DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part 4)

tinkerbell12

Thank you newlywed - that is reassuring. We pay over £700 a month and reckon we need around £75 per month more so hopefully it won't be too bad. I am worried that CCCS may not be happy that 2 adults and one toddler can't live on £300 per month food budget though! I am really trying and shop very carefully but we seem to eat so much! Plus toiletries etc really add up. I was looking to increase to £340 - does anyone think that sounds excessive?

newlywed

tinkerbell12 wrote: »

Thank you newlywed - that is reassuring. We pay over £700 a month and reckon we need around £75 per month more so hopefully it won't be too bad. I am worried that CCCS may not be happy that 2 adults and one toddler can't live on £300 per month food budget though! I am really trying and shop very carefully but we seem to eat so much! Plus toiletries etc really add up. I was looking to increase to £340 - does anyone think that sounds excessive?

Our budget for groceries, toiletries etc is £330 a month - me, OH and 2 stepkids for half the week. I struggle though - this month have spent £30 too much - so that's my prescription that will have to wait (not life threatening ), as well as my haircut - again etc. I asked CCCS what a maximum amount was for that and they said to let them know what I spend and they will tell me if it's reasonable I only put down half contributions though as OH pays some bills and it works out about half each. (DMP is my name only, my debts).

Have you tried the Old Style Board though? Lots of tips there on the grocery challenge

cocker100

tinkerbell12 wrote: »

Thank you newlywed - that is reassuring. We pay over £700 a month and reckon we need around £75 per month more so hopefully it won't be too bad. I am worried that CCCS may not be happy that 2 adults and one toddler can't live on £300 per month food budget though! I am really trying and shop very carefully but we seem to eat so much! Plus toiletries etc really add up. I was looking to increase to £340 - does anyone think that sounds excessive?

Hi,

Thats not excessive at all! We budget £500 for our food and thats only for 2 adults and 2 children aged 6 and 3. No point starving yourself, not many other luxuries when you are on a DMP so good food is a comfort!:rotfl:

Cocker

ruthie70

Our budget is £320 for groceries, cleaning etc. That's for me, OH, 9 year old and 19 year old. My 19 year old has been in and out of work so did not put any board he pays on my budget as it is not regular income. When he is in work he pays £30 per week which certainly helps. He has started a new job so hoping the £30 will be paid for a while. Don't want to put this on the budget as it could stop just like that :rolleyes:

After a quiet spell (DMP begins 1 December) the phone calls are coming thick and fast. OH has been called twice by Barclays Motor Finance and Aqua. The first call from Barclays was great, the guy was really nice. The second today was a gruff man who told OH "we will only accept £12.50 or more, goodbye" then hung up. How rude. The other from Aqua, who had initially been understanding and said the CCCS were very good asked "can friends or family help?" - why do they think we're doing a DMP :mad: I presume these calls are just them trying to bully us into paying. OH was a bit disconcerted by them but I've told him that's just what happens and that it happens to others on here too. Just wish CCCS would get those letters out......was feeling positive last week but now getting worried :think: Should I phone CCCS and speak to them about the calls?

bunnygreen

Hi everyone

Just an update.

So far we've heard from the following creditors

Mint - only to say "thank you for contacting us, your debt management company may require the following information" then just stated the balance, interest, etc.

Hitachi - to say thanks for letting us know about your problems, we advise you seek the help of someone like CCCS (even though the correspondance we sent was using the CCCS templates, with our CCCS number!!!) and that they would want to have an offer made to them within the next month. They sound ok to be honest

Naturally Close - saying they accept the reduced payments and will stop any further charges - RESULT!!!

HSBC (Mastercard) - saying they won't accept the reduced payments, suggested an alternative reduced payment and will not stop interest. Also said that the payment must be made by the 1st December and that from then on should always reach them by the date on the statement and if this is not met, they will enforce the CCA. I don't really know what to do about this and what this means really. I guess I forward the letter to CCCS but do I contact HSBC myself?

That's all so far. Still waiting to hear from Barclaycard (for 2 accounts), Northern Rock, HSBC overdraft, Alliance & Leicester Overdraft and HFC. I have logged on to Alliance and Leicester today and they have moved the money from our savings account with them (only £1.50) into the main account and says the account is "unavailable", then when I try to click on the Direct Debits, and recent transactions, it won't let me click on anything! So, I guess they are shutting our account? Good job I have sorted out our pay to go into our new Halifax account and moved the Direct Debits!

Argghh, this is so stressful! I guess it might feel better in a few months when we're settled. It's just the uncertainty!!

Kudox

Bunny Green,
RBS said that to me about the pament having to reach them on a certain date, I wrote back and reminded them of the terms of my DMP and the payment schedule, they wrote back and said OK we accept but only out of goodwill(!), or words to that effect.
As someone else said on here recently I always reply in writing to stuff they send even to just reiterate about DMP, for one thing they can't then accuse you of trying to ignore them, and also they give us enough hassle why not give them something to do in return, someone has to open it, read it file it etc!
Ruthie dont worry about the calls, they will happen at first, but they DO die down, dont be bullied into something you have'nt agreed to or can't afford.

ruthie70

bunnygreen wrote: »

Hi everyone

Just an update.

So far we've heard from the following creditors

Mint - only to say "thank you for contacting us, your debt management company may require the following information" then just stated the balance, interest, etc.

