DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part 4)

longforthesun

Tigert - Thanks for that. Its great to hear others peoples dealings with companys as it gives you a heads up on what could happen next.

ANY_CHANCE

Parsley wrote: »

Hi, I just sent off my forms for CCCS to start up my DMP with them. Got just under £60k of credit card debt and can no longer meet the monthly payments as my husbands business is not doing well and my own income doesn't cover it.

Did the online debt remedy and it said we qualified for a Low Cost DMP which is a temporary solution over about 12 years (I assume they don't want it to take that long)
Dont worry mine is going to last for 18 years at this rate you just pay what you can afford, as you know the payments can be flexible so if your pay goes up and you can afford to pay more it reduces your debt . Luckily my pay should be going up considerably some time next year, whenever the pay agreement gets passed, and that puts us into
about 8 years to pay off the debt.

I think I may have done something wrong though. I sent off the template letters and then two days later sent token payments to each one via internet banking. Should I have sent a cheque with the templates? Too late now I guess but will they know that's what I was doing?
At least there will be a record of payments gone to the creditors
Also, how long til I hear back from CCCS. Sent the letter 1st class on Thursday so not expecting anything immediately but just wondering how long it should take. I said that the DMP would start in September.
I would give them a ring perhaps to see if they have received your letter next week and then ask them about time scales when u speak to them

I only got up the courage to do this by reading this forum so thanks to everyone here. I don't know where we would have been otherwise.

My main problem is setting up another bank account. I got turned down by Citibank even though I didn't want an overdraft and am going to try for a Key Account at RBS tomorrow. Anyone know if they are any good? I don't know what I'll do if they say no as CCCS said I have to have a different account since my main one has a huge overdraft which is on the DMP. I've had no problems with the bank account really and don't want to change it.
Do you have an old savings account you could change into a current account, dont forget not to open an account with anyone related to your creditors, I opened a basic account with Lloyds TSB
Anyway I think I could probably do with the support as I'm both terrified and relieved at taking this step.
Well done for taking control of things, it will get easier x

Good luck with it all x

ANY_CHANCE

GhostHunter wrote: »

Having trouble with CCCS website. Trying to complete the online SOA to see if token payments are my only option now and it gets so far then comes up with a page saying session expired when I havent even left my pc idol! I try to log back in with Web number and it still wont let me past the page the error occured. Tells me its sent a message to whoever needs to know but means I cant move on until the errors gone.

Any ideas ??

Thanks

What a pain in the a....
I have no idea sorry what you can do perhaps their working on the system or something ....sorry im not very techie

ANY_CHANCE

Tigert wrote: »

Hi longforthesun,

I have 4 debts with GE Money and in my experience, once they agree to your DMP, they will pass it on to a DCA called CL Finance within a couple of months. Don't worry though CL Finance wrote to me and told me everything continues as it is with no interest or charges. I had to speak to them regarding one payment and they were really helpful.

I have had the same experience here they have not charged interest and are thankfully just letting me pay off the debt without all the extra Dross that one/ two others try on

rayday2

NW-ANGEL wrote: »

:T Thank you very much Andy, really appreciated will search for her :A
(sorry if slow replyin my net is faffing about on my lappy:mad: !)
thanks
kel

Hello!

Sorry not been around much lately so missed bits.

I basically used the national debtline website, definately use there budget sheet to work out payments, I also recommend requesting a copy of their guide to debts (its nice and reasurring to see your rights in print) I use there letters as a basis but a couple of years down the line they have evolved a bit and actually get a bit grumpy and demanding these days!

Anyway there are a few of us doing it DIY, top tips would be keep on top of your paper filing, I keep a copy of all the letters I do on pc but also print a copy off for my file. Also every month I update an individual basic spreadsheet to show what I owe and track payments so I can at a seconds notice compare balances if I happen to get a letter with a balance on.

