DMP mutual support thread part 13 !!

sourcrates

Any settlement offer must be agreed in writing beforehand, most important.

National debtline have a template letter for that purpose.

I will repeat the previous advice, never bank where you have debt, you have been warned!!

April22

Hi Everyone.

I come here a couple of times a year to update everyone on my debt journey. 

I read a lot of forums when entering into a DMP and I was very nervous, so I always hope by posting my journey so far I can give reassurance to someone reading.
I started my journey in April 2022. £104K in Debt over 7 accounts. This was due to family death and cancer. 

I immediately went into a DMP with StepChange (I didn’t wait for defaults). 

Within a couple of months of entering into it a couple of my debts had defaulted. Within a year 2/3 had defaulted, and within 2 years they had all defaulted.
Every creditor ‘accepted’ what StepChange said I was going to pay, and over the past 3 years I have changed the amount every few months to allow for income and expenditure changes. 

Throughout this process StepChange have been phenomenal. Non judgemental. Friendly, understanding and kind. I feel 100% supported.
Now when I do my budget changes I just use the online form, I don’t think I’ve actually spoken to StepChange on the phone for a couple of years now. Half of my debts have been sold on, and very often I will receive settlement offers for around half what I owe.
I’m now three years down the line. I sleep at night and I don’t worry. And in 3 years the first defaults will start dropping off! 

My credit score has even started improving significantly… I still owe £88K….. A lot… but it started at £104K, so you can imagine how happy I feel to have been able to get a grip on this! And it’s working brilliantly. I no longer “rob Peter to pay Paul” and all of my needs are covered in the DMP. 

I hope my story helps someone. 

People always say this - and I never believed them - but this was the best decision I ever made. The DMP process is brilliant. 

Debt collection companies have all been very friendly and kind - and I don’t get any letters at all…. But one thing I did was communicate with my creditors when I was setting up with Stepchange. I kept them informed and so I never received any aggressive calls or letters to be honest - only the standard legal letters they have to send - but nothing more.

Thank you for everyone’s help on here. I recognise many of the post names as people who helped me at the start! 

All the best everyone, 
April x

stuckinarutt2025

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some guidance if possible.

My total debt is around £28,000, and I'm a few months behind on two loans and three credit cards (I’ve only just received a default notice this month). I explored an IVA because I’ve been unable to make full payments to my creditors following a substantial increase in my mortgage last September due to the BOE rate changes — the increase was £600 per month.

I’ve been working with PayPlan and have a creditors' meeting scheduled for 29 May. However, I’m now having second thoughts and wonder if I’ve gone for quite an extreme option. My relationship has also been affected by the debt situation, and I’m not sure it will survive. If we end up selling the house, I’m concerned that the debt plus IVA fees could completely wipe out any equity I’d be entitled to — which would make starting over much more difficult.

Reading through the forums, I’ve seen that some people are self-managing a DRP and offering token payments to their creditors. Could this be a better option, considering how my circumstances are changing? And do any of you have experience or thoughts on whether I might have jumped into an IVA too quickly?

2021rdsunshine

stuckinarutt2025 said:

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some guidance if possible.

My total debt is around £28,000, and I'm a few months behind on two loans and three credit cards (I’ve only just received a default notice this month). I explored an IVA because I’ve been unable to make full payments to my creditors following a substantial increase in my mortgage last September due to the BOE rate changes — the increase was £600 per month.

I’ve been working with PayPlan and have a creditors' meeting scheduled for 29 May. However, I’m now having second thoughts and wonder if I’ve gone for quite an extreme option. My relationship has also been affected by the debt situation, and I’m not sure it will survive. If we end up selling the house, I’m concerned that the debt plus IVA fees could completely wipe out any equity I’d be entitled to — which would make starting over much more difficult.

Reading through the forums, I’ve seen that some people are self-managing a DRP and offering token payments to their creditors. Could this be a better option, considering how my circumstances are changing? And do any of you have experience or thoughts on whether I might have jumped into an IVA too quickly?

