DMP mutual support thread part 13 !!

Suseka97

mb73 wrote: »

.........Anyway, I did the whole "ignore it and hope it goes away" thing, but today have restarted on a self-managed basis.
I am kicking myself slightly, as both my remaining debts have gone to DCAs, Lowell and Intrum. I'm looking at paying for the next 20-30 years as it stands, and am hopeful I might get into a position where I could offer them a full and final amount at some point. If not that, then maybe I can find a way to offer them more than £5 a month each.
It's frustrating to know that the original amount I borrowed has long ago been paid off, and all the remaining debt is the interest charged on my old cards. It's also annoying that the DCAs will not have paid much for the debts, but will want the whole amount from me. However, I do acknowledge that I owe the money, and am committed to chipping away at it. I'm going to concentrate my energy on finding creative ways to cut my spending, and make extra money.

Sorry to hear you've been struggling, but it's good that you're now taking charge again and going self-managed. Noting how little you have available to pay these towards these debts and that you've mentioned it taking 20 to 30 more years to clear - have you considered other options such as an IVA or Bankruptcy. That aside, what you need to do is send Sec77/78 CCA requests to both DCAs before you start paying them anything. They'll have to stop collection activity whilst they gather the required information and it they can't provide it - that opens quite a few more doors in terms of your options. Looks like you've paid a good deal off already, so you've done pretty well so far.

Edit: to add there is such a thing as a DRO, another avenue to explore but I'm not experienced enough to give advice, hopefully someone else will come along with more info on that.

mb73

Suseka97 wrote: »

That aside, what you need to do is send Sec77/78 CCA requests to both DCAs before you start paying them anything. They'll have to stop collection activity whilst they gather the required information and it they can't provide it - that opens quite a few more doors in terms of your options.

Thanks for this. I will do it, but is it too late now the payment plans are already set up? I'd rather avoid anything too drastic if possible, so am happy to continue with a DMP. My issue has been that my wages have been going backwards for years, with pay freezes and below inflation rises (I work as support staff in education), added to which the government changes to how Council Tax Benefit is administered has resulted in me now having to cover the whole amount every year. What with general living costs increasing so much, it's been a bit of a squeeze.



I'm trying to convince the head that I should be put up a couple of pay bands, unsuccessfully so far! We recently had appraisals, and were told there was a deadline to get them in to be considered for pay increases, but later found out it would only affect teaching staff. Unfortuately, support staff aren't valued that much by SLT.

Suseka97

mb73 wrote: »

Thanks for this. I will do it, but is it too late now the payment plans are already set up?

No, not too late - you can submit a CCA request at anytime where a balance still exists and if you prefer to continue paying what you've agreed in the meantime, that's entirely up to you. Personally I'd stop the payments - it sounds as if that £10 per month could be put to better use.

Anyway, send off the CCAs - but why not speak to maybe the CAB and go through your income and expenditure to consider your options. Or do what others are advised to do and post up your SOA and folks on here might be able to help you more. Seriously if you can only afford £5 per month then you really need to consider other choices - as you said in your OP - you've already paid more than you borrowed and those DCAs will have paid pennies in the pound.

Maverick87

Oh dear oh dear oh dear.

I'm in a mess, first month of DMP and my wife's wages have gone into our old bank account. Realised the mistake this morning and it's too late to withdraw it out now (most of it brought the overdraft back to 0 on the account and the rest is not allowed to be withdrawn due to notices on the account)

Normally you guys are able to get people out of a mess but I feel there is no hope with this one. Completely messes us up

purplepaws

Maverick87 wrote: »

Oh dear oh dear oh dear.

I'm in a mess, first month of DMP and my wife's wages have gone into our old bank account. Realised the mistake this morning and it's too late to withdraw it out now (most of it brought the overdraft back to 0 on the account and the rest is not allowed to be withdrawn due to notices on the account)

Normally you guys are able to get people out of a mess but I feel there is no hope with this one. Completely messes us up

Hi Mav,
I'm no expert but I wanted to reply just so you didn't feel that no one had noticed your post.
Firstly, I'm really sorry that this has happened, I do know how terrible you must feel just as you thought that you were getting on top of things.



But DON'T PANIC. I know you will be. Don't get all shouty with your other half - it's no one's fault and it's done now - you can't change that.