Hitachi - to say thanks for letting us know about your problems, we advise you seek the help of someone like CCCS (even though the correspondance we sent was using the CCCS templates, with our CCCS number!!!) and that they would want to have an offer made to them within the next month. They sound ok to be honest

Naturally Close - saying they accept the reduced payments and will stop any further charges - RESULT!!!

HSBC (Mastercard)- saying they won't accept the reduced payments, suggested an alternative reduced payment and will not stop interest. Also said that the payment must be made by the 1st December and that from then on should always reach them by the date on the statement and if this is not met, they will enforce the CCA. I don't really know what to do about this and what this means really. I guess I forward the letter to CCCS but do I contact HSBC myself?

That's all so far. Still waiting to hear from Barclaycard (for 2 accounts), Northern Rock, HSBC overdraft, Alliance & Leicester Overdraft and HFC. I have logged on to Alliance and Leicester today and they have moved the money from our savings account with them (only £1.50) into the main account and says the account is "unavailable", then when I try to click on the Direct Debits, and recent transactions, it won't let me click on anything! So, I guess they are shutting our account? Good job I have sorted out our pay to go into our new Halifax account and moved the Direct Debits!

Argghh, this is so stressful! I guess it might feel better in a few months when we're settled. It's just the uncertainty!!

Bunnygreen - have the CCCS written to the above? My DMP starts on 1 December too but don't think any letters have gone from CCCS yet to my creditors. I am getting hounded on the basis of my token payments and from the notification letter the CCCS told me to send with it.

insider66

tinkerbell12 wrote: »

Thank you newlywed - that is reassuring. We pay over £700 a month and reckon we need around £75 per month more so hopefully it won't be too bad. I am worried that CCCS may not be happy that 2 adults and one toddler can't live on £300 per month food budget though! I am really trying and shop very carefully but we seem to eat so much! Plus toiletries etc really add up. I was looking to increase to £340 - does anyone think that sounds excessive?

Hi there,

just a quick note, the absolute minimum you would be expected to have if you were on an IVA (which is supposed to be a tighter budget than a DMP) is 290 for 2 adults and 1 child.

There are other minimums - hopefully they are accounted for ie. clothing min 60
emergencies min 30.

Realistically, your creditors will accept a food and toiletries budget of 450 for your family size, hope this helps

bunnygreen

Thanks Kudox

ruthie70 wrote: »

Bunnygreen - have the CCCS written to the above? My DMP starts on 1 December too but don't think any letters have gone from CCCS yet to my creditors. I am getting hounded on the basis of my token payments and from the notification letter the CCCS told me to send with it.

Hi Ruthie, yes they have. I phoned all of the creditors to check. It was quite funny cos when I phoned a couple of the credit cards, as soon as you enter the card number they say "we are transferring you to customer services" instead of just telling you the balance, which is normally what happens! So I knew they had. But I still checked with them.

Hopefully the hounding will get less soon! Isn't it just horrible at the moment!

sunshine38_2

to keep going with our DMP.

Hi guys and gals

Apologies for being so woeful but I really dont know how much more we can take. Long story short, me and hubby have been on DMP with CCCS since June when we made our first payment. Admittedly, it was a struggle because I lost my job just before it was due to start but didnt want to "rock the boat". Consequently we ended up with mortgage arrears and council tax arrears which we have been trying to pay from our allocated budget. I did get another job but it took six weeks.

We had a review just over a month ago and still I kept quiet about them ... all the while thinking that surely, somehow, we will get back up to date and be able to live within the budget we were supposed to have.

Our payments were reduced from £210 to £201 when we had the review. I know that CCCS work really hard and that you peeps on here are very helpful but I felt like a naughty school girl being told off for not managing better with the budget we were left with, so I agreed to just the £9 reduction.

Since that review we've had shocking news from the CSA that previous payments had not been sufficient (based on hubby's self employment/tax return now sorted) and they threatened enforcement action, claiming that we had been sent several reminders etc. So, the payments there have had to double or they threatened to take 40% of hubby's wages.

I've come home tonight to a bill for scottish power claiming that we owe £86 for the period 11/10/08 to 29/10/08 which I am stunned about ... we have always had a pre-payment meter and have recently changed back to British Gas ... ironically in an attempt to save money. How can they attempt to charge us that much money when we paid on a prepayment meter?!! I kept trying to ring to get an explanation ... after 3 minutes going through their automated service, each time I was told they were busy and to "try later"!! Anyway, the point is, there now appears yet another debt to be added to the never ending list.

When I updated figures on the CCCS list of creditors last month, we actually owe more money to the majority of the creditors than we did at the beginning due to charges/interest.

I've been threatened with court proceedings (for a £328 debt - one of the smallest!) and I've managed to send a CCA request to the solicitors and am wondering whether they will produce a signed copy of the agreement - time runs out this Friday. I'm not trying to avoid payment of the debt - just need time.

Well, I'm saying I/we just need time but when we started back in June, I stupidly thought that within six months we'd have had some breathing space and would be getting into a better position to be able to increase payments and get rid of the debts.

Me and hubby are arguing almost daily now - not always money related - but it must be niggling away at us both because we never used to be like this.

So, I think, after all that, my question has to be, what do I/we do now?

Sorry for the long ramble

Sunshine

PS - just to put the icing on the cake my ex has now reduced maintenance payments too ...