DMP mutual support thread part 13 !!

debtfreeme2021

Hi , I’m in a similar position awaiting defaults and have not received anything like this yet. Which organisation is it? 

Bizz1974

sourcrates said:

Bizz1974 said:

Hi All

I will apologies straight away because I feel like this could be a long post.

I have finally come to the point where I cannot cope with the debts we have built up and realised I need to stop and sort this out. I have been terrified for the past 6 months of the situation and have just been paying things and borrowing straight back. 

Having reached this conclusion and written everything down and come up with a budget with step changes help, I already feel a bit better, now for the questions.

1. I have entered into breathing space already for 60days using stepchange-included in my dmp action plan is my current account overdraft. I have not been able to change the bank account for my salary this month so it will be going into this account-will the bank automatically remove my overdraft, so I cannot use this facility as they will have been notified of the breathing space? Or will this stay in place and I can move salary in time for my next pay day in Feb? If they take away my overdraft I won’t be able to pay my priority bills or living costs.
2. I was planning on getting the dmp setup asap but I am now reading it might be better to leave the credit cards until they go to default status, so that the default marker clears after 6 years. To do this, do I just ignore any communication from them after the breathing space ends? This feels scary and like I might get debt collectors on my doorstep. I am also studying to be an accountant (I realise the irony considering some of the terrible choices I have made to get here!), would this method have any negative affect on my job? I would plan to put the money I am not paying into the dmp for this period into a saving account to build up an emergency fund.
3. I understand that my credit file will be ruined, if a mortgage deal comes to an end in this period-does this mean I will not be able to change to another deal with the same bank even if we are not taking out anymore? Not important at the moment but just something on my mind.
4. Going into a dmp is the only option at the moment. In the future when I earn more can I potentially come out of this and take it over myself?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Answers

(1) Banks don`t move that quickly, but you should perhaps have waited until your wages dropped into your account before rushing into breathing space, or at the very least set up a new basic bank account, and transferred your money over, debt collection is a very long process, and nothing will happen quickly, it would have been best to stay quiet whilst this was actioned, then you would not have had to worry, however, we are where we are, you should be ok.

You could stop paying all your accounts today, and apart from the odd letter or phone call, it would be 5/6 months before collections became involved.

(2) Defaults have two benefits, all interest and charges stop, and you have a clear 6 year window till your credit file clears.

(3) Usually a new deal with an existing provider does not require a credit check.

(4) Yes of course, a lot of people do, the emergency fund we encourage you to save has to roles to play, (1) as an emergency fund obviously, and (2) as a pot of cash to make settlement offers with, further down the line.

Good luck with it, any more questions feel free to ask.

Hello,

Thank you for your answers.

I have set a new account up-I am just waiting for the details to arrive. I unfortunately was not quick enough to change my salary-  if I can get it all set up I can move the money as soon as it hits the account and then change over my dds for the rest of the month?

Are collections the same as a CCJ? 

Up until the default is registered are charges and interest continued to be charged? So as an example if it takes them 6 months to default this would add 6 months of charges and interest?

Thank you

sourcrates

uonsjc31 said:

Hi all. 3 to 4 months in now. Going pretty smoothly and feeling alot less stressed. Particularly with a 1 week old baby, i can focus on her. 

I understand the emails etc you may receive with "we may do this, we are looking to do that" but i received this email this morning. Anyone experienced this before? Many thanks

As we have been unable to contact you successfully to discuss the arrears on your account, we are looking to instruct a reconnect agent who will visit you at home on our behalf with the aim of putting you back in touch with us. 

 

In order to prevent this reconnection visit from being instructed, please contact us in the next 48hrs on the contact details below.

 

If we have still not spoken with you after 48hrs from this notification, the visit will be arranged and will take place within 5 working days of the instruction and may incur a charge of up to £90 which may be added to your account. 

Its a standard doorstep collection threat letter, with a totally meaningless response time, you don`t get many of these nowadays, very "olde skool". Let me just say, it makes no difference what these letters may say, they all have the same intent, which is to get you to contact them, that is their end goal here, they want you to ring them, and will say or do anything to achieve that.

If someone knocks on your door, you are free to ignore them, they are not bailiffs, they are simply self employed collectors, if they charge you £90, treat it like an unwanted invoice, and say no thanks, I did not ask for this, I will not pay it, they are unenforceable in court these "invoices", and there is nothing they can do to make you pay it.

