Needing help with PayPal related to a StepChange DMP

Nocturnalizer

Hey folks!

I wonder if I could get some advice from you. I have debts of approx 9K at the moment split between a couple of creditors, and because of the amount I owe and being on quite a low income I've decided to get in touch with StepChange to try and get everything under control. I also have £1400 in rent arrears, although this is not from not paying my rent but rather because my father passed away from COVID-19 in April and the landlord took two months to change me over to a new agency, during which time they said they would not be able to accept rent. The new agency have said I can pay these arrears with no specific timeframe, whenever I can. Nevertheless, I would like to clear those as soon as possible but they are not included in my DMP as I would like to take care of those separately. I'm on Universal Credit earning £1155 a month, rent of £745 and with bills etc being taken out I'm left with a minus amount in terms of free money leftover. The DMP currently isn't active as StepChange are waiting for my council tax support to come through, at which point I'll have more money available and can start paying them on a DMP. Here's the issue:

One of my creditors is PayPal, specificially PayPal Credit. I owe nearly 3K on this account. Having spoken to StepChange recently they advised me to apply for payment suspensions on all my creditors while I wait for the council tax support to come in, one of those creditors being PayPal. I emailed PayPal with the information and the request, and shortly after they placed a limitation on my PayPal account preventing me from making any payments or receiving any, this limitation being across the whole of that account rather than the credit part. I called them yesterday to ask about it and apparently if you were on a DMP or involved with a debt-management company they apply this limitation for the entire time you are on the plan, basically until the credit is all paid off on the account. The problem is that my PayPal account is quite important to me. The plan was to sell some of the technology I no longer need and use that money to pay the rental arrears I mentioned above. Without my PayPal account it means I cannot list on eBay any longer. PayPal explained to me that if I took them out of the DMP they would likely remove the limitation, but the issue there is that I would then have to separately pay an £80 minimum payment charge to them in addition to the DMP when that is active and that would leave me with very little money (potentially about £150 a month free for food). There's also the possible issue of the other creditors not liking that I'd be leaving PayPal out of the DMP, maybe making the DMP non-viable.

I'm doing everything I can to limit outgoings as much as possible, stripping everything back down to basics. I am not currently working due to post-viral fatigue (I contracted Covid-19 in April alongside my father, who passed from it) but I do plan to look for some work I can do from home later this year. I can post an expediture list in total if it would help. Again, my PayPal account is important to me. I'm sitting on a £1000 iPhone and all sorts of Apple bits that I really don't need at this time and would like to move to a cheaper, more affordable phone (paid outright, not monthly) just to get money together to pay those arrears. This is not something I can really do effectively without being able to list on eBay. So my questions are, firstly, what would be the right solution here? I could take PayPal out of the DMP and pay them separately but it would leave me very short every month, plus I'd only be paying minimum amount of £80. If I took that route, would paying them £1 indefinitely be a solution to at least let them know that I'm contributing *something* to that debt? Also, if I took that route would it then mean the DMP would be a harder sell to the other creditors? Looking at the other option which is to keep PayPal on the DMP, I'd now be worried I can't sell bits and pieces anymore because the account would be limited. There's places like Gumtree etc that I've never used which are alternatives but require meeting in person, which isn't necessarily a great idea when the world is where it is just now. Any advice you can give to help me sort this out and make sense of it? Thank you!

Nocturnalizer

Update: I'm working on an SOA that I'll finish and post as soon as the Very website reopens! Also, to clarify, I lived with my father here in my childhood home and was taking care of him and, at that time, earning carer's allowance for doing so as he was 82 at the time of his death.

