Missed 1 DMP payment with stepchange

Black_cat_lady

Hi all , due to a dental emergency,  I had to miss this month's dmp payment,  I've had the plan since September last year   this is my first missed payment . I spoke to stepchange this morning and they were OK with it and I assured them I will make next month's payment without any problems . 
But I'm worried to death my creditors will start adding interest again ,or pull out the plan   . I didn't sleep all weekend due to the worry , it's really effected my metal health . They said I should contact all my creditors to explain what's happened but there's 11 of them ! I find it all so daunting hence why I went with stepchange in the first place . I've sent an email to stepchange explaining how anxious etc I am and asked them to contact my creditors for me . Does anyone has experience with missed dmp payments will it make a big different   will creditors add interest again / or pull out . Most are credit card and loan companies . 
Please help put my mind at east   🙏 

Grumpelstiltskin

Look if you weren't able to cover the dental emergency it looks like you haven't saved an emergency fund and have you agreed to pay too much on your DMP.

Have any of the debts defaulted?

Think about stopping paying anything at all until they have defaulted and you have an emergency fund and a SOA that allows you to keep saving every month.

fatbelly

A dmp is an informal process. You could miss a load of payments and nothing would happen.

The creditors probably won't even notice a missed payment and if they have any questions well, stepchange can field them.

RAS

Did you save an emergency fund before you started your DMP? If not, how much per month have you been putting into it and is that in an instant saver somewhere?

How much per month have you allocated for medical and dental? Have you been saving this into a separate account, along with insurance, clothing, presents and holidays?

Maybe time to review your Statement of Affairs and check that it is actually sustainable?

Rob5342

Unfortunately Stepchange can ruah people into starting DMPs which can put them in this kind of situation. 

Yhe first thing to think about is why you didn't have enough in your emergency fund to cover the dental emergency. Are you not putting enough aside or did you start the DMP before you had a good amount built up?

As mentioned above have the debts defaulted? In the long term it's far better for you if they have so if they haven't you might want to stop paying until they do. If they haven't defaulted then missing a payment is actually beneficial as it means they are more likely to default. 

Black_cat_lady

4 of the debts have defaulted,  all the rest have stopped interest except 1 which it natwest cc . I'm worried interest will start again on others due to a missed payment . No I don't have an emergency fun I wasnt told about this when I set the DMP up . I am totally clueless 

I have a financial review due in August I think I'll try and get my payment lowered by allocating more for essential things . As if I have another emergency in the future I will have to miss a payment again . 

Black_cat_lady

So if any of the debts do start adding interest again , should I just come out my DMP carry on paying the ones that have already defaulted directly,  and wait for all the others to default and only contact them then to arrange payment? 

I'm so scared of ccjs 

Rob5342

Remember that you are in complete control. There's no trying to get the payments reduced, you decide what you are paying and that's it. If Stepchange make doing thst difficult then take control and manage it yourself. 

I made the same mistake and rushed into a DMP on Stepchange's advice. 

Black_cat_lady

When you say manage it myself u mean go back to making payments to each individual creditors myself? . So no plan as such ? . 

Is that what you have done then ? I'm so tempted to leave my plan with stepchange and wait for the rest of my defaults to come in .and save in the meantime but I'm so scared of ccjs and if I was to leave stepchange do I carry on paying the debts that have already defaulted whilst I wait for the others to default. I'm so clueless with any of this . I appreciate all these comments trying to help me   

Brie

Black_cat_lady said:

So if any of the debts do start adding interest again , should I just come out my DMP carry on paying the ones that have already defaulted directly,  and wait for all the others to default and only contact them then to arrange payment? 

I'm so scared of ccjs 

Don't be.  Most creditors are happy to get a pittance from you even if it's not every single month.  It will take a lot to make them cranky enough to want to pay for solicitors, legal fees, court fees etc to file a ccj.  Let StepChange do it's thing and perhaps have another look at the budget that set what you need to pay.  You do need to be able to cope with occasional financial emergencies and if SC won't help you with this then find a different agency.  

fatbelly

Court action would make no sense for a creditor. They are getting payment, even if not entirely regularly. That's what a court would order anyway. So they would have the upfront cost with no net gain.

What is it that scares you? The mark on the credit file? The court process? Enforcement by bailiffs or something else?