Missed 1 DMP payment with stepchange

PurpleMouse5

I missed one once due to a vet emergency, they were fine with it. I think Stepchange wrote to the creditors but they didn't do anything. 

ManyWays

Missing this payment isnt going to be a problem.

But this is a good time to have a rethink of your StepChange budget. Was there an amount in there for dentists and you were saving it up but it wasn't enough? That happens, not a problem.. 

Or was there nothing in there, or there was and you weren't saving it up? The idea with all the Stepchange expenses that you dont need every month, like presents and car servicing, is that you save them up every month for when you get a big bill. I dont think Stepchange explain this clearly, they may think its obvious, but to a lot of people who have never budgeted like this before, it is new and takes some getting used to. 

Black_cat_lady

I've just redone my budget and the payment has gone down from £343 a month to £204 . As I forgot to tell them my rent went up last month , and I've added money to health budget,  and more for my sons school trips etc. I'm very nervous how the creditors are going to take the news of a missed payment and now future lower payments . Obviously this has added another year to my DMP but should enable me to live better in the mean time . I'm most worried about the ones that have already defaulted , as they may not like the lower payment and as they are already defaulted they could apply for ccj . Is this likely? Or would they just be happy to get a smaller payment than what they've been getting 

RAS

Er... no. You might want to ask Stepchange to let them know as that's easier than doing it yourself and then suspend your payment to Stepchange next month and go DIY with the defaulted debts.

If there's any kick back from Stepchange come back.

tigergambit

Black_cat_lady said:

I've just redone my budget and the payment has gone down from £343 a month to £204 . As I forgot to tell them my rent went up last month , and I've added money to health budget,  and more for my sons school trips etc. I'm very nervous how the creditors are going to take the news of a missed payment and now future lower payments . Obviously this has added another year to my DMP but should enable me to live better in the mean time . I'm most worried about the ones that have already defaulted , as they may not like the lower payment and as they are already defaulted they could apply for ccj . Is this likely? Or would they just be happy to get a smaller payment than what they've been getting 

Please stop worrying. It is far from uncommon for budgets to be readjusted. You have fallen into the trap of trying to make a budget which allows a maximum repayment. You need a budget which allows for maximum expenditure, maximum living.

Rob5342

CCJs can never be ruled out completely but as long as you are making some sort of payment they are very unlikely. If the original creditor doesn't like amount they are getting then they will sell the debt on to a debt collector. Debts are sold for around 10% of their value so even quite a small payment qould give the debt collector a nice little profit for no effort so they wouldn't have much incentive to go for.a ccj. If they did then the court would set payments at a level you could afford so apart from a CCJ on your credit record there would no practical difference to you. Debt collectors know all that which is another reason why they wouldn't be likely to waste their time on trying to get a CCJ. There are loads of people here on DMPs and 99% of the time everything goes very smoothly. 

Grumpelstiltskin

Black_cat_lady said:

I've just redone my budget and the payment has gone down from £343 a month to £204 . As I forgot to tell them my rent went up last month , and I've added money to health budget,  and more for my sons school trips etc. I'm very nervous how the creditors are going to take the news of a missed payment and now future lower payments . Obviously this has added another year to my DMP but should enable me to live better in the mean time . I'm most worried about the ones that have already defaulted , as they may not like the lower payment and as they are already defaulted they could apply for ccj . Is this likely? Or would they just be happy to get a smaller payment than what they've been getting 

OK So have you allowed at least £25 monthly for an emergency fund?

Let us see your SOA and we can see what amount you should be thinking about paying to your debts.

ManyWays

 as they may not like the lower payment and as they are already defaulted they could apply for ccj . Is this likely? Or would they just be happy to get a smaller payment than what they've been getting 
You have less spare money than you had, a creditor will realise that. Taking you to court would cost them money and not magically make you able to pay more. You are worrying unnecessarily.