DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part Three)

cloudnine_2

You're absolutely right Whoopiedoodle. I find that having system in place works for me. If you look at most people on this site, those who a) 'open the envellope' and confront their debts b) Ask for guidance c) Create a plan d) Change old habits and let the plan work for them and e) Track and review their plan meticously...Feel less stressed. Notice I say less stressed and not totally de stressed, as anyone with debts will always feel the load..but, as the load decreases, so does the stress.

Tigert

Just to re-iterate what everyone else is saying.

Try not to worry, it doesn't make things better. What does make things better is the support from other members of this forum + the fact that you are confronting the issue.

I was really in a mess 2 months ago - not opening letters, convincing myself it would be ok and generally burying my head in the sand. I spent every minute of the day worrying.

I've now made my first DMP payment, coming up to the 2nd. I'm not pretending that I don't worry anymore. I still dread getting home in the evening and opening the post.

But just knowing that I'm dealing with the issues makes me feel a whole lot better. They can only have what I can afford and I know I'm doing my best.

The best thing is, I now see a positive (if small) balance in my bank account at the end of the month and that in itself is a good motivator!

WhoopieDoodle

'tis true, OH and I do still worry as that is only natural, but we try and keep it to the back of our minds and get on with our lives. Okay, I do have days when I stress out but this does pass.

I decided some time ago that I was not going to be made ill over the debt - there is so much in our lives that is positive and we have to concentrate on that.

Tigert, we too are seeing little "pots" of money building up for emergencies, birthdays, etc and it is very satisfying knowing we don't (and won't) have to rely on credit anymore. Okay, it's not a lot of money but it is a comfort. If nothing else, the amount of silly spending has taught us a valuable lesson in that we will always be careful with our money and if we can't have something, then we go without!

Originally we considered BR or selling our home, but realised that we can pay the debt off in a few years time so it is a case of keeping the wolves from the door over the next 5 years.

I doubt it will be pretty sometimes, but we are determined to keep strong and combat this. Part of me now sees it as a challenge and I have developed a very warped sense of humour which really does help.

Marru

Hi All,

Ok, new tax year has started. My second month as self-employed with no certainty of income and I have finally finished my budget sheet to sent to creditors. I have done some adjustments from the budget I sent with the token payments but hopefully my explanation in the letters will be convincing enough. I am offering £111 per month in total for the total of £37k debt :eek: . I don't dare to offer more as my income is so unsure but I know (as I have done cashflow forecast) that this much I do have definitely left in my bank during next six months so I can then re-evaluate in October. Fingers crossed now that all is well. It has been very quiet lately, no phone calls and no letters after second month of token payments but I suspect the letters will start all that again. I was a bit cheeky and used the loan balances as they were when I first contacted them minus my token payments, completely ignoring all the interests and charges that were added. Did kindly request those charges and interests to be refunded, the worse that can happen is that they say no .

I must say that starting this process is so much better than trying to catch my tail. It took me to go over my cc limit to wake up and deal with it as there was no other option. And would you believe it I got interest paid into my account for over 4 pounds this month :T . I can't remember when that has happened last time.

So upwards and onwards. Will keep you posted how my creditors react to my letters. Off to the post office now to send them off.

Have a great day everybody,

Marru

rayday2

Well done Marru - feels a bit landmark time when you do that!

I am sitting waiting from my payment reviews, actually I don't care what they say thats what they are getting month after month whether they agree or not. Which was the same attitude I had in your position two years ago!

Marru

Ooh, spoke too soon. M&S just called. He "threatened" with default notice and I guess he was taken back when I said that please do send me one. So, my account is now arrears for 60 days and when it hits 90 they will issue a default notice. Two down, three to go.

Marru

bowz25

hi all
i have not posted for a while but still view the boards.

Been on dmp with cccs for nearly a year now.
I have just had to review with them as we were on a great fixed rate for our mortgage which is shortly ending and as a result our mortgage is increasing by £50 per month. Obviously with everything else increasing utility bills etc our amount we pay each month has had to reduce as well.
We are on a long plan it was 16 years originally, obviously with time hopefully this will decrease ie i can work more hours, but this temp drop in payment has made it longer for now.

The lady at cccs was great today and reassured me about all the options and hopefully in 6 months we can increase. At moment we do not get child tax due to overpayment and hopefully this will start again in 6 months.
Has anyone else had to drop payments on a dmp before and were the creditors okay with this. I am bracing myself for all manner of calls now after this. Not head a thing since month 3 of the plan.
anyway grumble over.

One positive thing changed my house insurance and am getting £30 cash back for switching.

take care all
bye for now

andytwonames

Bowz,

I read on the CCCS web site that they have a motgage broker who will not charge you fees.

Have you looked about to make sure you are getting the best possible deal?

Just a thought

Maccapacca

Hello all
I have being paying into a dmp with the cccs for 2 months now. Out total debt is £25,315 and we only pay £194 a month, this is due to my DH being self employed and having such a variable income. Everything seems to be going ok -ish! Some creditors have agreed to the dmp for 6 or 12 months, some I haven't heard from at all (good or bad thing??!) the only pain in Lloyds TSB. We have Lloyds credit cards and we advised by cccs to shut down our accounts with them leaving the overdrafts as part of the dmp. They are totally giving us a hard time, adding charges daily. Our original od on our current account was £250 nows its £754!! added to that a monthly account charge of £15 (its a platinum account) and we only pay £5 with the dmp!! so really bad. Do we just sit tight and hope they refund all the charges and agree to the dmp eventually?
In todays post got 2 letters from them, one a Default Notice and one an Enforcement Notice. What do these mean? do we have to send these on to the cccs? We have tried speaking to Lloyds but just get passed from person to person with each of them saying different things! Its so stressful.
Would really appreciate anyone taking the time to respond - feel a bit intimidated as you all sound much more clued up then me.
Thanks

Mac x

WhoopieDoodle

Macca, we are having fun and games with Lloyds TSB. They have sent us a Default Notice, which we forwarded to Payplan (I also responded to this as there was a timescale, just stating that we were in a DMP and could not pay the arrears). Don't worry about this, creditors have to register these if you fall behind in payments and it can work in your favour as the creditor will usually stop interest etc, or pass it to a DCA who will do the same.

The main thing is that you continue to explain to the creditors that you are in a DMP and for them to contact the organisation that is dealing with this. Also state that the banking code/OFT states that they must deal with a third party. You will feel like a broken record having to repeat yourself, but it will sink in eventually.

We had good news today - Barclaycard, Capital One and NW credit card have accepted our payments! Woo Hoo!

However, Lloyds, MBNA (surprise, surprise) and NW loan/overdraft don't want to know YET! Payplan said they are just trying to get more money out of us but they will accept it eventually.