DMP mutual support thread part 13 !!

biker_rob

Hello everyone, hope you're keeping well. I haven't logged in since 2019(!) but wanted to let everyone know that my self managed DMP is still ticking along nicely all these years later (figures in signature). I now review mine yearly and not once in the process has a creditor refused an offer. Payments have reduced as well as increased, but all offers of payment have been accepted. There have been multiple changes of DCA and all of them have taken on my payment plan without issue.I still update any changes on the Nedcab website.

If it wasn't for the superb support and advice from this forum I wouldn't have taken the brave step to manage my own DMP, especially after a debt management charity recommended that I declare myself bankrupt which I really didn't want to do. 

I wanted to post just to reassure those who are at the beginning stage of their debt management journey and are considering the self managed DMP route. It works. The feeling of being in control of your creditors rather than the other way around is liberating. No more anxiety inducing phone calls or text messages. Take the advice from the experts on this forum and don't be afraid to take those first steps.

2021rdsunshine

Girlonaphone said:

Hiya! I’ve spent the past week reading this thread and many others on MSE forums relating to DMPs. What a wonderful resource and it’s been a huge reassurance to see so many posts that I can identify with. Worrying about debt is so isolating and frightening, I honestly feel for the first time in a long time that I’m not alone, so thank you everyone. 

I guess I’m just looking for a bit of reassurance around going into a DMP, and some advice along the way if possible? 

At the moment I am up to date with all debt but quickly drowning and robbing Peter to pay Paul just to get food on the table. It can’t go on, the stress and worry is taking its toll now. 

My plan is to self manage. I’m going to stop all non priority payments now, write to each of my creditors and advise them of my situation and that once I have a plan in place I will start making regular payments (I will include an I&E detailing what I will pay to whom, and also revoke my permission for them to contact me other than in writing)
I’ll then start saving an EF and think I can manage to get this to £2k over the next 3 months, after which I will start paying creditors (as long as the debts have defaulted or at least moved over to a DCA) 
I owe £30k across loans and although I could probably continue to make minimum payments the reality is I’d have this debt for a million (ish) years and I just feel like I need to get back on a level setting and be able to sleep at night. I’m paying about £900 per month just to creditors and have now got into the horrible situation of taking earnings before payday to get by, but the knock on effect of that is now unsustainable. (My employer has one of those online facilities where you can ‘withdraw’ a % of your salary early) 

I think I’ve got past the initial fear of ‘not paying’ and accepted I now just need to do it, I’ve actually had a couple of ‘hopeful’ moments while reading through the forum and it’s really helped me get to this point. 

So sorry for the rant! Is there anything I haven’t considered in the above, and is it really now just a case of stopping payments, waiting on defaults, and building my EF meantime?? 

Thanks so much to anyone who has time to reply. It was scary even writing this post but here we go!! Xx 

That sounds like a good plan . I’ve been doing the same since November but I didn’t write to any of my creditors. I just “ignored “ the calls and file the letters they keep sending me. I didn’t feel that there was any need to explain much and definitely not kin in sending them any I&E form. The calls are minimal now and still waiting for defaults. Some of them have been passed to debt collectors but not sold so I keep waiting for the defaults to arrive and then I will start making payments to whoever has the debt. It’s a waiting game and yes like yourself it was a big step for me because I never missed a payment before. I just keep reminding myself that we are just a reference number for the banks/ credit card companies. 

Good luck with your journey! 

Girlonaphone

2021rdsunshine This was one of my worries/queries, should I just completely stop all contact and not acknowledge anything until accounts start to default? Does it make a shred of difference if I contact them just now anyway? I don’t want to get into the messy situation of creditors logging my file as having an AP and the prolonged years of sh** credit file that comes from that. I accept it’s going to be trashed now anyway, but keeping that to a minimum seems prudent! 

It’s so reassuring to hear from someone who is also going through this (albeit a bit further forward) so thank you for sharing your insight and experience of how it’s been so far. 

I missed my first CC payment (ever) yesterday and have had a text message today about it, made me feel a bit sick tbh! However, onwards we go and I will just sit tight for now I think. Your message has helped reassure me that everything will be ok. 

Thank you again so much for replying, and I wish you all the best on your endeavours in DMP land! 

2021rdsunshine

Girlonaphone said:

2021rdsunshine This was one of my worries/queries, should I just completely stop all contact and not acknowledge anything until accounts start to default? Does it make a shred of difference if I contact them just now anyway? I don’t want to get into the messy situation of creditors logging my file as having an AP and the prolonged years of sh** credit file that comes from that. I accept it’s going to be trashed now anyway, but keeping that to a minimum seems prudent! 

It’s so reassuring to hear from someone who is also going through this (albeit a bit further forward) so thank you for sharing your insight and experience of how it’s been so far. 

I missed my first CC payment (ever) yesterday and have had a text message today about it, made me feel a bit sick tbh! However, onwards we go and I will just sit tight for now I think. Your message has helped reassure me that everything will be ok. 

Thank you again so much for replying, and I wish you all the best on your endeavours in DMP land! 

