Advice on DMP

Norfolk_Jim

OK have been on the phone with Stepchange to arrange a DMP and have recieved their debt remedy advice. Will be sending off for the pack soon. I have a week off work in early November so I will try to post a SOA altghough it will be different than the one worked out with Stepchange it might still be useful for suggested alterations.
My wages go into the bank today and this might sound like a no-brainer and be a stupid question but my various credit cards payments are due and Ive not yet fully set up alternative banking arrangements so should I still make my monthly payment till my DMP is set up or cancel those payments now before they go out and before my DMP pack is completed. Might be obvious but Im feeling lost - I do have mental health problems and this goes against everything Ive lived so I feel pretty bad about it.
Stepchange want wifes PIP included in our household income so still need to win her over on that - we need to be united in this

Norfolk_Jim

One extra question. My alternative bank (Metro) offer a switching service where they guarantee to switch all my DDs, SO's, wages etc in 7 days. After I cancel my DDs to my creditors - is there any reason why I should not use that service to switch my transactions?

fatbelly

Yes - cancel the dds

Personally I wouldn't count wife's PIP as income. It's paid for a care or mobility need - can you find one that balances the PIP payment and tell stepchange that's where it goes? (as long as you still have something to pay the creditors of course)

No problem in using a switching service

Norfolk_Jim

I was thinking about completing the SOA today (still looking for the template) but as Stepchange and me have agreed a new budget is there any point putting up my old budget - or the new one. I will need to stick to the new budget so is there any point?
I have now completed my letters to creditors and I have my DMP agreement to send back to Stepchange with the documents they have requested - and cut up my credit cards - and the boiler has now broken down. No emergency fund in place - so maybe not the best timing on my part but having resisted admitting defeat on debt for over a decade I wanted to act before I became stubborn about it again.
I was coming off my depression medication but I think I will need to go back to the GP and review that. Feeling no relief today, only shame and tearfulness. I know they are big banks, I know they have a business plan, I know their business plan will take into account that some will default, I know that for them its just business but I feel like a theif

Norfolk_Jim

Also, is there a board where I can get some advice on Sky? Im in contract to them but need to shed Sky or go on basic (yes I've seen the many hundreds of posts on these boards saying get rid of sky and use freeview so no need to keep on repeating that - my problem is that Im in contract)
My son was paying most of the monthly Sky cost but was sacked a few weeks back and is out looking for a job. We are still trying to sort it out between us as Id be happy to see Sky gone but the rest of the family want to keep the basic package and Stepchange were not averse to that. But Im in contract for sports (my only real recreation) and we were paying over £60 with the extras the family wanted. I pay the basic, they pay for the extras - didnt expect boy to be sacked, now stuffed.
Before I phone Sky with my sorry tale and see if they will relent Id like to know what I will face and Im surely not alone in facing this - others must have been there before me. Will they relent and let me end my contract early if I ask nicely? What happens if I just cancel the DD and refuse to pay? Do they have a department that deals with custiomers in financial trouble that I could ask to speak to?
If others have had this - can you share your experience with me please so Im forewarned before I phone.

PurpleFairy26

I would give $ky a call and explain the situation. They have a department to help with such things, you have nothing to loose.

Sorry to hear about your boiler. Can you use some of the money you would have paid on CC repayments this month to pay to repair.

Have you considered delaying starting your DMP for a couple of months whilst you get an emergency fund saved. The broken boiler just shows how important having this is as you won’t have CC to fall back on.

Wishing you the best of luck and make sure you keep looking after your mental health through all of this.

fatbelly

Yes - sort the boiler out. The dmp can wait.

Explain to sky you're about to cancel and put their debt into debt management. See what they come up with. Be prepared for a long phone call.

The soa calculator has moved

https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/financecalculators/soa.php

NeverendingDMP

I agree ring stepchange delay the dmp a bit and fix the boiler.

Ring sky and explain the situation. If they refuse to drop the price-hope not, then you may just need to stand your ground with stepchange and increase that category cost therefore reducing your planned dmp payments in the short term.
If you have planned your new budget with stepchange and are now already short by the cost of sky sports is going to feel even harder.
In the long term you could look at a now tv stick when your sky contract finishes. You can get sky sports and films things then on a 30 day renewable contract or via passes you can buy from the shop. That might be the family compromise of not having sky but buying the channels and dropping them as income allows.

NeverendingDMP

Your emotions will go up and down throughout your dmp but definately at the beginning.
If it helps to go to the GP and stay on the medication for a bit thats okay. You have identified and realised the pickle you are in and have taken the action you need to - that is what counts. You are not alone and can check in with people here for moral support along the way.

Norfolk_Jim

My church have offered to pay for the boiler repair, My budget allows £50pm to set aside for the unexpected. I hope there isnt any for a while. As I said previously I have some money coming to me in the New Year that I can put aside as the emergency fund.

So hard tis morning with the wifes mental illness. Not even 24 hours after agreeing we have to live differently she is back to her old ways like nothing has changed. Sometimes I feel like I cant carry on any more