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Still being charged interest on DMP

dolly_mixtures
Posts: 2 Newbie

Hi guys,
New here and very very stressed about my DMP with StepChange. I've been on the plan for around 10 months - I have about 16K of debt with 5 creditors (all credit cards). Three of the creditors - Virgin Money, Barclaycard and NatWest - didn't accept the DMP and have continued to contact me and charge interest.
I'm most stressed about Virgin Money - it was a 0% balance transfer card and the 0% interest period has now ended and I'm being charged massive interest. I've had a letter through saying the account will default to a credit reference agency if I don't pay by 8th October. My question is - is the credit reference agency likely to continue to charge the same interest? If so, is there anything I can do to stop this?
Any advice hugely appreciated
New here and very very stressed about my DMP with StepChange. I've been on the plan for around 10 months - I have about 16K of debt with 5 creditors (all credit cards). Three of the creditors - Virgin Money, Barclaycard and NatWest - didn't accept the DMP and have continued to contact me and charge interest.
I'm most stressed about Virgin Money - it was a 0% balance transfer card and the 0% interest period has now ended and I'm being charged massive interest. I've had a letter through saying the account will default to a credit reference agency if I don't pay by 8th October. My question is - is the credit reference agency likely to continue to charge the same interest? If so, is there anything I can do to stop this?
Any advice hugely appreciated

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Comments
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How much is Step Change paying Virgin (and Barclaycard and NatWest) and how much is the normal minimum payment on the card?0
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Did you start the DMP before you allowed the debts to default?
Step change tend to encourage people to start before that, which means creditors can issue AP markers rather than defaults. Check you credit records, please.If you've have not made a mistake, you've made nothing0 -
dolly_mixtures said:Three of the creditors - Virgin Money, Barclaycard and NatWest - didn't accept the DMP and have continued to contact me and charge interest.0
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It sounds like you have started the dmp too early, unfortunately Stepchange encourage thst. You sound really have stopped paying everything and waited for them to default, then the Interest would have stopped and you could habe started repaying them. The advantage of that is that they would dtop off your credit report six years after the default date, instead of 6 years after they are repaid which is what happens with a payment arrangement.
I'd stop paying them all and start again when they default.0 -
dolly_mixtures said:Hi guys,
I've had a letter through saying the account will default to a credit reference agency if I don't pay by 8th October. My question is - is the credit reference agency likely to continue to charge the same interest? If so, is there anything I can do to stop this?
What they mean is your account will be defaulted (which is what you want) a credit reference agency just reports your information, they are not a lender, and have no ability to charge you interest.
You may want to re-think your strategy here, pause your DMP until your debts default, at that point no further interest can be charged, then re-start payments once things settle down.I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free wannabe, Credit file and ratings, and Bankruptcy and living with it boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.For free non-judgemental debt advice, contact either Stepchange, National Debtline, or CitizensAdviceBureaux.Link to SOA Calculator- https://www.stoozing.com/soa.php The "provit letter" is here-https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247/letter-when-you-know-nothing-about-about-the-debt-aka-prove-it-letter0 -
Thanks all for your comments. Sorry, I think I meant a debt collection agency, rather than credit reference agency. I read that a debt collection agency may continue adding interest and charges according to the original credit agreement and panicked.Yes, I started the DMP before any of the accounts had defaulted which was in hindsight an error! But had no clue about any of this process I’m afraid. The largest debt (Barclaycard) defaulted pretty quickly and I’m hoping that after 8th October the Virgin Money one will too and interest will be stopped.0
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As long as you dont pay the amount mentioned in the default notice then it should default when they say and all interest will stop.
DCAs will be open to settlement offers at some point, so once defaulted I would pay less than you can afford and save the difference towards making settlement offers later. Once they have been with DCAs for a while you may want to consider making CCA requests, if they can't provide the cca then the debt can't be enforced and you can just stop paying.0 -
Sorry but can you answer my question, How much is Step Change paying Virgin (and Barclaycard and NatWest) and how much is the normal minimum payment on the card?
If StepChange is paying them more than the normal minimum, then they wont default this. If they are paying less, then you can complain to Virgin and ask them to remove the added interest.0 -
dolly_mixtures said:Thanks all for your comments. Sorry, I think I meant a debt collection agency, rather than credit reference agency. I read that a debt collection agency may continue adding interest and charges according to the original credit agreement and panicked.Yes, I started the DMP before any of the accounts had defaulted which was in hindsight an error! But had no clue about any of this process I’m afraid. The largest debt (Barclaycard) defaulted pretty quickly and I’m hoping that after 8th October the Virgin Money one will too and interest will be stopped.
You need to check and see what is being paid against what the contractual repayment should be.
I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free wannabe, Credit file and ratings, and Bankruptcy and living with it boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.For free non-judgemental debt advice, contact either Stepchange, National Debtline, or CitizensAdviceBureaux.Link to SOA Calculator- https://www.stoozing.com/soa.php The "provit letter" is here-https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247/letter-when-you-know-nothing-about-about-the-debt-aka-prove-it-letter0
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