Final settlement offer, need advice, pls..

NeutrinoLight

I'm new here, very embarrassed and nervous😔
I've been on DMP since 2003, total debts £16000, been on pension credit for 15years. No assets or savings. Never default a payment, I'm on my 4th DMP company. 
My best friend, seeing how this is badly affecting my health, offered to give me some money for a settlement offer..The problem is he can only afford £5000 and the DMP company probably will take a lot too, not sure they'd accept that.
Do I have any hope to be debt-free or this would be a ricidulous offer?
 
Thank you!

flipflopflo

Let me take a guess, the company running your DMP takes a fee for doing so??

sourcrates

Welcome to the forum, oh my days, this sort of post really upsets me, and sums up what is wrong with the debt re-payment industry in this country, keeping you in a fee paying arrangement for 20 years is obscene to say the least, I am spitting feathers reading your post.

Firstly, you need to ditch this spineless DMP company, as they are charging you a hefty fee, and likely have been doing so since 2003, all that money could have gone towards your debts, and could potentially have seen you debt free by now.

You should not be paying for a DMP at all, the debt charities do not charge you, and you can also direct your payments yourself, at no cost, you do not need any 3rd party help to do this, self management is commonplace, the companies who charge for this so called service, should never be used, they tend to feed off other peoples mis-fortune, ignorance, and vulnerability.

So this is what you should do -

(1) cancel your arrangement with this company, also cancel the direct debt if you have one.
(2) Give yourself some time here to re-arrange your thought processes.
(3) Stopping payment will trigger the creditors you owe money too, to write to you, so you can ascertain how much you still owe.
(4) Your next step is to make CCA requests to all relevant creditors, see which accounts are enforceable, and which are not (I can explain what that is later).
(5) Once you have all this information, you should then have choices, it may be possible to get some accounts written off due to your lack of income, some may be unenforceable, any that are left may take small settlement offers due to your circumstances.

First though, please stop paying this DMP company, they, and the 3 before them, are just taking advantage of you as you were obviously unaware this service is freely provided by the likes of Stepchange and Payplan.

If I were you, I would also submit a formal complaint to each of the DMP companies that have abused your trust and attempt to get all fee`s and charges from previous years refunded.

Keeping you in such an arrangement for 20 years is scandalous and shameful.

RAS

Listen to sourcrates and flipflopflo.

They have years of experience helping people like you.

Stop your DMP payments and look at your situation. A good many creditors will cancel the rest of the debt.

NeverendingDMP

Welcome to the forum.  I understand your nervous but you don't need to be. We are a pretty friendly and (occasionally) straight talking bunch.
I agree with everything said so far. Ask the dmp company for a list of who they think you owe money to and how much then cancel them. Then have a brew, a breather and post back on here. Lots of things to hear about and to advise you but first things first, free yourself from the company who is charging you. Your friend is lovely and kind, but chances are sourcates, flip flop flo and others will guide you into not needing their money at all. Best of luck with it all.

NeutrinoLight

Thank you very much for taking the trouble to reply🥰

NeutrinoLight

Thank you for all kind people who replied..I can't think properly, need to stop being so fearfull 😔

sourcrates

NeutrinoLight said:

Thank you for all kind people who replied..I can't think properly, need to stop being so fearfull 😔

Is there someone who can help to guide you through this at all ?

Your friend perhaps ? or do you have a CAB locally with a debt advice service ? or any family at all ?.

There are the obvious Stepchange and CAB websites that can offer guidance, but I was thinking you may benefit more from face to face debt advice from someone without any agenda or wanting to sell you anything.

I know things can seem to be over whelming, but this can be all sorted out with the right help.

RAS

It's OK. Supportive as the replies have been, it may be a bit of a shock to find that you've been taken advantage of. You may want a little time just to settle in to the new reality?

Most of those replying to you have been here 10-15 years, are on at least their third economic crisis and many have had their own personal financial crises.

Take it one day at a time, come back here when you are ready, or if anything happens that worries you. Someone will be here if you want to talk or advice.

flipflopflo

I know that all this has been a bit of a shock to the system and will take time to absorb. That is OK, take your time and most importantly breathe and don’t panic. There is not a lot we haven’t seen between us over the years. 

Maybe tomorrow sit down with a cuppa (or even something stronger 🍷) and fire off a quick email to your DMP company. Just something along the lines of you are evaluating your finances and would like them to provide a list of your creditors that they are paying for you and the balances and you would appreciate a response within 14/28 working days (perhaps @sourcrates or @fatbelly could advise what is a reasonable timeframe). It doesn’t have to be complicated just 2 or 3 lines with your account details. 

That would be the first step and then breathe again and find something interesting to do. 

sourcrates

CAB offer excellent advice here on how to cancel a debt management plan organised through a fee charging debt management company -

Cancelling your debt management plan - Citizens Advice