Starting DMP

fatbelly

Beck50 said

Yes I am a house owner and haven't missed any payments on my mortgage or any other utility type bill.
Is this why they've suggested an IVA instead of a DMP. My comments on making me pay more was if I attempted myself to do a DMP rather than use Stepchange. Would my creditors reject my offers and insist on more.

That's the reason they've suggested IVA rather than bankruptcy. 

One of the advantages of IVA is that a decision of75% of creditors (by value) is binding on the rest so no need to bother with the awkward ones.

It's your choice - between an IVA and self-managed dmp. See what terms afe being proposed for the IVA

Beck50

Mortimer Clarke have like Cabot and ignored my emails and sent me an email which I've had to part fill in security questions to read the letter so that's telling them I've received and read it.
It's dated today 30th October and states that I must respond within 26 days or they will take legal action and how a CCJ will affect my credit rating etc, again sent them an email this morning and again no response. 

sourcrates

What are your plans re- the debts, going forward then, are you looking at the IVA ?

Beck50

I can see the advantages to me of having an IVA but haven't read my terms fully yet, was in the mind frame of a DMP but Stepchange say that would take over 10 years but I probably get it under 10 years but they still say an IVA.
I'd look at doing a DMP myself but fear they won't accept my monthly offers.

sourcrates

Beck50 said:

I can see the advantages to me of having an IVA but haven't read my terms fully yet, was in the mind frame of a DMP but Stepchange say that would take over 10 years but I probably get it under 10 years but they still say an IVA.
I'd look at doing a DMP myself but fear they won't accept my monthly offers.

There is no fear of that @Beck50 debt management is never refused or rejected, you don`t mess around, you just decide what you can pay to each creditor, then make arrangements to do just that, you write and tell them what you will be paying and when, and you just pay it, and keep on paying it until advised otherwise.

The creditor won`t refuse your money, if they are not happy with what you are doing, they just sell the debt on, or pass to a debt collector, which is industry standard practice for DMP`s anyway.

So you don`t have to fret on that score, this is why debt management is so easy to operate.

Even when they threaten legal action, as long as a CCJ won`t affect your work situation etc, its a bit of a waste of their time, as a court will only confirm the payments you will be currently making, they won`t make you pay more than is affordable, so it`s of no great issue really, and then hopefully you can take advantage of settlement offers further down the line, or attempt write offs on enforceability grounds, lots of options when you do it yourself.

DjangoUnchained

Beck50 said:

Just checking back in, this morning have checked my clearscore credit ratings it says I'm soaring high, also check MSE Credit club and yes my score has dropped but all my creditors have me down as in arrears, Drafty I'm sure sent me an email stating Default and they like lendable are the ones that have been contactable by email but both want my DMP reference number which I haven't started yet, so you all think it's still best to wait, even though the likes of Natwest, Barclaycard, Nationwide & MBNA send me letters asking for me to get in touch by certain dates or they will pass to their debt recovery team? My feelings on starting my DMP change daily when you keep being contacted which I know they have a right to.

their debt recovery team means a spotty 18 year old herbert on the desk opposite them, really dont panic.

Beck50

Thank you all for your kind replies.

Rob5342

Remember that the 10 years is a worst case time, as Sourcrates says you can reduce it with settlement offers, cca requests and affordability complaints.

I started off with £42k of debt on a DMP that would have taken 5 years, two years later I had it down to £2500 through a combination of paying it off, affordability complaints and cca requests. I've reduced the payments on the final debt right down and next year I plan to make a settlement offer on it.

Beck50

Hi Rob5342, did you manage your DMP yourself and if so when you approached them with offer of payment, did they insist on filling out forms asking for a breakdown of your expenditure, before excepting your offer and was it done via email or signing in opening up your account with them.

Rob5342

Beck50 said:

Hi Rob5342, did you manage your DMP yourself and if so when you approached them with offer of payment, did they insist on filling out forms asking for a breakdown of your expenditure, before excepting your offer and was it done via email or signing in opening up your account with them.

I was with Stepchange originally but I changed to managing it myself so I had more flexibility.

All I did was set up a standing order to them using the details on their website and then emailed them to tell them what I'd be paying them. They grumbled a bit and said they could only accept it on a concessionary basis as I hadn't supplied income and expenditure forms,  I think they were just covering themself against accepting an unaffordable payment.