Newbie DMP Scared!

SusieT

Scaredycatt said:

Does anyone know if I need to contact my creditors right now, or do I just ignore until they default my accounts?

If you are not wanting to call them (most people do not do that until they have defaulted, at which point they just tell them that they will be starting a DMP with one of the charities), then just ignore them, file the letters they send so that each creditor/debt has its own file. Then when they have all defaulted give Stepchange or whoever you choose a ring, and you will have all the information you need ready for them. 
Just make sure you keep the default notices somewhere safely. 

kimwp

Scaredycatt said:

Me too! Not sure I'm ready to brave the phone calls yet, my mental health is not in a great place so might just wait until they start contacting me. I'm not sure what the best thing is to do there.

I'm glad they were nice. You build it up to be something way more terrible than it really is don't you?

I think it depends with your mental health as to whether you will build it up in your head and worry about it or not. If so, it may be worth calling them sooner rather than later.

Scaredycatt

Thanks all. I may just wait a while and see how I feel If it's getting to me I'll call them or send a holding letter or something. I actually feel a lot less worried thanks to everyone on here. if I had found this forum sooner I probably wouldn't be in this mess.

Kakiste

Ah well, you can't change the past, but you are at least dealing with it now- which is great. 

Again- if it helps, I had a revelation at some point in the ringing around creditors part that the person I'm speaking to on the phone isn't actually who I owe money to, they just work for the company and my finances doesn't impact on their finances or wellbeing at all. Once I got that in my head; that I was probably caller #257 that they were speaking to that day, it made it much less daunting to pick up the phone. 

sourcrates

What you must keep in mind is every time your write to, or call your creditor telling them X,Y,Z about your situation, all it does is delay the defaulting of your account.

When you send a holding letter, that means you are asking them to hold action on your account, action in most cases means defaulting, that`s all, so you are working against yourself in that respect.

When a creditor refers to "further action" what they mean is defaulting your account and passing it to debt collectors, they are not referring to legal action, that usually only happens much further down the line when a debt has been sold on a few times and the debtor ignores all contact.

You are simply an account number to your creditors, nothing more, its not personal, its just business, engaging with them in any way just slows down what you are attempting to achieve, If you want your account to default, the best way to do this is to say nothing, but keep an eye on everything.

Your relationship with that lender is at an end, they will only default you when that is acknowledged by both of you, your future dealings about your debts will be conducted with the new owners of those accounts, once they are sold on, not the current lenders, this is something a lot of you are struggling to understand here.

That is what a default is, the end of an agreement, the end of your financial relationship, you should all be gearing up to deal with the new owners of your debts, and not be concerned about how your current lender views you.

Scaredycatt

Right, so not engaging is definitely the way forward. I just want to thank you again @sourcrates. If not for you I would probably have set the DMP up right away and ended up with a wrecked credit file for twice as long.

sourcrates

Scaredycatt said:

Right, so not engaging is definitely the way forward. I just want to thank you again @sourcrates. If not for you I would probably have set the DMP up right away and ended up with a wrecked credit file for twice as long.

If defaults are your aim, then yes.

But as I said, read whatever they send you in the post, most will just be collection letters, but just keep an eye out.

You will be fine.

Scaredycatt

What should I be keeping an eye out for?

sourcrates

Scaredycatt said:

What should I be keeping an eye out for?

Any letters to do with legal action obviously, its very unlikely at this early stage, but still a vague possibility.

Threats of legal action are common, but should you receive a "letter before action", or actual court papers, then they need to be dealt with.

fatbelly

sourcrates said:

Any letters to do with legal action obviously, its very unlikely at this early stage, but still a vague possibility.

Threats of legal action are common, but should you receive a "letter before action", or actual court papers, then they need to be dealt with.

And of course a creditor now is not allowed to start court action until they have sent a pre-action protocol letter with a standard reply form and given you 30 days to reply.

So that's the point where you do need to start to engage.