Swapping Debt Management Companies??

emski2008

Hi all,
I finally bit the bullet.. hauled all the unopened envelopes out of the kitchen drawer and took my head out of my butt and faced my debt problem a couple of months ago. As you all know this is the hardest step and I really wanted someone to do some of the work for me.. (fearing the rejection of my offers of payment as has happened in the past). Therefore I went to Byrom and Keeley.. who have been very helpful, but at a price. I have a large (ish) debt with HSBC and they call me everyday.. B and K have told me to hang up if they call, but it is very stressfull hearing the phone ring and not knowing whether to answer or not. I picked up the other day and again told them B and K were dealing with my accounts and they have basically told me this is not good enough for them as the offer of payment is less than they want. They want £95 a month and B and K offered £75. I am aware that B and K are charging me for their services. So I am considering changing companies.. I need somewhere i can pay one payment by DD and they portion it out. Am I correct in thinking Payplan or CCCS offer this service for no charge??. I work long 12 hour shifts and do not have a cheque book so paying them myself is not an option. (I also tend to rob peter to pay paul this way and it all goes wrong).
Would like to know your thoughts
Thank you in advance for your time
Emma

tealady

Ditch B and K go with CCCS (the free one) payplan or CAB. Why pay someone to sort out your finances when you can get it for free (and have more money to throw at your debts).

shinyhead

Hi emski,
First very well done for taking the first and most important steps. If I were you I'd contact Payplan and CCCS and see what they say. Neither charge for setting up a debt management plan. I can only safely vouch for CCCS as it's them I'm with but they take your DD and then pay out your creditors pro rata. B&K can not do anything better than the debt charities IMHO. National Debtline provide lots of advice but it's my understanding that you actually do your DMP yourself.

What no organisation can guarantee is no phone calls from creditors! But remember you don't have to speak with them over the phone and are quite within your rights to ignore them. They can always write to you as you can to them. If the calls are obnoxious then look up the National Debtline website where they have template letters for lots of things, and there is one for sending to creditors to demand they stop calling. I could go on more but hope this helps and if you want to ask anything else don't hesitate.

Thanks tealady when looking for CCCS it's the one that stands for Consumer Credit Counselling Service- I think there are a couple of copycats out there so be careful!

emski2008

Thank you Tealady, I wasn't sure if they offered the same services. I will definately be swapping over .. shame their phonelines are not open on Sundays ..I would do it right now.

emski2008

Shinyhead.. many thanks.. HSBC tell me they will continue to call me daily until my account is either brought up to date ( 4 payments of £95 behind, but 2 payments of £75 made) or cleared. I had a period of sickness off work and therefore the payments got behind then went to B and K. The other problem I have is keeping up with the DCA .. it seems my debts keep being sold on to other agencies. I will use today to gather all my current information together and contact CCCS on Wednesday. I have 2 long shifts on Mon and Tues so the phonelines closed when I get home from work.

shinyhead

If you have an answerphone you can always leave it until after the machine picks the call up-friends and genuine callers will usually start to leave a meesage so you can then always pick up if you recognise them. Call centres usually don't and hang up a couple of seconds after your outgoing message ahs stopped. They may try and leave a message sayin something like it's very important you call etc but my previous post about being able to ignore them comes in! we've used caller display and answerphone and it puts us back in control of the phone.

tealady

Hi again. I think CCCS have a web site but theres nothing to stop you getting your paperwork sorted today.
If you put up a SOA we may be able to help you cut back a bit.

emski2008

Thank you.. I will make coffee (already purchased that from Lidl) sort my paperwork out and get back to you.

Pollydaydream

Hi emski

emski2008 wrote: »

Thank you Tealady, I wasn't sure if they offered the same services. I will definately be swapping over .. shame their phonelines are not open on Sundays ..I would do it right now.

I'm on a DMP with CCCS and they've been great. My creditors have all accepted and I've not had any hassle - when they hear I'm with CCCS they just seem to accept it.

As Tealady says, CCCS do have a website and you can actually set up your DMP through the website (I did, I really couldn't face even talking to someone helpful at the time without becoming a gibbering wreck). Even if you want to sort it out over the phone, you can enter your details and SOA today and it gives you an immediate suggested budget and repayment plan.

Polly

emski2008

Good News!!! I am now no longer with B and K ... I have gone with CCCS and feel great about it.
Many thanks for all replies and advice
Em xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx