Done the maths - S**t my pants

User_060921

All the paperwork is done, all creditors contacted and Stepchange have started my DMP - with my first payment going out on November 1st.

I knew my finances were shot, but having been robbing peter to pay paul for many many many years, i have had my head very firmly in the sand.

I have NEVER missed a payment, and my credit score is good and if i am honest, that is the biggest reason i have not 'wanted' to formally sort things out in a long term fashion.

My job is such that financial difficulties are frowned upon, which is the main reason we are going down the DMP rather than IVA route.

Gulp - here we go - I am £65,000 in unsecured debt. Lots of reasons for it, but a large part of that number is entirely my fault.

My take home pay is £2150.

I pay £1700 each month in debt repayments.

The DMP is for £335 per month and it will take 15 years to clear my debts albeit i am targeting actually doing it in 10.

Found myself dreading the post man arriving for the past few days, and I have received three letters from people i owe money to, who said they would not contact me for 30 days. Harumph.

Thanks for listening, i needed to share.

Davy_Jones_II

Well, that’s a chunk of money, but we’ll done on making a start.

Have you anything to show from the debt, such as a car, that you could sell to reduce the amount?

User_060921

Unfortunately not Davy.

Its down to a few things - redundancy, illness, overspending and more recently a hefty reduction in income.

I do hope that things will improve in a couple of years and i can up my payments or even make offers to pay off the debts.

sourcrates

Well, good news, and bad news, firstly well done for realising you had a debt problem, and for doing something about it, 65k in unsecured debt is a large sum of money, but i fear you have begun your arrangement a little haistily, with luck, your creditors will default you pretty quickly, however be prepared for the ones who don`t, and place "AP" markers on your file instead, AP means "arrangement to pay" they sometimes do this instead of defaulting you, the problem with this is that they stay visable on your file a further 6 years after the debt has been repaid, so potentially a very long time in your case.


There are complaint routes to take if that is the case, and we can help you with that, also i hope you have made provision within your budget for an emergency fund, this will be essential further down the line as access to credit will be barred, and sadly some things wear out and will need replacing.

fatbelly

If there's any sub-prime stuff there like payday loans - consider a complaint.

If there's anything that might be helped by charity (water, utilities?) try that

I suspect you have a lot of Consumer Credit Act debts. At some point you should do CCA requests to check they have the paperwork.

Maybe post your statement of affairs here and we'll see if we can trim your living expenses.

Sourcrates' suggestion of an emergency fund is a good one - I would call it a fighting fund as you may be able to bring forward your debt-free date by using full & final settlements if you can amass a lump sum.

User_060921

Thanks for the comments.

There is no sub prime lending - all main stream (Barclaycard/MBNA/Virgin/Halifax/Nationwide/AMEX).

This hasn't been done as hastily as my post may make this appear. I have managed to put aside an emergency fund.

I have consigned myself to some considerable time of having a poor credit score.

I have spent the last couple of weeks trimming my expenses where i can and putting a budget in place that is realistic.

I have scanned over many posts. What is the reference with regards to CCA requests? What does that potentially achieve. Sorry for being a bit of a novice :-)

Louoffofsparkle

You say financial difficulty is frowned upon in your job but does that mean it’s a sackable offence?
Good luck with your dmp.
Now is the time to really be on top of your budget but make sure you don’t make it too hard on yourself as you still need to enjoy your life

User_060921

yes it sackable

warby68

Are you absolutely sure a DMP is acceptable to your employer as it comes with defaults and payment arrangements?

Presume you are but better to be on the safe side.

That's a significant amount of debt and a long term DMP but if it steadies the ship and lets you regroup, why not? It doesn't stop you considering other options in the future.

I know you have an emergency fund but are you sure you're ready for an immediate start to the DMP. Some people plan it to start a little in the future so they can get their budget right and test it out a bit. You must have been overspending for quite a while so you are turning a tanker around.

Posting your SoA and starting a diary are options here for further support.

fatbelly

Fusterclucker wrote: »

I have consigned myself to some considerable time of having a poor credit score.

I have spent the last couple of weeks trimming my expenses where i can and putting a budget in place that is realistic.

I have scanned over many posts. What is the reference with regards to CCA requests? What does that potentially achieve. Sorry for being a bit of a novice :-)

Don't worry about your score - it's a meaningless number made up for marketing purposes.

A CCA request is a formal request under s77-9 of the consumer credit act. If the creditor cannot respond then the account goes unenforceable until they do.

Where they are useful is later down the line when the accounts have been sold to a debt buyer once or twice. This is too soon for you at the moment but at some point you may have amassed a lump sum, have debts with debt buyers and are ready to bring your dmp to a close with full & final settlement offers.

That would be the time to post on this thread, and I assume it'll still be going because it has been a useful resource for 14 years now!

User_060921

thanks for that, i didn't know that side of things.

It is certainly something I will do.

In reference to the DMP and my work not liking it - its not disclosable. An IVA and bankruptcy is.

Not ideal i grant you, but as they say - it is what it is.

Thankyou for the support guys, I appreciate it.

I will keep you all posted with the progress.