I do think that the bank have some obligation to ensure that you are not suffering financial difficulty and should allow you to withdraw some funds based on the fact that you have basic needs to meet. (I hope that someone with more experience can offer additional info on this?)
Try contacting the bank, go into the branch if possible, and have a frank but calm (if possible) discussion with them. Yes, you owe them money BUT if you are in financial hardship, the consequences of them not allowing you some funds will just add to your problems. I'm sure that the bank should be open to your situation and offer a short term solution.
Good luck - let us know how you get on.
Take care.

Maverick87

purplepaws wrote: »

Hi Mav,
I'm no expert but I wanted to reply just so you didn't feel that no one had noticed your post.
Firstly, I'm really sorry that this has happened, I do know how terrible you must feel just as you thought that you were getting on top of things.



But DON'T PANIC. I know you will be. Don't get all shouty with your other half - it's no one's fault and it's done now - you can't change that.


I do think that the bank have some obligation to ensure that you are not suffering financial difficulty and should allow you to withdraw some funds based on the fact that you have basic needs to meet. (I hope that someone with more experience can offer additional info on this?)
Try contacting the bank, go into the branch if possible, and have a frank but calm (if possible) discussion with them. Yes, you owe them money BUT if you are in financial hardship, the consequences of them not allowing you some funds will just add to your problems. I'm sure that the bank should be open to your situation and offer a short term solution.
Good luck - let us know how you get on.
Take care.

:T

So easy not to think straight but this is just the reply I needed, sorry I didn't reply at the time I've been on the phone to the bank....

The headline is, they have released the money back to me in full and allowed it to be withdrawn into my new basic current account. I have to say the collections department at Santander are amazing and have been all the way through this. I explained what had happened and the consequences of not being able to meet priority payments....within 15 minutes they had released restrictions on my online account access, made £1100 reappear in my old current account (despite this having already cleared all debt that I owed them on that overdraft), put the debt back on the account and allowed me to transfer the money out.

Absolutely amazing!

Sorry to come on here and panic but hopefully this helps someone else in the future too, they said they have had it happen loads of times like this so nothing to worry about.

For anybody worrying about going with a DMP, so far I have found all creditors to be great with it...even thanking me for sorting out the DMP and trying to find a solution to repay them.

purplepaws

Maverick87 wrote: »

:T

So easy not to think straight but this is just the reply I needed, sorry I didn't reply at the time I've been on the phone to the bank....

Hello again,
Great news, glad you've managed to sort it.
Now you can breathe again!
Have a great weekend :j

January2015

Maverick87 wrote: »

:T

So easy not to think straight but this is just the reply I needed, sorry I didn't reply at the time I've been on the phone to the bank....

The headline is, they have released the money back to me in full and allowed it to be withdrawn into my new basic current account. I have to say the collections department at Santander are amazing and have been all the way through this. I explained what had happened and the consequences of not being able to meet priority payments....within 15 minutes they had released restrictions on my online account access, made £1100 reappear in my old current account (despite this having already cleared all debt that I owed them on that overdraft), put the debt back on the account and allowed me to transfer the money out.

Absolutely amazing!

Sorry to come on here and panic but hopefully this helps someone else in the future too, they said they have had it happen loads of times like this so nothing to worry about.

For anybody worrying about going with a DMP, so far I have found all creditors to be great with it...even thanking me for sorting out the DMP and trying to find a solution to repay them.

Great post - so pleased everything has worked out for you. You kept your calm and dealt with what was potentially a huge problem for you.

Just goes to show that some creditors can be reasonable. Great advice from Purplepaws :T

purplepaws

January2015 wrote: »

Great post - so pleased everything has worked out for you. You kept your calm and dealt with what was potentially a huge problem for you.

Just goes to show that some creditors can be reasonable. Great advice from Purplepaws :T

Wow, thanks January - that means a lot.
If you saw me yesterday, floods of tears, mildly panicky, no focus, I would not strike you as being capable of giving good advice. What a difference a day makes.
The DMP road is full of bumps but we are all on the same road, just at different points. It's so lovely that everyone one on this forum has something to contribute, no matter where they are on that journey.
Thank you to everyone who takes a look, read and reply when possible.
The sun is out today - have a good day x

Sylvester6

Maverick, I can imagine your panic. Glad they have been reasonable and you have got it sorted out though.

I have a question and apologies if I am being thick but just want to make sure I'm doing this right: I have set up monthly standing orders with the creditors respective sort code/account number and our ref number for each one, is this the way most people pay? I'm not to keen on setting up a DD and don't want to give my debit card details to them but want to ensure our payments land in our accounts!!!

We have heard back from our 2 PRA debts: both have stated they will accept £1 a month so that's good. Hopefully tje rest will follow.