A simple and quick method of putting them back in their box, is to email informing them that their rights of implied access have been revoked, and no business will be discussed at the doorstep, If their agent calls, they will be asked to leave, failure to do so will involve police attendance, and in future, you will only discuss this matter in writing.

That should have the desired effect.

sourcrates

Bizz1974 said:

sourcrates said:

Bizz1974 said:

Hi All

I will apologies straight away because I feel like this could be a long post.

I have finally come to the point where I cannot cope with the debts we have built up and realised I need to stop and sort this out. I have been terrified for the past 6 months of the situation and have just been paying things and borrowing straight back. 

Having reached this conclusion and written everything down and come up with a budget with step changes help, I already feel a bit better, now for the questions.

1. I have entered into breathing space already for 60days using stepchange-included in my dmp action plan is my current account overdraft. I have not been able to change the bank account for my salary this month so it will be going into this account-will the bank automatically remove my overdraft, so I cannot use this facility as they will have been notified of the breathing space? Or will this stay in place and I can move salary in time for my next pay day in Feb? If they take away my overdraft I won’t be able to pay my priority bills or living costs.
2. I was planning on getting the dmp setup asap but I am now reading it might be better to leave the credit cards until they go to default status, so that the default marker clears after 6 years. To do this, do I just ignore any communication from them after the breathing space ends? This feels scary and like I might get debt collectors on my doorstep. I am also studying to be an accountant (I realise the irony considering some of the terrible choices I have made to get here!), would this method have any negative affect on my job? I would plan to put the money I am not paying into the dmp for this period into a saving account to build up an emergency fund.
3. I understand that my credit file will be ruined, if a mortgage deal comes to an end in this period-does this mean I will not be able to change to another deal with the same bank even if we are not taking out anymore? Not important at the moment but just something on my mind.
4. Going into a dmp is the only option at the moment. In the future when I earn more can I potentially come out of this and take it over myself?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Answers

(1) Banks don`t move that quickly, but you should perhaps have waited until your wages dropped into your account before rushing into breathing space, or at the very least set up a new basic bank account, and transferred your money over, debt collection is a very long process, and nothing will happen quickly, it would have been best to stay quiet whilst this was actioned, then you would not have had to worry, however, we are where we are, you should be ok.

You could stop paying all your accounts today, and apart from the odd letter or phone call, it would be 5/6 months before collections became involved.

(2) Defaults have two benefits, all interest and charges stop, and you have a clear 6 year window till your credit file clears.

(3) Usually a new deal with an existing provider does not require a credit check.

(4) Yes of course, a lot of people do, the emergency fund we encourage you to save has to roles to play, (1) as an emergency fund obviously, and (2) as a pot of cash to make settlement offers with, further down the line.

Good luck with it, any more questions feel free to ask.

Hello,

Thank you for your answers.



Are collections the same as a CCJ? 

Up until the default is registered are charges and interest continued to be charged? So as an example if it takes them 6 months to default this would add 6 months of charges and interest?

Thank you

Oh my life No, not at all.

There are various stages of debt collection a creditor goes through, at first it will be customer services who write to you, after a certain timeframe, your account will be passed to there internal collections department, from there it may be either sold to another company, or passed to an external debt collector.

A CCJ is a County Court Judgement, nothing to do with a company collecting debt, its when a creditor takes you to court for non payment, and a judgement is awarded against you, by the court, the first step in the legal process if you like.

You getting very confused with all of this it seems.

Yes interest and charges may still be added before default, these can be offset later on in the process by making settlement offers to your creditors.

Bizz1974

sourcrates said:

Bizz1974 said:

sourcrates said:

Bizz1974 said:

Hi All

I will apologies straight away because I feel like this could be a long post.

I have finally come to the point where I cannot cope with the debts we have built up and realised I need to stop and sort this out. I have been terrified for the past 6 months of the situation and have just been paying things and borrowing straight back. 

Having reached this conclusion and written everything down and come up with a budget with step changes help, I already feel a bit better, now for the questions.

