DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part Three)

telboy99

Hi Missyp 123,
There is not much difference between the two debt management organisations.The main thing is that neither charge any fees so that everything you send them goes to pay off your debts. I understand Payplan operate a free service also.
I have been with CCCS for 12 months and found them very supportive and professional and most important their staff are NONJUDGEMENTAL and SYMPATHETIC and REASSURING-most important.
Good luck with your DMP whoever you decide to go with.
Sillytel

Miss_Marple_2

missyp123 wrote: »

Hello,
After lots of calls and posts with great feedback and advice we have decided that we definatley need to apply for a DMP.

Does anyone know how long the process takes? We are still currently paying all our creditiors but end up borrowing at the end of each month to survive. So will they tell us to not pay creditors from certain date or do we have to wait untill agreements of lower payments have been accepted? And is there an agreed time scale for the debts to be paid or is it indefinate untill debts are paid?

Also we have applied for a basic Natwest account, but is it not allowed to have a current account at all? We are currently with HSBC and they have said because we are fully into our £2k overdraft we will have to leave that account (understandable). But could'nt we open a current account with my husbands bank and use that? This could be done after the bank hoilday.

One last thing.... in most cases we assumed that the interest would frozen for all debts but have read on some posts that interest is still being added and even in cases where it has been stopped it starts up agian after a period of years?

Thankyou for reading through, hope someone can give us some advise on the above. Will be calling them back on Tuesday, fingers crossed (again)!

Hello :hello:

I can only tell you my experiences (I'm with Payplan). Your position sounds a lot like mine - up until I went on a DMP, I had not missed any payments - but was constantly robbing Peter to pay Paul

They did advise getting a new bank account - but this was just to ensure that the bank I owed money didn't just take all my salary. I opened a basic account at Nat West, but after a while they upgraded me to a 'proper' account. You are not allowed to get more credit whilst on a DMP, but you can have as many current accounts as you like !

TBH, it took longer than I thought to get set up - a few weeks for them to get all my details and sort out the amounts & my standing order to them, then a few more weeks to get all the creditors to agree, so although I was paying the lower amounts as recommended by Payplan, it took the creditors a while to put it in place. Payplan told me to keep paying in full the loan & CC I had with my bank, but to just make token payments to the others with a letter explaining that Payplan were involved and they would soon be receiving an offer from them - so I had a month of that before I started paying Payplan.

As for frozen interest, all of my creditors froze it - some immediatley, some after 3 months of paying (once they had established I was serious about paying the DMP amounts). All of my creditors have started charging interest again (3 years on) - but as I am now over-paying what they are requesting, I can't really complain especially when I think of all the interest I've saved in 3 years.

monkey74

Hi, I am pondering over bankruptcy or DMP at the moment. I have weighed up the figures and I come out with £115 extra monthly to pay off my £21,000 total debt (to 8 credit card companies). In your experience, do you think this would be enough for a DMP? I expect my income to improve in a few months so I can increase the payments then hopefully. Also, I am worried about them keeping on with monthly interest. I have heard that most stop it, but are any credit card companies worse than others at refusing to stop interest. I am trying to gather as much info as I can before I ring the CCCS on Tuesday.

Marru

Hi,

I am paying £110 per month for 37k debt and my biggest cc has accepted (NW) same as M&S cc, still waiting from NW personal loan, NW od and Lloyds cc. So yes it sounds like DMP is the way forward for you. I hope this helps.

Marru

Gemmzie

monkey74 - do you have any assets? cars worth over £2k, property etc? If so, I'd avoid bankruptcy. If your financial circumstances look to improve soon then a DMP is probably best.

Question for newbies and old timers alike - do you think a DMP guide would be useful on here? Just like mini step by step for people starting out, like change to basic bank account, postal orders for token payments etc?

sunshine38_2

Gemmzie wrote: »

Question for newbies and old timers alike - do you think a DMP guide would be useful on here? Just like mini step by step for people starting out, like change to basic bank account, postal orders for token payments etc?

Evening All

Gemmzie - I think that would be a really good idea. I've noticed quite a few new threads around the board seeking information about Payplan / CCCS and DMPs.

Sx

Janey51

Gemmzie I think that is a really good idea as when you first think about entering a DMP its so scary and you have so many wrong ideas and fears about what will happen.

Angel_Cake_3

Hi RayDay2, am in the process of entering a DMP, joined thie forum site yesterday and already have had loads of good and supportive advice. I was given the link to this thread -could I join, not sure how to go about it? Thanks

spud30

Can anyone help me please?

I am about to apply for redetermination on a debt that I received a CCJ on recently. Does anyone know what happens next? Will I have to attend court?

CCCS have said we must apply for redetermination as the judgment is for £12 per month more than our current CCCS payment. I'm such a coward, I would be far too scared to attend court. If I apply and they say I have to attend court, can I just pay the amount they asked for and not go to court? I'm wondering about setting up a SO for the extra amount just to avoid the whole situation

TakeittotheLimit.

So you want to lose another 12 from your budget?
Going to court is nothing....the judge will be more on your side(especially if you turn up)he`s more interested in how you`ll be able to manage than some big profitering organisation fleecing you for money you can ill afford to lose.

Just take your income and expenditure budget you got from CCCS and any statements showing your payments to this creditor,point out that they`ve been happy to accept payments off CCCS for £12 less than there after now.

This is why these companies do this,they count on ordinary people being afraid of going to court and defending themselves,thats why whenever you get a letter off a DCA it says something like pre court department.