The optional tip is I changed my phone number so they could only write to me but that is probably more important when you first go on a DMP a while into one the calls are less anyway.

Anything you want to know or be assured of just ask here, we all know what companies can or can't do but sometimes when its you getting the letter of the phonecall its harder to be rational and not to worry, if that makes sense.

NW-ANGEL

rayday2 wrote: »

Hello!

Sorry not been around much lately so missed bits.

I basically used the national debtline website, definately use there budget sheet to work out payments, I also recommend requesting a copy of their guide to debts (its nice and reasurring to see your rights in print) I use there letters as a basis but a couple of years down the line they have evolved a bit and actually get a bit grumpy and demanding these days!

Anyway there are a few of us doing it DIY, top tips would be keep on top of your paper filing, I keep a copy of all the letters I do on pc but also print a copy off for my file. Also every month I update an individual basic spreadsheet to show what I owe and track payments so I can at a seconds notice compare balances if I happen to get a letter with a balance on.

The optional tip is I changed my phone number so they could only write to me but that is probably more important when you first go on a DMP a while into one the calls are less anyway.

Anything you want to know or be assured of just ask here, we all know what companies can or can't do but sometimes when its you getting the letter of the phonecall its harder to be rational and not to worry, if that makes sense.

Thank you very much Ray:A ...like i say we'v done well to pay so much in a year and obviously want to keep at it, just wondered how creditors view people gong it alone - but surely its better us paying them more - dm Co tell us not to overpay because companies come to think you can do it all the time and not being honest with your income but just for example on our normal wages we pay over what creitors are happy with and when OH earns overtime id like to pay more off :T - its the arguement of save/pay off debt and dm Co get on my nerves with this amongst other things i have been doing lots of chasing round creditors to keep things up to date so may as well do myself lol :mad: - for example one of our creditors kept sending laters saying we were going to default and we were paying more than the required amount so after several months of people saying its fine theres no prob with account - i found dm Co were sending payment 2 days later than creditor wanted - instead of just asking us if we could pay 2 days earlier :mad: - which we could! and for £20 i would have made damn sure we could lol !! only through my own organisation and sorting did i stop them being sold on and defaults registering -(i know some companies do this as standard) i always allow two days always to make sure salaries hit account ok...then pay debts straight out... so their slowness is just another of the reasons!!

also means the couple of small debts i can get rid of sooner - gives better feeling and will improve credit i spose too....anyway sorry to ramble but feel better now lol:rotfl:
thanks
kel
x;)

Toffee_Penny

Hello again to all of you, the new and ol... ahem not so new Welcome to the site, it's a lovely place and no matter how down or worried you are, you can guarantee someone on here has been through it too and can offer the best advice.

I would love to say I had won the lottery and paid my debts off that's why I haven't been around but sadly no, still here plodding along. I read in my local paper today, the headlines screamed 'Family debt crisis shocker', the local CAB has been inundated with more and more people wanting debt advice, the CAB claims the waiting time for an appointment with them is anything up to 6 weeks!! :eek: I also read that Barclays and HSBC profits are down this year - shame isn't it?

I went to Tesco the other day and saved a small fortune on school uniform, they had a 3 for 2 offer on so managed to do quite well with things like my lad's trousers; wow they even had Teflon on too woo hoo!! :rotfl:

Shame I had to buy my daughters school jumpers from a specialist shop, those places are a rip off but you have no choice to go because they do the school jumpers and polo shirts with the embroidered logo.

The weather here has been so depressing too for the summer holidays, can't even play out in the garden, what a rubbish summer we are having!! :mad:

Oh well it's short and sweet this time but take care all of you

gilligansyle

Parsley wrote: »

Hi, I just sent off my forms for CCCS to start up my DMP with them. Got just under £60k of credit card debt and can no longer meet the monthly payments as my husbands business is not doing well and my own income doesn't cover it.

