question about defaulting accounts 30 October 2019 at 2:10PM in Debt-free wannabe 9 replies 905 views

LilOne83

hi sorry if this is a stupid question. i am in a DMP with stepchange and want my credtors to default my accounts with them. i am going to miss making Novembers monthly payment on my DMP (hoping that my creditor accounts would then be defaulted and also because of unforseen costs that have come up).

is there a certain number of months (i.e. 3 months of missed payments) where a creditor will then have no choice but to default payments? I know some creditors default accounts a lot sooner than others. Some people here have been very helpful in replying but feel a bit apprehensive about the whole process of having accounts defaulted etc

AnnoyedNetflixUser

I can't advise on the rest of your post, but as hard as it may seem, you should definitely pay the DMP payment.

Carrot007

Defaulting sooner will be a lot better for you in the long erun unless you have REALLY short (say 2 year) DMP.


Stepchange will not help you with this. This is one of thier bad points (the other insisting you be fair to companies when they are not fair to you).


If I were you I would abandon stepchange for now until defaulted then do you own DMP (or go to another free company).


List this advice under things I wish I knew when I started my DMP.

LilOne83

Carrot007 wrote: »

Defaulting sooner will be a lot better for you in the long erun unless you have REALLY short (say 2 year) DMP.


Stepchange will not help you with this. This is one of thier bad points (the other insisting you be fair to companies when they are not fair to you).


If I were you I would abandon stepchange for now until defaulted then do you own DMP (or go to another free company).


List this advice under things I wish I knew when I started my DMP.

hi thanks for replying. My Dmp is quite short, about a year and 4 months as i am paying £600 monthly with stepchange. Can i ask why defaulting sooner is not good for those with a short DMP plan? thanks again for yourhelp

sourcrates

smallie210 wrote: »

hi thanks for replying. My Dmp is quite short, about a year and 4 months as i am paying £600 monthly with stepchange. Can i ask why defaulting sooner is not good for those with a short DMP plan? thanks again for yourhelp

Because defaults stay on your file for 6 years, if your DMP is only expected to last just over a year, that’s nearly 5 years of bad credit, for no reason, you don’t really want them to default you in your case.

LilOne83

sourcrates wrote: »

Because defaults stay on your file for 6 years, if your DMP is only expected to last just over a year, that’s nearly 5 years of bad credit, for no reason, you don’t really want them to default you in your case.

Oh ok I get it now. Thing is one of my creditors already defaulted my account with them which is why I was thinking that if one creditor has done it then it may be better to have all accounts defaulted. Especially satsuma loans who have refused to freeze interest and if they default then I could then offer f&f settlement offers.

The amount I pay monthly on my DMP is quite high £600 for what I earn . And I need to have an emergency fund so that's another reason why I'm missing a payment on my DMP Stepchange is more interested in giving as much to creditors as possible. Which I get but I realise I need to put some money aside for emergency costs. So it may take about 2 years now before all my debts get paid

Many thanks for replying

Larac

I have been with Stepchange since 2012 - finally ends next year!. I found the budgets amount for Stepchange is very tight and you can end up with very little left in the bank account at the end of the month. Over the years I went with a budget I could work with and had some money left over for emergencies as you don't have access to credit. My end date has streched out as consequence but when you are on long repayment period like me you also have to live as well.

LilOne83

smallie210 wrote: »

Oh ok I get it now. Thing is one of my creditors already defaulted my account with them which is why I was thinking that if one creditor has done it then it may be better to have all accounts defaulted. Especially satsuma loans who have refused to freeze interest and if they default then I could then offer f&f settlement offers.

Hi very sorry to bump this thread. Can anyone kindly let me know if it would be better to have all accounts defaulted if one creditor has already defaulted my account with them ? In order to make f&f settlement offers. If Barclays hadn't defaulted my account I wouldn't look at doing this but because they have done and it'll stay on my credit report for six years I'm thinking may as well have all creditors apply defaults and can offer f&f offers

As I am looking at leaving Stepchange and reducing my monthly payment of £600. So my DMP will last just over two years because of this. Thanks for replying Larac I have a similar issue with Stepchange

Suseka97

It's worth mentioning that creditors do not have to default you if they choose not to. The FCA advice is just guidance, so it's not mandatory. Some creditors, such as VERY simply won't default.

For me the issue would be to get a default so that all interest and charges stopped and seeing as you already have one default, you may as well push for the others. SC won't help with that - so going it alone is probably your best bet. Also, managing your DMP yourself gives you more flexibility in terms of how much to pay and how you allocate your payments. SC have to treat all creditors equally, whereas you do not.

LilOne83

Suseka97 wrote: »

It's worth mentioning that creditors do not have to default you if they choose not to. The FCA advice is just guidance, so it's not mandatory. Some creditors, such as VERY simply won't default.

For me the issue would be to get a default so that all interest and charges stopped and seeing as you already have one default, you may as well push for the others. SC won't help with that - so going it alone is probably your best bet. Also, managing your DMP yourself gives you more flexibility in terms of how much to pay and how you allocate your payments. SC have to treat all creditors equally, whereas you do not.

thanks very much for your reply. Only one creditor Satsuma loans have pre-loaded interest and won't remove it. All others have frozen interest

i was unsure whether to wait for the other creditors to default or not. but as my credit score is already very low due to the default from Barclays and being on a DMP, i think i may wait and hope that my other accounts are defaulted so i can then offer f&f settlement offers down the line