1. I have entered into breathing space already for 60days using stepchange-included in my dmp action plan is my current account overdraft. I have not been able to change the bank account for my salary this month so it will be going into this account-will the bank automatically remove my overdraft, so I cannot use this facility as they will have been notified of the breathing space? Or will this stay in place and I can move salary in time for my next pay day in Feb? If they take away my overdraft I won’t be able to pay my priority bills or living costs.
2. I was planning on getting the dmp setup asap but I am now reading it might be better to leave the credit cards until they go to default status, so that the default marker clears after 6 years. To do this, do I just ignore any communication from them after the breathing space ends? This feels scary and like I might get debt collectors on my doorstep. I am also studying to be an accountant (I realise the irony considering some of the terrible choices I have made to get here!), would this method have any negative affect on my job? I would plan to put the money I am not paying into the dmp for this period into a saving account to build up an emergency fund.
3. I understand that my credit file will be ruined, if a mortgage deal comes to an end in this period-does this mean I will not be able to change to another deal with the same bank even if we are not taking out anymore? Not important at the moment but just something on my mind.
4. Going into a dmp is the only option at the moment. In the future when I earn more can I potentially come out of this and take it over myself?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Answers

(1) Banks don`t move that quickly, but you should perhaps have waited until your wages dropped into your account before rushing into breathing space, or at the very least set up a new basic bank account, and transferred your money over, debt collection is a very long process, and nothing will happen quickly, it would have been best to stay quiet whilst this was actioned, then you would not have had to worry, however, we are where we are, you should be ok.

You could stop paying all your accounts today, and apart from the odd letter or phone call, it would be 5/6 months before collections became involved.

(2) Defaults have two benefits, all interest and charges stop, and you have a clear 6 year window till your credit file clears.

(3) Usually a new deal with an existing provider does not require a credit check.

(4) Yes of course, a lot of people do, the emergency fund we encourage you to save has to roles to play, (1) as an emergency fund obviously, and (2) as a pot of cash to make settlement offers with, further down the line.

Good luck with it, any more questions feel free to ask.

Hello,

Thank you for your answers.



Are collections the same as a CCJ? 

Up until the default is registered are charges and interest continued to be charged? So as an example if it takes them 6 months to default this would add 6 months of charges and interest?

Thank you

Oh my life No, not at all.

There are various stages of debt collection a creditor goes through, at first it will be customer services who write to you, after a certain timeframe, your account will be passed to there internal collections department, from there it may be either sold to another company, or passed to an external debt collector.

A CCJ is a County Court Judgement, nothing to do with a company collecting debt, its when a creditor takes you to court for non payment, and a judgement is awarded against you, by the court, the first step in the legal process if you like.

You getting very confused with all of this it seems.

Yes interest and charges may still be added before default, these can be offset later on in the process by making settlement offers to your creditors.

Thanks- yes it all feels like a bit of a minefield I thought I had a plan of going into the dmp straightaway but then started reading forums and realised that it would be more beneficial to get a default on the accounts first-but need to make sure this has no harm on my job.

Is there a typically a % that credit cards will settle at or is it more case by case?

I think I will go back to basics and draw my plan up again.

Thanks

sourcrates

Bizz1974 said:

sourcrates said:

Bizz1974 said:

sourcrates said:

Bizz1974 said:

Hi All

I will apologies straight away because I feel like this could be a long post.

I have finally come to the point where I cannot cope with the debts we have built up and realised I need to stop and sort this out. I have been terrified for the past 6 months of the situation and have just been paying things and borrowing straight back. 

Having reached this conclusion and written everything down and come up with a budget with step changes help, I already feel a bit better, now for the questions.

1. I have entered into breathing space already for 60days using stepchange-included in my dmp action plan is my current account overdraft. I have not been able to change the bank account for my salary this month so it will be going into this account-will the bank automatically remove my overdraft, so I cannot use this facility as they will have been notified of the breathing space? Or will this stay in place and I can move salary in time for my next pay day in Feb? If they take away my overdraft I won’t be able to pay my priority bills or living costs.
2. I was planning on getting the dmp setup asap but I am now reading it might be better to leave the credit cards until they go to default status, so that the default marker clears after 6 years. To do this, do I just ignore any communication from them after the breathing space ends? This feels scary and like I might get debt collectors on my doorstep. I am also studying to be an accountant (I realise the irony considering some of the terrible choices I have made to get here!), would this method have any negative affect on my job? I would plan to put the money I am not paying into the dmp for this period into a saving account to build up an emergency fund.
3. I understand that my credit file will be ruined, if a mortgage deal comes to an end in this period-does this mean I will not be able to change to another deal with the same bank even if we are not taking out anymore? Not important at the moment but just something on my mind.
4. Going into a dmp is the only option at the moment. In the future when I earn more can I potentially come out of this and take it over myself?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Answers

