DMP mutual support thread part 13 !!

Makingabobor2

@Tamar7, I agree with @sourcrates. We reduced most of our payments to £1 and are plodding along quite nicely now.  You need to have a life and not just sorry about the debts.  Once they realise you are not likely to get the debt paid any time soon, they will eventually start offering you settlement figures, just to get rid of the debts. We are 7 years along the line now and don't worry about it at all now, it is what it is.   And don't worry about your credit score, you won't be needing credit cards again, so its not really a worry.  

Hols2021

Makingabobor2 said:

@Tamar7, I agree with @sourcrates. We reduced most of our payments to £1 and are plodding along quite nicely now.  You need to have a life and not just sorry about the debts.  Once they realise you are not likely to get the debt paid any time soon, they will eventually start offering you settlement figures, just to get rid of the debts. We are 7 years along the line now and don't worry about it at all now, it is what it is.   And don't worry about your credit score, you won't be needing credit cards again, so its not really a worry.  

Hi, I have just seen your post, we have just started our DMP and I have now managed to set up 4 payment plans and still have 4 to go but am a bit worried about how much I am offering, mostly it’s been between £20-30 but this all adds up and I guess there’s no rush to pay this off in a few years as it’s going to be on my credit file for the next 6. So maybe for the other ones I’ve still to set up I will reduce these to £10 as we are leaving ourselves with the bare minimum to live on. Can I ask has your credit rating now went back to normal now everything has dropped off? 

Makingabobor2

Hols2021 said:

Makingabobor2 said:

@Tamar7, I agree with @sourcrates. We reduced most of our payments to £1 and are plodding along quite nicely now.  You need to have a life and not just sorry about the debts.  Once they realise you are not likely to get the debt paid any time soon, they will eventually start offering you settlement figures, just to get rid of the debts. We are 7 years along the line now and don't worry about it at all now, it is what it is.   And don't worry about your credit score, you won't be needing credit cards again, so its not really a worry.  

Hi, I have just seen your post, we have just started our DMP and I have now managed to set up 4 payment plans and still have 4 to go but am a bit worried about how much I am offering, mostly it’s been between £20-30 but this all adds up and I guess there’s no rush to pay this off in a few years as it’s going to be on my credit file for the next 6. So maybe for the other ones I’ve still to set up I will reduce these to £10 as we are leaving ourselves with the bare minimum to live on. Can I ask has your credit rating now went back to normal now everything has dropped off? 

Our credit rating has gone up slightly over the years, but still pretty rubbish...but as we have no intention of ever wanting credit again, it doesn't bother us. We wouldn't even use a credit card again and only have 3 1/2 years left on mortgage (less if I have my way), so we won't be wanting a mortgage again, the plan is to eventually downsize.  Think its important to leave yourself plenty to live on now with everything going up so much.  When we first started with Stepchange, they had us paying over £800 a month to the DMP, but then I lost my job (and now am retired), so there is no way we could afford that. Once you send you I&E forms to the creditors, they realise you can't pay a lot and they are fine about it. We've had a couple of good F&F settlements with some as well.   Just remember its not a sprint, its a marathon. 

Hols2021

Makingabobor2 said:

Hols2021 said:

Makingabobor2 said:

@Tamar7, I agree with @sourcrates. We reduced most of our payments to £1 and are plodding along quite nicely now.  You need to have a life and not just sorry about the debts.  Once they realise you are not likely to get the debt paid any time soon, they will eventually start offering you settlement figures, just to get rid of the debts. We are 7 years along the line now and don't worry about it at all now, it is what it is.   And don't worry about your credit score, you won't be needing credit cards again, so its not really a worry.  

Hi, I have just seen your post, we have just started our DMP and I have now managed to set up 4 payment plans and still have 4 to go but am a bit worried about how much I am offering, mostly it’s been between £20-30 but this all adds up and I guess there’s no rush to pay this off in a few years as it’s going to be on my credit file for the next 6. So maybe for the other ones I’ve still to set up I will reduce these to £10 as we are leaving ourselves with the bare minimum to live on. Can I ask has your credit rating now went back to normal now everything has dropped off? 

