DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part Three)

curly_2

Hi, I have read throught some of the post on this thread and I wonder if someone could give me some advise.

I owe approx £17,500 on cc 's & two personal loans, and I work full time with a resonable salary. I have contacted the CCCS and they have suggested a DMP plan which I can afford. My question is what sort of hassle am I likely to get from my creditors (Barclays, CitiFinancial, Capital One, Aqua, Egg & Monument) ie. harrassing phone calls etc .....?

My partner of 20 years has no idea about all this and I has very strong feelings about being in debt. I know this sounds stupid but I know he is going to be very angry and there is the strong possibility he would ask me to leave, I know that sounds drastic but he is not one to discuss my problems with (if it were his kids in this situation then he would react differently)

I have tried to consolidate my debts but cannot get a loan or anything now because of my credit history.

I am sorry worried and can't concentrate at work, it just seems I have nowhere to turn.

rayday2

Curly not sure what to say really. They will try ringing but you can send letters asking them to write only.

I feel you are slightly different from the compulsive spender because if you have that much debt and spending he must have known about it and benefitted from it, he has just chosen to keep his head in the sand about it.

If he does find out you have taken responsibility and sorting it yourself and it is a good lesson for any children of how easy it is to fall a victim to the ease of credit, also you could blame the current financial crunch as to a reason why you have had to take drastic measures.

You definately going on a DMP with CCCS will have less hassle than if you let things go and fell behind on payments all those companies are used to dealing with CCCS.

But not sure I have made you feel any better really - sorry!

HHH_2

I was in a similar situation but I contacted CCCS and have a DMP now. Once I started the DMP all phone calls and letters stopped but to begin with there were lots which obviously were very stressful when I was trying to keep it secret from my OH. He still doesnt know the extent of my debts BUT he does know I have them but I felt much better owning up to this once I had done something about it. I would say it's almost impossible to keep it secret simply because of the phone calls. even if you write or phone them to say no contact other than by letter largely they seem to ignore this even though they are not supposed to. you can report them but I found I didnt have the energy or time to do that while dealing with the setting up of my DMP. Having said all of that you WILL feel so much better once you've started tackling your debts and i cant recommend CCCS highly enough they have helped me such a lot. good luck

curly_2

It's the phonecalls that worry me, he went balistic sometime ago when he thought I owed money and in fact the CC co. had just mislaid a payment I had sent.

I have no-one to talk to about this, and we have so much other problems at the moment that it just is over whelming me. We lost a very close friend and then his son was made redundant after 26 years.

The DMP would be for almost 5 years provided each creditor agrees the freeze interest etc.. but what are the chances of that !!

I just don't know what to do !!

HHH_2

Please have a look at the CCCS website there is a link somewhere. you can fill in the debt remedy on line and it may make you feel slightly happier. You can then phone them, they are very understnading and non judgemental. Many people will tell you to tell your OH as they have had positive results doing this but maybe it's not like that for you so only you can decide. If your OH makes you feel bad about yourself especially about your debts you can always come on here, there are loads of lovely people who know how easy it is to end up in debt and wont judge you but help you to feel stronger. There is a way through this. please at least try CCCS (not c-c-c-s) they are a charity and will not charge you for any part of their service.good luck

rayday2

The chances of them all freezing interest is actually pretty good! There are probably more of us in this topic with frozen interest than without.

Usually I tell people to be honest but occasionally I can be naughty as you seem a bit too much on, couldn't you if he does pick the odd phone call up make out its the sames as what happened in the past but be aware that if he does find out eventually he will remember what you said.

Also not sure if you already have it but I get BT to stop witheld numbers ringing me which could help a little the ideal would be if you changed your number made out you were getting funny phone calls but again its another lie - its entirely your decision just throwing ideas around.

Come here and vent off as often as you like not the same as chatting in person but we have all been there in some way.

curly_2

Hi again, thanks for all that. I have contacted the CCCS and done a DMP so am waiting for the paperwork to arrive, but I have cold feet about starting it off, the phonecall etc... I'm am so close the tears all the time, concentrating at work is almost impossible. I will do my best to phone the CCCS tomorrow lunchtime and talk to someone there. Everything is up to date on my payments to everyone and haven't defaulted on any, so I hope that is going to go in my favour. Will post tomorrow with if I need to chat. Thanks again Guys !!

newlywed

curly wrote: »

Hi again, thanks for all that. I have contacted the CCCS and done a DMP so am waiting for the paperwork to arrive, but I have cold feet about starting it off, the phonecall etc... I'm am so close the tears all the time, concentrating at work is almost impossible. I will do my best to phone the CCCS tomorrow lunchtime and talk to someone there. Everything is up to date on my payments to everyone and haven't defaulted on any, so I hope that is going to go in my favour. Will post tomorrow with if I need to chat. Thanks again Guys !!

I felt like that too curly. Felt sick about phone calls. Only had 2 of my 5 creditors call me when I started the DMP - one was to say yes we accept the DMP and the other was continual you've missed payment - each time I replied with my CCCS DMP details - which they said they have on their system from last time they rang me. Apparently they should have flagged not to call me for a few weeks till they hear from CCCS but it took about 5 people before that happened. So that was their error.

The phone calls weren't in any way nasty though. I just gave the details each time and said I would be paying that way.

As for stopping interest - I figured if just one of them stopped then I would be better off. In fact 4 of them completely stopped interest and one immediately reduced interest to 6% instead of 18%. It did take a few months for some of them to stop interest though, so if they don't seem to respond, or initially refuse the DMP, stick with it for a few more months. When they start getting the actual payments from CCCS (on the 25th of the month) then they do tend to stay quiet.

Now, I just wish I had done it sooner - much much sooner :rolleyes:

kel123_2

Hello all

I've posted a new thread and after reading these posts some one on here maybe able to advise

The post is 'advise needed' by Kel123

Please look and see what you think!

Kel

newlywed

Right. Having a big debate with myself - and will have to debate with OH later if I make a decision...

The last few months I've been struggling a bit on the DMP budget.

This month:
all the gas money budget is spent (prepayment).
all the electricity money budget is spent (prepayment).
all the food money is spent.
all the petrol money is spent - as well as £30 extra.

There's two weeks left and none of these will last till payday

I have no savings (had to spend them to go to a funeral - and still have to pay my sister back the rest of the money borrowed).

I have a two item prescription but no money to get it (not life threatening).

Car tax is due in April and savings are £0. MOT is due in May and I'm not sure I'll have any £££ by then either

What do I do?
Every month I seem to be about £60 short - without taking into account the emergency and car savings I should be putting aside.

But if I reduce my DMP by £60 then I'm looking at an extra 8 months on my DMP - which isn't ideal either. OH is adamant that I shouldn't decrease my payment, but he says he has no spare money to help pay petrol, etc