Some DMP questions...

GreatBigBookcase

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81949507#Comment_81949507

Hi Rob, I'm atually leaning more towards managing it myself the more I read… I was definitely not going to at first as it all feels a bit overwhelming. But, I'm thinking if I pay off the 3 smaller debts I have and so reduce the number of creditors I'd have to deal with, it feels a bit less daunting and maybe a better option.

The debts would be with Barclaycard, Halifax and Co-op credit cards and Barcalys and Tesco loans. Are there any known issues dealing with these particular companies?

GreatBigBookcase

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81949250#Comment_81949250

Thanks ManyWays, I'll find time to do this later. The HP is only a year into 10 years. The pitch fees and running costs are covered by the rental income.

Grumpelstiltskin

What you have got to remember is you are in charge not your creditors, with a self managed DMP you are 100% plus in charge, you tell your creditors what you will be paying them, it doesn't matter if they want more, they won't get it.

Don't worry about what they will think you are only a number on their computer system.

GreatBigBookcase

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81949570#Comment_81949570

Thanks for this. It's quite the mindshift, isn't it? I've never defaulted on a payment…huge mindshift needed!

Rob5342

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81949564#Comment_81949564

Some people find Stepchange helpful but they don't do anything you can't do yourself, they just forward the information you put in your budget and forward your payments.

If you aren't sure about how to work out your budget then using them can be helpful, but sometimes people know exactly what they want to pay and having them as a middleman just makes things more difficult. I

sourcrates

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81949575#Comment_81949575

You will find you will adapt quite easily, once you get underway, you have been programmed to make your monthly payments to your lenders by a certain date of their choosing every month, or face financial penalty if you do not comply, does that not sound like a method of control to you?

Debt management turns that world on its head, and removes all the previous restrictions you were subject too.

Its a place where you decide who gets paid what and when, remember, there are no requirements on you to treat everyone the same, you are now in charge, so you call the shots now.

With multiple creditors, its best to keep things as simple as possible, the lenders you have currently, will not necessarily be the ones you start your DMP with, as debts will get sold, or assigned to collection companies, so there is no need to write essay style letters of explanation, debt collectors are interested in one thing, and that is a regular stream of income, so if anyone asks for a copy of your budget, you show them figures formatted like the previous example I gave you, they do not have to be your actual income/expenditure figures, just numbers that show them what you want to pay, remember, there are no rules here.

Ideally you want it to be no more complicated than a simple transfer of funds to each creditor every month.

Anything you are unsure of, ask, for example, when debts are sold or assigned, there can be a plethora of different scenarios that may unfold, default notices are only sent under sec 87(1) CCA, anything else is just a scare tactic, if in doubt, ask, threats of any legal action, most are just threats, only a "letter before action" must be dealt with as a matter of urgency, again, ask if unsure.

RAS

Yep. "Refer you/your account for further action" means their computer has a load more emails, letters, text s lined up and they've probably got the robo- caller set up.

And the list of possible consequences refers to stuff that could legally happen way down the line, if you ignore them long after the default, and ignore all legal action thereafter, and they think you have resources to pay.

Actual legal action is unusual.

GreatBigBookcase

Thanks everyone. All very helpful points.

GreatBigBookcase

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81949741#Comment_81949741

This is really helpful to read, thank you sourcrates. I'm going to refer back to it whenever I'm having a wobble.

GreatBigBookcase

Am I right in thinking it would only be a Letter Before Action that I would need to deal with straight away? Is it generally 30 days to respond to this type of letter? We tend to spend chunks of time at the caravan in spring and autumn, so I'm wondering whether I need to go home to check post every X number of weeks to avoid missing something important?