Newbe... DMP Advice Please

Bonsaii_007

Hi all, new to this forum and have read lots of threads and thought i'd post to try and get a little bit of more personal advice/thoughts..
Been on a DMP (Stepchange) since early 2016, currently down to owing just over £8k. The following are the balances and creditors/original creditors. As it's been so long and i've still got a decent way to go.. are there any options, like could I simply cancel DMP and wait it out for these current creditors to contact me, are any of these likely to just fall off the face of the earth without further payments...? Just about managing currently but it's a real struggle still paying this lot!! Thanks for any thoughts/advice offered.

Creditor Name	Original Creditor		Est. Balance
Link Financial	Barclaycard		£2,534.42
PRA Group	MBNA		£1,743.71
Cabot Financial	Natwest		£1,535.71
Cabot Financial	M&S		£720.47
Shawbrook Asset	GE Money		£528.76
Lowell Financial	Halifax		£491.37
Naitonwide Credit	Natiowide Credit Card		£337.21
Link Financial	Halifax Mastercard		£189.92

stu12345_2

firstly hi and welcome , I am suprised step change put you on such a long dmp. 5 years is the norm, longer than that you are looking at an insolvency route.
obviously if you are struggling you will have to tell stepchange to do a new budget and thus reduce your monthly payment.

now your best bet is looking for full and final offers on these debts, but the problem is you haven't been able to save up to make offers.

I would do a new budget with stepchange and raise my expenses up  higher than they actually  are, why?
,not only to ensure I can make a payment to step change, and pay my bills,  but also allow you to put some money aside to potentially use it you contact creditors and ask for full and final offer discount price to close the balance and account.

problem is step change don't like that eg clearing one creditor at a time via offers.

so I would email stepchange to close my account and do my own dmp, set up my own manual payments to creditors at a monthly price that suits me, not them.

and save at same time, and at same time write to each one asking for a copy of my credit agreement, a cca request to see if the debts can still be enforced.

if no agreement can be produced, I'd stop all payments to that creditor and do not put in a full and final offer ever to that creditor.

they would likely contact you to offer you a large discount knowing they can never enforce the debt, and you should still never accept their offer. you can ignore that creditor 

the ones that do produce the cca agreement , hit them with an offer , say 20% and then negotiate.

you will get good offers , except from PRA who are a nasty outfit

stu12345_2

I don't think stopping all payments and cancelling a dmp permanently  or not setting up your own dmp and hoping all creditors forget about you is wise.
as you have been a loyal payer to them for years and they will likely continue to chase you.

like I said, do your own dmp, and ask for cca requests, then ask for full and final offers to those that produced a cca agreement is best idea

Bonsaii_007

Great advice Stu. I'll have a look at that option, feels like the best fit for me.

stu12345_2

just ask on here how to set up your own dmp , where you don't need to supply any financial info to these creditors, they will ask,

 but you just refuse and set up standing orders with your bank to pay them. you get their account numbers and sort code on any how to pay us letters or in their website, you write your debt reference number in the standing order , so they know who the money is coming from.

never ever do. direct debit or recurring debit card method , ever.

standing order only.

also if you want advice on how to write CCA requests, just ask 

you will always get friendly accurate info in the replies in here imo 

Bonsaii_007

With reference to the credit agreements, in your experience, are they likely to be able to produce one. Are there any that are more likely than others?

stu12345_2

the debts that are no longer with original creditor, eg been sold on to a new debt owner, such as Cabot, link or pra, will likely not have it, especially if the loans you took out are from many years ago.


these have the highest balances and these are the ones you hope don't have the cca.

the debts that are still owned by original creditor eg nationwide , are likely to have the cca

remember, when you request a cca, your debt account is suspended by the creditor whilst they search for it and they don't expect any payments made in that time.

and if they can't find it within 3 months imo, they will never find it, thus you can stop payments permanently to that creditor imo

fatbelly

If you could edit your original post to remove the account numbers, that would be good.

You do not say how much you are paying each month but it sounds like not much.

Your options would be

• Continue with the plan

• Go for a dro, as long as you are not a homeowner

• Stop payments and save a fighting fund to make settlement offers

It looks like 6 of the 8 have already been sold at a discount. All three paths have some merit

Bonsaii_007

Thanks for the advice. Unless i'm missing something obvious... I can't seem to edit my original post!!

In terms of a stadard format for requesting CCA, that would be a great bit of info to have. Would it be pertinent (time permitting) to cancel the DMP and immediately write to the creditors before setting up any standing orders?

stu12345_2

to edit , go to your original post on the top right there is a circle with 3 dots, click it, it brings up the post where you can delete parts , then once you done that you then press post comment in the big red box at bottom

I would stop dmp, immediately send off cca letters and wait for replies. they are meant to reply within 12 days, they usually do, but sometimes don't.
the usual reply is we are looking for your cca and your account is suspended whilst we look or it's here is the cca , please organise repayments.

you ask for CCA and a statement 
 and enclose a postal order or cheque for £1 to cover their admin.

they never cash it, but return it with their reply 


send letters signed for imo or with  proof of posting 

here's a link for template 

https://nationaldebtline.org/get-information/sample-letters/information-about-your-agreement-under-consumer-credit-act/


only set up standing orders if they provide you a cca and statement 

Bonsaii_007

Thanks again. Ref. the editing, just getting a thin white empty box when I click the 3 dots. Tried different browsers and nothing... A bit odd.