Yes I think not engaging with creditors to start with is the way to go . If you read the debt free wannabe on the forum , there is a lot of good discussion about it. Maybe even if you post there you will get advice from some of the expert members like soacrates and fatbelly. They have a lot of knowledge regarding managing debt. I feel once you engage with creditors they will try and “help “ and defaults will take longer. My plan is to create a solid emergency fund while waiting for defaults. After defaults happen , I will start paying them what I feel is appropriate ( always much less than what the minimum payment would be) and I’m hoping that, further down the line , some offers for discounted full and final payments will happen. 

We will get there! 

Girlonaphone

i think the hardest part is getting over that hurdle of missing the first payments on bills I’m used to paying, that horrible fear that everyone at the CC company is judging me. I know objectively you’re right and we are just account numbers to them at the end of the day, is that cognitive dissonance from a skint persons perspective? 😂
I will squirrel away as much as I can while waiting for defaults, try to hold strong if the barrage of phone calls starts soon, and overall try and stay focused on the bigger picture. 

We absolutely will get there! 

If you have a DFW diary I will subscribe - not been brave enough to start one myself as yet but hoping to get to it soon 🙂

2021rdsunshine

Girlonaphone said:

i think the hardest part is getting over that hurdle of missing the first payments on bills I’m used to paying, that horrible fear that everyone at the CC company is judging me. I know objectively you’re right and we are just account numbers to them at the end of the day, is that cognitive dissonance from a skint persons perspective? 😂
I will squirrel away as much as I can while waiting for defaults, try to hold strong if the barrage of phone calls starts soon, and overall try and stay focused on the bigger picture. 

We absolutely will get there! 

If you have a DFW diary I will subscribe - not been brave enough to start one myself as yet but hoping to get to it soon 🙂

I completely understand what you mean ! At first I used to think that everyone in the street was aware that I owe money just looking at my face 😂 I think that sort of feeling comes from being honest people more than being skint really. This forum has helped me massively to overcome that . The more knowledge you have about the process the more confident you become that you are doing the right thing. 

The important is that you create a budget that you are comfortable with for all your essential bills. When I started, I prepared my SOA to guide me through all the expenses in the household and for the first time I couldn’t believe that I actually had survived for so long robbing Peter to pay Paul 😂  
I don’t have a DFW diary myself but I do enjoy reading some of diaries and I would definitely subscribe yours if you decide to start one. 

And yes , keep strong. Remember that phone calls and letters are basically an automated process that the creditors have to go through and if you feel that it’s getting too much with the calls you can definitely send them a letter and telling them what’s your preferred method of contacting you. I only sent one letter to one of the creditors right at the beginning just because they had the wrong address for me and I couldn’t update it online. The phone calls I put my phone on silent and also blocked some of the numbers that were ringing more frequently. Focus on the big picture definitely!

Girlonaphone

That made me laugh, I know exactly what you mean 😂
Thank you again it’s really great to speak with someone who gets it. I’ll start a diary once I’m brave enough! Take care and have a smashing weekend 🙂

BrighterDays15

Hi everyone,

Terrified newbie here just starting DMP journey.  So thankful for this forum + for you all!  I know it’s based on affordability but also aware if i offer too little i might be rejected/legal action.  What seems to be an acceptable monthly repayment amount to split fairly between creditors for £62k unsecured debt please? 

TIA

sourcrates

BrighterDays15 said:

Hi everyone,

Terrified newbie here just starting DMP journey.  So thankful for this forum + for you all!  I know it’s based on affordability but also aware if i offer too little i might be rejected/legal action.  What seems to be an acceptable monthly repayment amount to split fairly between creditors for £62k unsecured debt please? 

TIA

There is no "one size fits all" answer to this, as everyone's situation is different.

You pay what`s affordable, according to your disposable income, and that`s what they get.

The same principle is applied by a court, so there is no benefit to legal action if you are paying what you can afford, its that simple really.

You appear to be worried about legal action, usually if you are making regular DMP payments, it doesn't happen, you can`t say with 100% certainty, but 95% would be about right.

If legal action is taken, you still pay according to your budget, previously you seemed worried about a charging order, even if a creditor did obtain one, as long as payments are maintained, no further action would happen.

If the debts are yours, and the house is owned jointly, then just a restriction would apply.

Hope that helps.

Lookingforwards2026

Hi everyone.
Ive been  on a self managed dmp for nearly 6 years. It was the advise from lovely people on here that got me through.
im plodding along with repayments, some of my defaults will be dropping off my credit file this year.
In about 3 years I wish to try and move house, which will require a mortgage, by which time my defaults will have gone from my credit files.
However I have 3 debts with Intrum all originally with Ratesetter. total of £16000. I pay very small payments each month. Ratesetter or intrum never defaulted the accounts, and these have been marked on my credit file as arangement to pay each month. :-(   I realise this won't look good when it comes to mortgages, so looking for a way round this. 
Intrum bought the debts from rate setter in 2020 and added as loans to my credit file and marked as arrangement to pay.  
the ratesetter accounts were marked as closed. I stopped payment of the contractual amounts to rate setter in 2018. 
Do you think I could get the accounts defaulted and backdated to 2018.and if I did would the intrum accounts then disappear from my credit file this year?

Or I could try making them an offer, I have £1000 I could offer them, but if they accepted this, Im guessing this would stay on credit file for another 6 years? but I suppose in 3 years this settlement may not look as bad?

Sorry for all the questions, wondered if any one has dealt with intrum in this way, or any advise. :-)