Getting on track

backinbusiness

LeedsOnTheUp said:

backinbusiness said:

LeedsOnTheUp said:

backinbusiness said:

And don't use the Switch service either - you have to do it manually x 

Can I ask why this is the case please? Before seeing the advice I initiated a switch to Chase which I requested to be cancelled but upon contacting again today they are saying it is still ongoing. I have another account I can use if necessary but Chase was the best in terms of budgeting.

Hi Leeds - using the Switch service means that all your Direct Debits will move to your new account - which you don't want.  BiB x

Sorry if im sounding thick here but why not? I already cancelled the ones to my creditors so surely moving the rest over shouldn't be a problem?

As long as you are SURE none will carry forward, and you cancelled the DD's prior to requesting the switch, then yes, that should be ok.  BiB x 

LeedsOnTheUp

backinbusiness said:

LeedsOnTheUp said:

backinbusiness said:

LeedsOnTheUp said:

backinbusiness said:

And don't use the Switch service either - you have to do it manually x 

Can I ask why this is the case please? Before seeing the advice I initiated a switch to Chase which I requested to be cancelled but upon contacting again today they are saying it is still ongoing. I have another account I can use if necessary but Chase was the best in terms of budgeting.

Hi Leeds - using the Switch service means that all your Direct Debits will move to your new account - which you don't want.  BiB x

Sorry if im sounding thick here but why not? I already cancelled the ones to my creditors so surely moving the rest over shouldn't be a problem?

As long as you are SURE none will carry forward, and you cancelled the DD's prior to requesting the switch, then yes, that should be ok.  BiB x 

Well the wheels are well and truly in motion now. I have missed my first payment on the 29th and so far had no correspondence but I know it will be coming in spades before long. I set up a new email address and changed it with all creditors so I don't get my actual email address inundated. Unfortunately the Chase account switch could not be stopped and I did notice I still had a DD for Tesco Credit Card on there, although I think it was an old one. I cancelled it immediately. Should this be a problem or not really?

I already have around £300 saved and am aiming to get as much away before the end of March as possible. Once I have enough to cover my bills, I want to start leaving that money in my account for bills, and spreading various amounts for my budget around my other chase accounts (these are essentially pots or spaces like in Monzo or Starling, except come with their own sort code and account numbers). I will go pretty tight for the rest of this month and then will begin living according to my budget. Very grateful for the help I have received thus far and it has taken a lot of the anxiety assosciated with a DMP away.

backinbusiness

Hi @LeedsOnTheUp

A little nerve-wracking at the beginning but you've made the right decision (in my opinion) and are off to a good start.  Good luck and keep posting.  BiB x 

LeedsOnTheUp

Thought I would check in after having missed 1 payment with each creditor. So far it's very... boring? I expected a deluge of people knocking at the door, constant harassment and so far nothing. All creditors have my old phone number which is on a cheap £5 a month SIM in my old phone which is set to silent and so I don't get bothered that way. I set up a new email address for them which doesn't get notifications so that's also not an issue and I've had letters saying I NEED to contact them.

For anyone else reading this considering starting a DMP then please don't hesitate if you can't meet your payments, don't dig a deeper hole than I did. I feel so much less stressed, and have money in the bank, which I couldn't say before!

savergrant

LeedsOnTheUp said:

All creditors have my old phone number which is on a cheap £5 a month SIM in my old phone which is set to silent ...

What do you get for your £5 a month? If you just need a sim to receive incoming texts and to let calls go to voicemail port your number to a free payg sim. You can keep it for at least six months and then port to someone else if you still need it. Eg.

https://mobile.asda.com/order-sim

https://www.tescomobile.com/order-sim

LeedsOnTheUp

savergrant said:

LeedsOnTheUp said:

All creditors have my old phone number which is on a cheap £5 a month SIM in my old phone which is set to silent ...

What do you get for your £5 a month? If you just need a sim to receive incoming texts and to let calls go to voicemail port your number to a free payg sim. You can keep it for at least six months and then port to someone else if you still need it. Eg.

https://mobile.asda.com/order-sim

https://www.tescomobile.com/order-sim

This is actually a great point. It's 30 days notice to cancel so I'll just cancel it and let it change to payg.

LeedsOnTheUp

Hello all. Had my first 2 default notices sent through the door so those accounts should default within the week according to the letters. Must say I thought it would be around 6 months but a couple have gone after 3. Do I offer these lenders a token payment until the others default or do they all need to default?

LeedsOnTheUp

Been a long time since I posted so just wanted to update everyone on how it's gone. I took the advice on here to ignore all contact until every creditor had defaulted me, and now all but two have sold to debt collectors, with the final two advising me that they will sell to a collector at a later date if I don't up my payments. I used the nedcab website to manage my own DMP generate I&E forms, send letters to creditors and log their responses. I offered low amounts that I could realistically afford and they have all accepted first time. I have gone from paying over £900 a month to £125 which has given me so much breathing room.

Unfortunately most of the money I saved for my emergency fund got eaten up by costly work my car needed! However, with these lower repayments I can build this back up and then start saving for settlement agreements. This is the first Christmas in many years where I will be buying gifts with my own money, rather than borrowing from whichever creditor would give me the money. The future is looking much brighter now and I don't spend every week wondering about how I will scrape together enough to get by, or anxiously awaiting the next 0% offer to come round so I can stop paying interest.

For anyone who is considering a DMP but is scared, I would like to add that nobody ever visited the house (debt collectors), the roof didn't fall in, the walls didn't close and now I can breathe again.

Sarahwithlove

Just caught up, well done that's great news on the defaults and payments. One thing to consider further down line is that when comes to remortgaging you may need to stay with your current provider as they won't do affordability checks. 

When doing settlement offers start at a low 20% of the debt and they will likely come back with a counter offer of around 25-30%. If they don't then move on to another debt that is willing to. 

Good luck.