DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part Three)

compulsivespender79

Just wanted to say :hello: , Loopylu, and welcome to my second home!

All appears to be going smoothly on the DMP front, RBS are being a bit thick, but that's to be expected I suppose, poor loves.
Like smilealot, this month I am in a postion where I have £40 in my bank account to last until 25th March. This has not happened to me for a loooong time. This is the first month in about a year that I haven't had to go cap in hand to my mum, dad, OH or nan and ask for money. It's so liberating. Yes, the budgeting is hard work, but I've done it (thanks in no small part to the members of my other support group 'Spendaholics Anonymous' - sorry, had to get the shout-out in there!)
I've had three largish expenses this month, £35 haircut (it was a big cut!), £56 meal out for Mother's Day, and £50 in exceeding O/D charges in February (won't be happening again this month :T ). So, if I can get to the end of the month with a huge £141 out of my monthly budget, just think how rich I'll be next month!! I think I've turned a corner, and I just want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone on this thread for sharing your stories (good and sad).
To the newbies, stick with it - it is scary when you first embark on a DMP, but it really will be the best thing you do! Good luck!

Hope everyone has a lovely Easter (in the snow),

:easter:

CSx

Stephanie_Jaye

Just popping in to say Hi, currently with CCCS DMP, best decision i ever made.

Counting down the days till pay day!

loopylu36

WhoopieDoodle wrote: »

It appears to me that CCCS and Payplan have different budget allowances?

Payplan do not allow for pocket money, digital tv, leisure, cover for gas boilers etc, newspapers and some other items. Also, they give a maximum on gas, electric and telephone.

Does anyone know why their figures are so strict?

Hi Whoopiedoodle (love that username:D )

I have no idea why payplan are so strict, but think I'm lucky i went to CCCS.

They allow you £21 max for satellite tv and £60 for mobile/landline/internet - that's quite a lot i think. I've used those figures.

Someone (I think it was Rayday) pointed me in the direction of the HMRC income and expenditure factsheet. I can't remember too much about the figures but I do remember that these varied again from Payplan and CCCS - for example the food budget was £416 for a couple with children (which is a lot of money i think, even if i go a bit mad in the supermarket which isn't often these days, i might only spend about £70). I could shop in M&S food hall for £100 a week! And I then saw another example which gave a figure of £25 - £30 per adult per week, plus about £11 per adult for toiletries and a bit more for pets!

Have no idea why these figures vary so much - perhaps there should be an industry standard as it seems those with Payplan may be suffering more than those with CCCS, which isn't fair.

maz1964

Hiya mazmc

im doing my own dmp and contacting me creditors today, have put in my offer letter with pro rata payments offer to only contact me by letter and not telephone. I hope they do take note otherwise im sure there is something i can do about it - read something somewhere on national debtline site.

So good luck and keep happy

Ciao MAZ

WhoopieDoodle

loopylu, I have also checked out the various budget plans and yes, they do vary a lot (big headache!)

The only way we could keep to the budget that Payplan allow us was to reduce our grocery bill quite drastically, then use the remainder to pay for the internet (which I need for my business), digital tv which is on the very basic package and other bits and pieces.

Shopping in M&S - those were the days, sigh.

maz, I'm not sure if I'm correct in saying this, but I think you can ask for your number to be removed from their data base (under the Data Protection Act). I'm sure someone will correct me if that is wrong. I have asked cold callers to do this and it appears to work, but not sure about creditors.

rayday2

Stephanie_Jaye wrote: »

Just popping in to say Hi, currently with CCCS DMP, best decision i ever made.

Counting down the days till pay day!

Hi Stephanie - nice to see you !

mazmc

Hi all

I am not to bothered about answering when i am at home but they keep calling my mobile when I am at work and i will not dicuss my situation in an open plan office, I tired to explain to one caller that I was at work and to call me at home after 5pm she got stroppy so I hung up, they called me back about 6 times on themobile but also called t he house in between when they had already been told I was at work. I have put the number on my reject list on my mobile so only see that I have missed the call now

I can see that I have a painfull time ahead and just hope that they will eventually get the message

I havent given Halifax a token payment this month they got full whack for both CC and loan because they are my current bank and Im not sure yet if my new details have made it to payroll in time

I am also a bit worried about GE money because I have a debt on my DMP for them but my car and mortgage are with them too. Im sure it will all be fine and while i Know the next few months will still be stressful I already feel like a weight has been lifted just because I have taken the first steps

thanks all

maz

Dr_Jekyll

Just popped in to say have a happy Easter everyone.

10past6

10past6 wrote: »

Hi Folks

Update re my current situation

Toady I have registered a formal complaint with KPR re their continuous harassment, also copied Nationwide and Payplan.

Anyone who is unsure of KPR, they come under Nationwide Building Society umbrella, hence why Payplan do not correspond with them.

I have 2 accounts with Nationwide, Credit Card account, and Flex account, today I have received a letter from KPR offering a discount on my Flex account balance, providing it's paid in full, I have no idea what the discount is, as I'm not contacting them, strangely, this letter is from the same company (KPR) who issued me with a letter re my Credit card balance threatening my home is at risk.

Yesterday when I received the threatening letter from KPR I was stressed to say the least, now I have made a formal complaint, I feel much more settled within myself.

Thanks for all the support and advice, chin up folks, some creditors have created a battle between us and them, it's now a question of who wins.

Will keep you all posted.

Hi folks

Re my post above which I posted earlier within the thread, today I have received an acknowledgement re my complaint from Nationwide stating they will hold off for 30 days re any legal action, they go on to say, the offer from Payplan is not acceptable due to the length of time it will take to clear the outstanding balance, they have given me 30 days to re look at my financial situation, and commence legal action on or after 21st April 2008 if no improvement is made.

ailsajayne27

I am not to bothered about answering when i am at home but they keep calling my mobile when I am at work and i will not dicuss my situation in an open plan office, I tired to explain to one caller that I was at work and to call me at home after 5pm she got stroppy so I hung up, they called me back about 6 times on themobile but also called t he house in between when they had already been told I was at work. I have put the number on my reject list on my mobile so only see that I have missed the call now

Tell them to remove your contact numbers from their recordds under the datat protection act and to communicate with you vis letter only. They will get the message. I had cap one keep calling me after I said that so I threatened to make official complaint and funnily enough I have had no more calls. I also work in open plan office (one company got my direct line from my business mnobile voice mail and kept calling em on that... no choice but to answer!) Also whether you have or not... tell them you were given advice by the CCCS and that you know you are within your rights to not speak to them on the phone. They only really ring I think to bully you into making a payment! and stress you into making decisions without proper thought (Iwas forced into agreeing a £250 pm payment to Halifax over the phone... with no financial info taken... random fig off the top of their heads I think... when I tried to say can;t pay it anymore ti got messy lol!)

Depending on the company you will be put on their ''avoiding us therefore has no intention of paying'' list... and may send you unidentified texts asking you to call a random land line / mobile number... sneaky eh (MBNA!)

You don't have to talk to them on the phone full stop!!!!

Oh yeah put it writing to them as well just to get the point across