Timeline for Self Managed DMP

Billy_Dandy

Good afternoon again…

 

I have another question. This time regarding the timeline of preparing for a self-managed DMP. 

Am I correct in my thinking that the steps for me to commence a self-managed DMP are: 

1.      Stop paying my creditors – cancel all DD’s (save for an emergency fund)

2.      Ignore phone calls, letters and emails from lenders.

3.      Wait for accounts to default

4.      Watch out for official looking ‘Letter before action’

5.      Now is the time to make contact with the current debt owner (whether creditor of debt       collection agency)

Is that correct or have I missed anything out?

 

The debts are mine and I will only be using my income in the SOA (I will post that here in due course for your perusal and advice).

I would also like to ask this:

At point 5 above, If I contact the debt owners and make arrangements to pay monthly contributions into the DMP, am I likely to get visitors to my home from any debt collectors?

I ask because my wife is both disabled and has long term mental health problems. I need to be aware if we are likely to be visited.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

sourcrates

That is the basic timeline, yes.

Once debts default, approx. 8/10 are sold on to 3rd parties, who will contact you, you don`t have to contact them.

There are still some collection agencies that knock on doors, Resolvecall are very popular on these boards at present, but this is during the collection activity stage, before agreements are reached, not after, they are mainly used in large conurbations where a number of clients can be visited at the same time, only certain debt buyers use them, debt collection companies are mainly office based these days, and the phone is their number one weapon of choice.

Should a collector call on you, remember, they are just debt collectors, no more power than the postman has to knock on your door, they are not bailiffs, you do not have to engage with them, you can tell them to leave, you can just ignore them, film them, put them on YouTube, whatever you like.

You can issue a notice removing their right of implied access to your property, you can find templates online, the notice must be displayed in your window or porch etc.
That means if they should call on you, they will be committing an act of trespass, which is still an offence I believe.

DisabledDan

Billy_Dandy said:

Good afternoon again…

I have another question. This time regarding the timeline of preparing for a self-managed DMP. 

Am I correct in my thinking that the steps for me to commence a self-managed DMP are: 

1.      Stop paying my creditors – cancel all DD’s (save for an emergency fund)

2.      Ignore phone calls, letters and emails from lenders.

3.      Wait for accounts to default

4.      Watch out for official looking ‘Letter before action’

5.      Now is the time to make contact with the current debt owner (whether creditor of debt collection agency)

Is that correct or have I missed anything out?

The debts are mine and I will only be using my income in the SOA (I will post that here in due course for your perusal and advice).

I would also like to ask this:

At point 5 above, If I contact the debt owners and make arrangements to pay monthly contributions into the DMP, am I likely to get visitors to my home from any debt collectors?

I ask because my wife is both disabled and has long term mental health problems. I need to be aware if we are likely to be visited.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

If you choose to go down the DMP route there are a few things I would add 

Before 1 I would create a new email account and get a PAYG sim from supermarket, then update all of your accounts with this new number and email. 

Sadly we can't trust companies to respect the law with regard to data protection, so by changing the data you change what data is passed to the debt collectors.  I still advise sending a GDPR request for them to only contact you via Royal Mail a month or two after you stop paying.  You can pick up a non smartphone from the supermarket or ask for one from Freecycle and use it for the new sim, meanwhile you do not answer any calls on your usual phone unless the number is in your phone book. 

0.1 Buy new PAYG Sim from supermarket for £1
0.2 Buy or get free an old non smartphone for the new sim.
0.3 Setup new email with online email account 
0.4 Update each debt account online with your new contact details (where possible)
0.5 For creditors with no online account email the creditor with your new email and phone number.
0.6 Use and be responsive on the new phone and email until D day. 

I would add one extra stage before 1 in your list

0.9 Inform your creditors that you have had a massive change of circumstances and will no longer be able to make payments you your account.  Never tell the company your objective, that would be akin to showing your cards in poker.  If they have it in black and white that you have decided not to pay then they are less likely to pass you to internal collections and so the default happens more quickly.

I would go along with 2 and after about a month I would add

2.5 Make written GDPR request informing the company that you are suffering from profound anxiety/stress and in accordance with GDPR you would need them to only contact you by Royal Mail, not by SMS, not by phone or voicemail, not by email.

While you are waiting for the accounts to default create a new filing system, the reason for this is you are going to have your debt passed from different companies and it will be easy to make a mistake as to the stage the debt is at.

3.5 Create filing system

Ask for some lever arch files from Freecycle, to begin with put each debt in a section in the same Pre-Default file.   Then when a creditor defaults move the whole section for that creditor to a new file called Defaulted, you can create other files to help you manage the stage of the debt between these two files, for example Internal Collections, External Collections, Pre-Default Legal, Post Default Legal.

Do not make the mistake of assuming threats to take legal action are anything other than a tactic, the only thing you care about is a properly constructed letter before action.  This should comply with practice direction for pre-action conduct and even when a debt is taken to Court there are stages, you should receive a letter from the Court (not the creditor or their debt solicitors) that includes and Acknowledgement of Service and Particulars of Claim etc.  This could be a time to negotiate, the costs at this stage are nominal as they seem to do these claims in bulk.

With regard to 5. In my experience you should only contact them in response to a serious offer, for me it would be 60% minimum.  

I suggest no engagement with the first few debt collector companies.  You will then understand the loop cycle of their letters and because you have made a decision to wait until at least the 3rd debt collection company you do not need to worry about the content of the letters.  Chances are the first few companies will be the likes of Moorcroft and Westcott  

Based on your previous posts I am not clear why you don't just wait for the debts to go off statute or consider a DRO, for the latter you would need to have very low disposable income, no house, car (over £1500) or other valuable asset and debt below £50,000. It would require you do not acknowledge the debt or make any payments to it.

Billy_Dandy

@DisabledDan

Thank you very much for the very informative and useful advice. Some of the steps I had not considered. Your assistance is much appreciated.