Did the online debt remedy and it said we qualified for a Low Cost DMP which is a temporary solution over about 12 years (I assume they don't want it to take that long). Luckily my pay should be going up considerably some time next year, whenever the pay agreement gets passed, and that puts us into
about 8 years to pay off the debt.

That's the whole point fo a low start DMP, they appreciate that circumstances may change. In my case, once I've sorted out my mortgage arrears, I will have an extra £100 to put towards debt.
I think I may have done something wrong though. I sent off the template letters and then two days later sent token payments to each one via internet banking. Should I have sent a cheque with the templates? Too late now I guess but will they know that's what I was doing?

At least you can prove you've paid them. I usually send postal orders, because I'm paranoid about them having my bank details as once the local authority used mine to set up a DD!

Also, how long til I hear back from CCCS. Sent the letter 1st class on Thursday so not expecting anything immediately but just wondering how long it should take. I said that the DMP would start in September.

I only got up the courage to do this by reading this forum so thanks to everyone here. I don't know where we would have been otherwise.

You will get lots of help and support on here.
My main problem is setting up another bank account. I got turned down by Citibank even though I didn't want an overdraft and am going to try for a Key Account at RBS tomorrow. Anyone know if they are any good? I don't know what I'll do if they say no as CCCS said I have to have a different account since my main one has a huge overdraft which is on the DMP. I've had no problems with the bank account really and don't want to change it.

National Debt line have a page about which bank accounts you can use, and which are linked to each other. So long as you aren't undischarged bankrupt you should be ok.

Anyway I think I could probably do with the support as I'm both terrified and relieved at taking this step.

Anyway, congrats on taking the first step. You can struggle alone for a long time and then decide you need the help.

rugbymum

Hi, I'm sorry if this is a dumb question but what kind of charges are you guys claiming back? None of my debts are CC's. One overdraft and loan with Barclays, loan with Black Horse and loan with :mad: :eek: Provident (to my eternal shame!)
I've obviously had loads of charges with the Barclays account over the years, but although I started the reclaim thing I was too ill to finish sorting it out (ie court action) and now everything is on hold anyway.
You know, as I'm writing this I realise that I havn't had any kind of statement from any of the companies on my DMP. Are they supposed to keep me up to date or do I need to ask for that information each month?

MurrayMint

Hi All,

HELP - I'm looking for a bit of a kick up the behind, as I haven't yet posted back my CCCS DMP agreement. I don't know why, but I'm just not getting it together I keep thinking that I haven't got everything for it.... I've nearly finished moving bank accounts and setting up new DD's for priority debts. The token payments and letters to creditors went R/Delivery last Wednesday. But I haven't sent off the info to CCCS yet :o:o

Please just give me a virtual finger wag, because I really need to do this (I think maybe I'm scared of the "reality", which is mad as I've already started) :rolleyes:

We had our phone interview Weds 30th July and our DMP should start 1st August. Our unsecured debt is just under £40k. Our payments will start at only £140 per month. That gives us a current DFD of 23 years time :eek: This will improve as DD starts school next September and *hopefully* we progress in our careers... However, the CCCS advisor did say that the plan is not supposed to run over that length of time and suggested that in 6-12 months we maybe should consider an IVA. Our main focus is keeping our house, but we do not have any equity in the current market and our I/O mortgage and secured loan are huge debt (compared to our income). So I am considering an IVA, but only if we can change our ways and very much live within the budget that an IVA would require - before signing up to a legal agreement.

This is such an emotional process isn't it. I am in debt through complete and utter living beyond my means for the last decade. I am a compulsive emotional shopper and it's like I've got to learn a different way of existing. Not half-heartedly, but 100% committed to living within my means and enjoying what I've got and not being motivated by the buzz of shopping. I mean, how shallow is that!!! But, it's the truth.

However, if I can get through this, what an achievement that will be!!!!!!!!!

Sorry for the length of post, was only going to complain about myself not posting the agreement yet!