed payments or they will defult and can ask for full payment.

Is this good or bad?  also should I wait until its actually defaulted before offering them any sort of payments even though its going to be small due to current circumstances. yes i have a ef

thank you

Yes its good, if they follow through with it, a lot of the time they don`t, but time will tell.

All it means is the relationship between you and barclaycard will now end, and the full balance will become due, all pretty much standard stuff.

I wouldn`t do anything yet to be honest, there is a chance barclaycard collections may attempt to recover the money from you, personally i would wait until it gets sold on, the new owner will be much more flexible with regards to payments/settlements, everything really.

spreadtrader

sourcrates said:

spreadtrader said:

Hi everyone hope you are all safe and well.

Short version is i contacted my 3 creitors in december 2019 telling them i could no longer make the payments after never missing any and that i was going into a self managed dmp. I have had numerous letters since but have just had a letter that i think is a default notice from Barclaycard which gives a date of 17/6 to repay missed payments or they will defult and can ask for full payment.

Is this good or bad?  also should I wait until its actually defaulted before offering them any sort of payments even though its going to be small due to current circumstances. yes i have a ef

thank you

Yes its good, if they follow through with it, a lot of the time they don`t, but time will tell.

All it means is the relationship between you and barclaycard will now end, and the full balance will become due, all pretty much standard stuff.

I wouldn`t do anything yet to be honest, there is a chance barclaycard collections may attempt to recover the money from you, personally i would wait until it gets sold on, the new owner will be much more flexible with regards to payments/settlements, everything really.

Thanks for the response. I am nervous that I have made no payments at all and reading some other stories they have started the dmp and waiting for defaults. Just not sure when to offer payments plus all the accounts are old the barclaycard is around 2006 and the others are 1995 does this make a difference?