Hi! You would be better posting on the main debt free wannabe board so more people can see your post and reply to you. There is a lot of very knowledgeable folks who will give you the best advice. 

In my opinion I think you might have jumped in to the IVA too quick and not considered other options available to you. I’m doing a DMP myself and it’s not as daunting as it looks like at the start , it’s actually pretty easy to deal with it once you understand how it works. People on the main board will probably ask you for a SOA where you list all your income and expenditure so they can advise you accordingly. 

As far as your relationship is concerned don’t give up hope! Once you have a proper debt plan in place would be easier to try and work on your relationship . 

jessicathompson198

Hello 

I have a debt management with step change, which is going quite well I am in my 3rd payment with them, I currently have just paid two debts off with LINK with doing settlement figure which they accepted the debts both are defaulted most of my debts are on my SC plan except one I don't know if the account is default. does anyone know who I ask about it. 
details about the debt:
it was an Oakbrook finance (Likely Loans)
passed to ACI 
Only shows up on 2 credit files Equifax and Experian
although on credit file it says settled.
been paying ACI since 2023 no real information about them.

Is self managing a lot better than SC ? 

sourcrates

jessicathompson198 said:

Hello 

I have a debt management with step change, which is going quite well I am in my 3rd payment with them, I currently have just paid two debts off with LINK with doing settlement figure which they accepted the debts both are defaulted most of my debts are on my SC plan except one I don't know if the account is default. does anyone know who I ask about it. 
details about the debt:
it was an Oakbrook finance (Likely Loans)
passed to ACI 
Only shows up on 2 credit files Equifax and Experian
although on credit file it says settled.
been paying ACI since 2023 no real information about them.

Is self managing a lot better than SC ? 

The debts status will be shown on your credit file, along with the date of default if applicable.

If it says "settled" that means its been sold to ACI.

It should still show whether it defaulted or not, if the default date isn`t recorded then it didn`t default.

Stepchange is really for those who find difficulty in organising things themselves, self management is for those who like to be in charge of their own affairs instead of some 3rd party, its a matter of choice.

crow2025

Hello, I'm a total newbie here - finally set up a DMP with StepChange as I was just spiralling and it was all accepted and I've made one payment to them - I have since realised as something was on autopay that I have missed off a creditor and have emailed them the details to try and add them on but I've received an email back to say I must phone and review my budget. There will be no change to my budget as I've only just set it up. 

I'm autistic and find phone calls so challenging, I'm now worrying that they won't add the creditor on- am I just overthinking? Has anyone else had this? 

sourcrates

crow2025 said:

Hello, I'm a total newbie here - finally set up a DMP with StepChange as I was just spiralling and it was all accepted and I've made one payment to them - I have since realised as something was on autopay that I have missed off a creditor and have emailed them the details to try and add them on but I've received an email back to say I must phone and review my budget. There will be no change to my budget as I've only just set it up. 

I'm autistic and find phone calls so challenging, I'm now worrying that they won't add the creditor on- am I just overthinking? Has anyone else had this? 

Of course they will, can you not go on live chat or ask someone to help you on the phone?

natlie

Hi, 

Sadly I am back and just starting my second DMP, my first was for over £30k this one is under £8k. The debts I have were about to be very high interest so I decided to avoid what I went through before. Again i have gone straight into DMP without defaults, my credit score has always been awful , in spite of 2 years with no missed payments my credit score never went over 515. 

I have applied for breathing space and two of my debtors have stopped payments, one of which was £500 a month so that's a huge relief. 

The next two months will be tight for me as I am paying off some expensive bills but then should be better as my monthly costs go from £631 a month to £278 - should take 2 years and 7 months to pay off but hoping its sooner

Nat 

tksnota

Hi,

Can someone share the link or explain the reason to setup a standing order instead of direct debit when paying monthly DMPs?

//tksnota