Our credit rating has gone up slightly over the years, but still pretty rubbish...but as we have no intention of ever wanting credit again, it doesn't bother us. We wouldn't even use a credit card again and only have 3 1/2 years left on mortgage (less if I have my way), so we won't be wanting a mortgage again, the plan is to eventually downsize.  Think its important to leave yourself plenty to live on now with everything going up so much.  When we first started with Stepchange, they had us paying over £800 a month to the DMP, but then I lost my job (and now am retired), so there is no way we could afford that. Once you send you I&E forms to the creditors, they realise you can't pay a lot and they are fine about it. We've had a couple of good F&F settlements with some as well.   Just remember its not a sprint, its a marathon. 

We are in a different position as we only just bought our first home three years ago so would like to move again somewhere a bit bigger and a different area so we need to have options with Mortgages etc. My MIL has just finished a DMP and her rating has went back up a good bit but like you she won’t be moving again and only has 2 years of her Mortgage left, whereas it’s all very new to us. I will keep what you said in mind when setting up the rest of the payment plans. Thanks for your advice.  

Newmum92

Hols2021 said:

Makingabobor2 said:

Hols2021 said:

Makingabobor2 said:

@Tamar7, I agree with @sourcrates. We reduced most of our payments to £1 and are plodding along quite nicely now.  You need to have a life and not just sorry about the debts.  Once they realise you are not likely to get the debt paid any time soon, they will eventually start offering you settlement figures, just to get rid of the debts. We are 7 years along the line now and don't worry about it at all now, it is what it is.   And don't worry about your credit score, you won't be needing credit cards again, so its not really a worry.  

Hi, I have just seen your post, we have just started our DMP and I have now managed to set up 4 payment plans and still have 4 to go but am a bit worried about how much I am offering, mostly it’s been between £20-30 but this all adds up and I guess there’s no rush to pay this off in a few years as it’s going to be on my credit file for the next 6. So maybe for the other ones I’ve still to set up I will reduce these to £10 as we are leaving ourselves with the bare minimum to live on. Can I ask has your credit rating now went back to normal now everything has dropped off? 

Our credit rating has gone up slightly over the years, but still pretty rubbish...but as we have no intention of ever wanting credit again, it doesn't bother us. We wouldn't even use a credit card again and only have 3 1/2 years left on mortgage (less if I have my way), so we won't be wanting a mortgage again, the plan is to eventually downsize.  Think its important to leave yourself plenty to live on now with everything going up so much.  When we first started with Stepchange, they had us paying over £800 a month to the DMP, but then I lost my job (and now am retired), so there is no way we could afford that. Once you send you I&E forms to the creditors, they realise you can't pay a lot and they are fine about it. We've had a couple of good F&F settlements with some as well.   Just remember its not a sprint, its a marathon. 

We are in a different position as we only just bought our first home three years ago so would like to move again somewhere a bit bigger and a different area so we need to have options with Mortgages etc. My MIL has just finished a DMP and her rating has went back up a good bit but like you she won’t be moving again and only has 2 years of her Mortgage left, whereas it’s all very new to us. I will keep what you said in mind when setting up the rest of the payment plans. Thanks for your advice.  

Hiya! Just thought I’d comment on this as we’re in a similar position we’re only in our 30s and will want to move to a bigger house. We would move now if we could but only started out DMP in March and half of my accounts are still not defaulted! How are you planning to approach the house move when you want to? I’m hoping that once my accounts are all defaulted I can find an adverse broker in 2-3 years time and be able to go down that route… rather than waiting over 6 years. We hate our house but accept we’re stuck here for a while yet 😐

Newmum92

Hi everyone

I posted this a while ago but think it may have got missed with there being so many posts so I thought I’d post again 

I stopped paying my creditors in Feb… was in breathing space until April and now even though I’m not making payments half of my accounts are still not defaulted which is really frustrating as I want the clock to start re: my credit file. 