Nocturnalizer

[tt][b]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b][b]

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1[b]

Monthly Income Details[/b]
Monthly income after tax................ 0
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 1155
Other income............................ 0[b]
Total monthly income.................... 1155[/b][b]

Monthly Expense Details[/b]
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 745
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 115
Electricity............................. 53
Gas..................................... 53
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 8
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 22
TV Licence.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 19
Groceries etc. ......................... 100
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 10
Road tax................................ 17.93
Car Insurance........................... 34
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 5
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0[b]
Total monthly expenses.................. 1181.93[/b]
[b]

Assets[/b]
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 2000
Other assets............................ 0[b]
Total Assets............................ 2000[/b]
[b]
No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts[/b]

[b]Unsecured Debts[/b]
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
V12 Finance....................719.49....24.81.....13.56
PayPal Credit..................2347.68...78........19.9
CapitalOne.....................198.78....5.42......30.34
Very...........................5228.44...723.8.....49.9
CashPlus.......................498.14....69.94.....0[b]
Total unsecured debts..........8992.53...901.97....-  [/b]

[b]
Monthly Budget Summary[/b]
Total monthly income.................... 1,155
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,181.93
Available for debt repayments........... -26.93
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 901.97[b]
Amount short for making debt repayments. -928.9[/b]

[b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]
Total assets (things you own)........... 2,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -8,992.53[b]
Net Assets.............................. -6,992.53[/b]

[i][/i][/tt]
For context, my gas and electric is £53 together not separately and my landline is included in the 19.99 with the fibre broadband.

sourcrates

I`m supprised stepchange have not recomended a DRO (debt relief order) looking at your figures, you should qualify.

Your rent and CT are massive, can you not find anywhere cheaper to live ?

I`d look into a DRO if i were you, would be more suitable than a DMP.

flipflopflo

sourcrates said:

I`m supprised stepchange have not recomended a DRO (debt relief order) looking at your figures, you should qualify.

Your rent and CT are massive, can you not find anywhere cheaper to live ?

I`d look into a DRO if i were you, would be more suitable than a DMP.

Could it be the car value?

cms-help

I'd leave PP with the Stepchange agreement and sell your valuables elsewhere - local FB sites, gumtree etc.  Socially distanced collections are entirely feasible (no riskier than going to the Post Office I wouldn't have said).

sourcrates

flipflopflo said:

sourcrates said:

I`m supprised stepchange have not recomended a DRO (debt relief order) looking at your figures, you should qualify.

Your rent and CT are massive, can you not find anywhere cheaper to live ?

I`d look into a DRO if i were you, would be more suitable than a DMP.

Could it be the car value?

Possibly, a 2k car, can easily become a 1k car when more details are known.

Nocturnalizer

sourcrates said:

I`m supprised stepchange have not recomended a DRO (debt relief order) looking at your figures, you should qualify.

Your rent and CT are massive, can you not find anywhere cheaper to live ?

I`d look into a DRO if i were you, would be more suitable than a DMP.

As per some of the answers I think it's the car that's preventing it, however I've not done a proper valuation so I'll try and get that done and see where I'm at because you're right that a DRO - if I qualified - would ultimately be better.

As for the rent and CT, my rent is actually considerably lower than most of the people in my area due to me coming off of a sitting tenancy (which belonged to my mother and then father through succession). Most rental prices around here are £1000+ and as I'm in London I'd struggle to get rent beneath that price short of going for a studio flat. With the CT I've applied for CT Support, which if it does go through should drop it to about £22 a month, which is more manageable and that includes the single person discount too.

Nocturnalizer

cms-help said:

I'd leave PP with the Stepchange agreement and sell your valuables elsewhere - local FB sites, gumtree etc.  Socially distanced collections are entirely feasible (no riskier than going to the Post Office I wouldn't have said).

Yes, I think you're probably right and I'll have to do that. I will miss my PayPal account but if having it means I'm going to be worse off every month it's probably for the best that I keep it on the DMP.

sourcrates

Parkers guide, lowest quote is normally used for DRO purposes.

No one actually physically comes to look at your car, you simply state its estimated value, what you would be likley to recieve for it on the second hand market.

Galloglass

my rent is actually considerably lower than most of the people in my area due to me coming off of a sitting tenancy (which belonged to my mother and then father through succession)

Before you decide on a DRO, check that you would not inadvertently be in breach of any lease/tenancy by having one. It may just allow the landlord to move you out and get a higher rent. So check the small print.