Starting DMP

Beck50

Hi, I was with the Natwest, I have a loan, 2x credit cards and an overdraft with them, I stopped my direct debit payments to them and opened a new bank account with santander, so far everything running smoothly and they pay you better for utility bills etc.

Charliet2022

Hi, so I have just made an application to Step change, this is currently awaiting approval. I have been approved for breathing space in the meantime. I have opened a bank account not linked to my debts and cancelled all DD, do I now just wait to miss payments. I am unsure whether I contact the banks myself. 

Thank you 

sourcrates

Charliet2022 said:

Hi, so I have just made an application to Step change, this is currently awaiting approval. I have been approved for breathing space in the meantime. I have opened a bank account not linked to my debts and cancelled all DD, do I now just wait to miss payments. I am unsure whether I contact the banks myself. 

Thank you 

You can if you wish, although its not necessary.

You don`t need any approval to start a DMP, nor any for breathing space either, the official program they advertise maybe, but creditors will give you whatever time you need to sort out a strategy, just carry on with your life in the meantime, stepchange will normally have you up and running within a few weeks.

I`m not going to go down the road of asking you about defaults, as creditors at present appear to be holding off defaulting accounts much longer than guidelines previously permitted.

This is due to FCA advice to treat those in debt fairly, however that advice can be counter productive in some cases, I guess you should just go with the flow on this.

Beck50

Hi, I'm still holding out for defaults, but Natwest sent me a letter about my loan, saying that I have failed to repay my arrears and that I have failed to contact them about making acceptable payment arrangements as set out in their recent default notice.
So are demanding full payment by the 20th January, if not they'll either take  legal action, instruct 3rd party to recover, trouble is I want all my creditors to default me so I can start my DMP, what's the best advice for this Natwest letter?

SusieT

Beck50 said:

Hi, I'm still holding out for defaults, but Natwest sent me a letter about my loan, saying that I have failed to repay my arrears and that I have failed to contact them about making acceptable payment arrangements as set out in their recent default notice.
So are demanding full payment by the 20th January, if not they'll either take  legal action, instruct 3rd party to recover, trouble is I want all my creditors to default me so I can start my DMP, what's the best advice for this Natwest letter?

That sounds as if you are getting close to being defaulted, so just file and ignore it. They would normally get a 3rd party to write to you especially now that they have to work to peoples affordability so I would expect you to have a letter from someone else in a few weeks but hopefully a default first.

fatbelly

Beck50 said:

Hi, I'm still holding out for defaults, but Natwest sent me a letter about my loan, saying that I have failed to repay my arrears and that I have failed to contact them about making acceptable payment arrangements as set out in their recent default notice.
So are demanding full payment by the 20th January, if not they'll either take  legal action, instruct 3rd party to recover, trouble is I want all my creditors to default me so I can start my DMP, what's the best advice for this Natwest letter?

That's just standard wording. They'll probably now pass it on to a DCA who will be easier to deal with.

RAS

Good news. They have to demand re-payment of the whole sum before they can default the debt.

Standard legal wording.

Beck50

Hi, Natwest have passed one of my debts onto Wescot Debt Agency, but have left my other 3 debts with them remaining with Natwest, should I be more concerned with Westcot as Drafty passed another debt I have with CRS and so far they have only sent me numerous texts and a few emails.

Rob5342

Personally I'd do a self managed DMP, working out what I'd pay everyone, and then starting payments to debts as they default and saving the money I would have paid to the ones that haven't. That would start to get the debt paid off and give you a bit less to think about.

Some lenders can make things very difficult when it comes to defaults. Virgin still haven't defaulted me 8 months after I stopped paying, it's almost like they want to punish me. Barclaycard on the other hand were fantastic and backdated the default to the date they first heard from Stepchange so it will disappear as soon as possible. I made the mistake of starting paying straight away, as advised by Stepchange, and I've recently gone self managed and stopped some payments to get defaults. Five of them have defaulted now, it's just Virgin being difficult now.

sourcrates

Beck50 said:

Hi, Natwest have passed one of my debts onto Wescot Debt Agency, but have left my other 3 debts with them remaining with Natwest, should I be more concerned with Westcot as Drafty passed another debt I have with CRS and so far they have only sent me numerous texts and a few emails.

Lenders will either hold on to your accounts, sell them on, or instruct a debt collector to collect the debt on their behalf, or a mixture of the above, they may just sit on some accounts, and you might not hear from anyone for ages, there is no rhyme or reason to debt collection.

The action taken with every account varies according to the likelihood of collecting on that account, you cannot predict what will happen most of the time, but it`s all classed as "collection activity" and is an ongoing process, for as long as they choose.

And, somewhere in amongst that mix lies the issue of defaulting.