(1) Banks don`t move that quickly, but you should perhaps have waited until your wages dropped into your account before rushing into breathing space, or at the very least set up a new basic bank account, and transferred your money over, debt collection is a very long process, and nothing will happen quickly, it would have been best to stay quiet whilst this was actioned, then you would not have had to worry, however, we are where we are, you should be ok.

You could stop paying all your accounts today, and apart from the odd letter or phone call, it would be 5/6 months before collections became involved.

(2) Defaults have two benefits, all interest and charges stop, and you have a clear 6 year window till your credit file clears.

(3) Usually a new deal with an existing provider does not require a credit check.

(4) Yes of course, a lot of people do, the emergency fund we encourage you to save has to roles to play, (1) as an emergency fund obviously, and (2) as a pot of cash to make settlement offers with, further down the line.

Good luck with it, any more questions feel free to ask.

Hello,

Thank you for your answers.



Are collections the same as a CCJ? 

Up until the default is registered are charges and interest continued to be charged? So as an example if it takes them 6 months to default this would add 6 months of charges and interest?

Thank you

Oh my life No, not at all.

There are various stages of debt collection a creditor goes through, at first it will be customer services who write to you, after a certain timeframe, your account will be passed to there internal collections department, from there it may be either sold to another company, or passed to an external debt collector.

A CCJ is a County Court Judgement, nothing to do with a company collecting debt, its when a creditor takes you to court for non payment, and a judgement is awarded against you, by the court, the first step in the legal process if you like.

You getting very confused with all of this it seems.

Yes interest and charges may still be added before default, these can be offset later on in the process by making settlement offers to your creditors.

Thanks- yes it all feels like a bit of a minefield I thought I had a plan of going into the dmp straightaway but then started reading forums and realised that it would be more beneficial to get a default on the accounts first-but need to make sure this has no harm on my job.

Is there a typically a % that credit cards will settle at or is it more case by case?

I think I will go back to basics and draw my plan up again.

Thanks

By that stage you won`t be dealing with the original creditors any longer, things will have moved on, debts will have been sold, new owner is likely to be a debt purchasing company such as Cabot or Lowell, there is no typical settlement % to be honest, every account settlement depends on the skills of the negotiator and how willing the company is to do a deal.

CAL2727

Hi Everyone! I have been on my self managed DMP journey from January 2020, with all my accounts now defaulted (making token payments), I have now started to get some settlement offers for 80% discount however this would be listed as partially settled on my credit file. What would you do? Would you try and get it put down as fully settled? Thanks 

jwil

CAL2727 said:

Hi Everyone! I have been on my self managed DMP journey from January 2020, with all my accounts now defaulted (making token payments), I have now started to get some settlement offers for 80% discount however this would be listed as partially settled on my credit file. What would you do? Would you try and get it put down as fully settled? Thanks 

I've never worried about partially settled, the important thing is that it says they or no one else will chase you for the money.

sourcrates

CAL2727 said:

Hi Everyone! I have been on my self managed DMP journey from January 2020, with all my accounts now defaulted (making token payments), I have now started to get some settlement offers for 80% discount however this would be listed as partially settled on my credit file. What would you do? Would you try and get it put down as fully settled? Thanks 

No, that is not possible, if you settle a debt for less than is owed, it will be marked as a partial settlement, no if`s, no but`s.

Bizz1974

After reading a lot on the forums today, I think I now have a better understanding of the initial process and what I need do. Please can I just check the below;

1. Stop making payments to non-priority debts - this I have done and entered breathing space.
2. Once breathing space has finished continue to not make payments and do not yet go into payment plan. - one question here, do I need to send any letters to creditors to confirm I am in financial difficulty using one of the letter templates or has the breathing space already implied this?
3. Once a default has been registered - I will be notified-write back to offer a monthly payment or use step change.

Thank you