Is there a way I can get creditors to backdate the default… when is reasonable for them to backdate to would it be as soon as I told them I couldn’t make payments or would it be a certain period of time after that?

If anyone knows of a template I can use that would be great 

thanks 😊

sourcrates

Newmum92 said:

Hi everyone

I posted this a while ago but think it may have got missed with there being so many posts so I thought I’d post again 

I stopped paying my creditors in Feb… was in breathing space until April and now even though I’m not making payments half of my accounts are still not defaulted which is really frustrating as I want the clock to start re: my credit file. 

Is there a way I can get creditors to backdate the default… when is reasonable for them to backdate to would it be as soon as I told them I couldn’t make payments or would it be a certain period of time after that?

If anyone knows of a template I can use that would be great 

thanks 😊

FCA guidance states a default can be applied after between "3-6 missed contractual re-payments".

Unfortunatly FCA guidance also states, "customers must be treated fairly".

So, creditors are caught between a rock and a hard place, as from their point of view, defaulting may be seen as too harsh, and they don`t want to fall fowl of FCA intervention, but if you want defaults, it can be very frustrating indeed.

There is nothing stopping you writing to the creditor and explaining what you are after, tell them you're wanting to start debt management, but you need all your accounts to default first, so you have that clear 6-year window till your file recovers, and you are certain all interest and charges will stop, put the ball in their court and see how it bounces.

April22

Hi Guys
Its been 6 months since I started a DMP. 

I can’t believe how quickly that’s flown by! 

I wanted to post a short update.
So I started with £103k debt, 7 creditors.
3 debts defaulted, 4 are payment arrangements at the moment. 2 of the 3 defaulted debts have been given to a new company. 

All interest and charges frozen on all accounts. 
My debt is now £97k.
I found creditors letters are quite aggressive at the start but when I’ve spoken to the creditors on the phone they are just normal people and not so scary 😊 they are helpful and compassionate and all explain that the letters are legal requirements but nothing to worry about. Now I barely receive any letters. 

It’s been tough, I have a pretty strict budget and not much in the way of an emergency fund. But so far it’s been going well, and I manage (I’ve adapted my budget once as it was a little too strict). Stepchange didn’t mind. 

Anyway if anyone is worried about entering into a DMP I was the same, but I’m posting this because on mass I found a lot of negative horror stories, but for every one horror story I’m sure there are 10000 successes. 

Most importantly having a support group and taking steps to manage debt is in itself a big achievement. 

I sleep better at night since I’ve had the DMP, 

Keep going everyone 😊x 

Tarn2021

My dmp is going OK, except PayPal still hasn't defaulted me after a year of missed payments! Apperently I was just frozen in breathing space so their system didn't default me, and they never asked me for a payment either. Literally the account is just frozen with zero activity. 

They assure me a default will happen soon so I can start payments, and I've raised a dispute with TransUnion. 

It got me thinking though - is there any benefit to actually satisfying a default? 

If it disappears after 6 years, how would a lender see it and know? 

I'm wondering if just keeping the companies happy with payments is better (as in I'll have more freedom financially) than trying to clear the whole debt.

sourcrates

Tarn2021 said:

My dmp is going OK, except PayPal still hasn't defaulted me after a year of missed payments! Apperently I was just frozen in breathing space so their system didn't default me, and they never asked me for a payment either. Literally the account is just frozen with zero activity. 

They assure me a default will happen soon so I can start payments, and I've raised a dispute with TransUnion. 

It got me thinking though - is there any benefit to actually satisfying a default? 

If it disappears after 6 years, how would a lender see it and know? 

I'm wondering if just keeping the companies happy with payments is better (as in I'll have more freedom financially) than trying to clear the whole debt.

All trace will disappear after 6 years, that is true, however a creditor can choose to take legal action on the debt if you continue to ignore them, but as luck would have it, PayPal have never yet gone down this road, they pass the debt to a debt collector, but to date, have never taken legal action.

One of those quirky things where a foreign company is based in another foreign country, making any legal action difficult and expensive, so they just take the loss instead.