DMP Very BNPL interest advice please

Willing2Learn

There is no way to pre-determine what partial settlement would be satisfactory to the DCA. In rare instances they accept a 90% discount whilst in other instances they insist on a paltry 10% discount. If you were to go ahead with the complaint at the same time as withholding payment, then there is a chance that at the end of the process, the FOS could make a decision that Shop Direct should refund all the interest. But we are jumping a long way ahead.


Incidentally, I earn at least £200/month from home, completing online surveys and market research. It supplements my DLA. I got all the relevant info by looking at the MSE article linked below:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/make-money-surveys/

frugaller

Thank you so much for all your help Willingtolearn and Sourcrates, I really appreciate it x

anna_1977

I would absolutely stop paying them - don't pay a penny more until they put a default in your account

I have been on a DMP since 2016 and everyone defaulted me except Very who have put arrangement to pay markers - I'm frantically putting every penny into this debt now to clear it.

I raised a complaint to Very about not defaulting me and they said as they received £1 token payments from Stepchange it's tough

frugaller

We our doing the DMP ourselves at the minute. Everyone else has put a freeze on Our accounts. one retailer has been wonderful, £1 monthly payments for the next 6 months, but Very are a very (!) different story. I’ve been searching back through MSE forums and other forums and looks like they will never back down and keep adding fees and charges so we are desperately trying to work out how to pay it with no spare cash to do so.

We’ve already cut back to our very minimum. I also feel our other creditors may feel we are being unfair and may remove the freezes they have placed with having to give Very reluctant priority and not pro-rata rates which is the acceptable ��

sourcrates

frugaller wrote: »

We our doing the DMP ourselves at the minute. Everyone else has put a freeze on Our accounts. one retailer has been wonderful, £1 monthly payments for the next 6 months, but Very are a very (!) different story. I’ve been searching back through MSE forums and other forums and looks like they will never back down and keep adding fees and charges so we are desperately trying to work out how to pay it with no spare cash to do so.

We’ve already cut back to our very minimum. I also feel our other creditors may feel we are being unfair and may remove the freezes they have placed with having to give Very reluctant priority and not pro-rata rates which is the acceptable ��

Thats exactly why its best to remove them from the equasion entirly, for the time being, then you just don`t have to worry about it do you, stop paying them, then ignore them until they tell you the debt has been sold on, could be 4 months, could be 4 years, who knows.

Its stupid beating yourself up over this, trying to find money you just don`t have, this is exactly what they want you to do in order to pay them, its all phycological you see, and it works with a lot of people as they don`t like the idea of complete non payment, but its the only way to control them.

frugaller

So if I do pay Very with family loans over 8 or 9 payments, and it shows on my credit report that I haven’t defaulted with them (or that payments are regular and up to date) what will my credit card providers who have arranged freezes do? What rights do they have in this instance? What rights do I have? This is my big worry, Thanks so much x

Willing2Learn

You creditors do not have any right to tell what is and what is not affordable. You have to take control. They can tell you that they're 'disappointed' with the way you have set about settling the debts, but at the end of the day, there is little they can do about it.


If it helps, when I self-managed my DMP, I did not settle the debts pro rata. I just went ahead and did what was affordable. Just as long as you keep everyone 'in the loop' with regards to their accounts, in writing, then they will have to be happy with that.

And try not to worry. You can only do so much to keep your creditors happy.

frugaller

Thanks for that Willingtolearn, I thought I would have to do it pro-rata, really appreciate that, feel more confident about all this now, cheers x

Thanks Sourcrates and Anna, I will attempt to stop feeling like a failure for us getting into this mess x

sourcrates

frugaller wrote: »

Thanks Sourcrates, I will attempt to stop feeling like a failure for us getting into this mess x

It’s common to feel that way, most people do, and unfortunately that clouds your judgement when dealing with the problems that crop up, the feelings of guilt that you are in this situation in the first place, tend to make you more compliant to a creditors demands, even though those demands may be unreasonable.

You need to get over that hurdle, wise up to how the world of debt collection actually works, and try to make the best of a bad job, you must stand up for yourself as no one else will, it’s all about knowing what you can get away with, and for how long, it will get better, you will gain knowledge, and you will pull through this.