DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part 4)

very_silly_and_scared

Hi rayday2 (and all other DIYers)

I have a few days to keep looking into my DMP options until the new bank account is set up.

The more research I do, I am now thinking that rather than work with CCCS (who have been great)on a DMP I would like to do it myself as that way I can have more 'control' over it and see more closely what's going on. I know you are a DIYer and wondered what advice you have.

Have called National Debtline for their DMP pack...

Do I still cancel my direct debits and send token payments with the first letter or have I got to send the 'hold action' letter on its own without cancelling first?

rayday2

I cancelled my direct debits etc so that I could build a fund up in my new account, I was including my current account overdraft in my DMP so I purposely didn't tell them as I didn't want any funds disappearing.

I think I sent a letter saying we were having difficulties and could they stop interest and send me a current balance of my account and I would be in contact with them again within 28 days. Which effectively bought me another month and then I sent offer of payment letters out.

Its up to you which you rather do there is no wrong or right really. Oh and I changed my telephone number

Ossireo

Following on from GH heart stopping bill letter this morning I started making enquiries into a pre-payment meter for my Gas & Electric.

I am presently paying £33.00 a month for both and just received my bill and my account is obviously £689.30 in debit :eek: so I am pretty sure come my review they are going to hitch up the repayment to a massive amount.

Has anyone who has switched to a Prepayment meter had large arrears? What sort of repayments do they take for arrears? Also I am in rented property, is a meter something they can remove if I leave the property?

Another thing I was going to ask is I remember back in the first days of 'Sky' etc they use to say DONT TURN OFF THE BOX! in this day and age is it ok to turn off the box at night, would love to just do a mass socket switch off at bedtimes without worrying that certain bits need to stay on

So many questions to keep you fine folks busy! :rotfl:

Gemmzie

You can get into arrears with payment meters, my Nan did it spectacularly! If you're renting, then you need the landlord's permission

kpwll

My Sky box,dvd and tv are turned off at the switch every night and have been for years, it is also not connected to the phone line. Have had no problems with the box due to this.

kpwll

Forgot to say that you have to wait for a couple of mins when turning back on as the box 'searches for channels', but it's not a lot of hassle.

tass

WhoopieDoodle wrote: »

Afternoon all

Hello to any new peeps!

Regarding Alliance and Leicester and an MBNA credit card (but not through A&L), apparently although MBNA cannot help themselves to money in the bank account they can ask for information on the account as A&L and MBNA share information. So, we are going to change bank accounts as we don't want them nosing at what we have (it's not much, but we do have some emergency savings and a car tax/christmas fund and if we lost this bit of money we would be well and truly stuffed)
Why are we going to do our own DMP? Well, since it started I have been writing to all creditors before passing letters onto PayPlan, OH speaks to creditors on the phone, etc so we decided we would rather have control over the situation rather than sit back and let someone else do it. I'm the type of person who would rather do something myself if I can (i.e. a control freak tee hee) and I like to be "in the know" at all times and I love a challenge.

Regarding receiving statements - I think you do need to look at these as the creditors may be applying interest and you won't be aware of this until you get statements. Also, the DMP company usually has a different figure which does not reflect the true amount owed (for example, ours shows a lot less than it actually is as the company have not applied the interest).

At the end of the day there are no hard and fast rules. Everyone has to decide what works for them and go for it.

When we started our DMP our main current account was with Bank of Scotland. We didn't switch accounts because we didn't owe them any money. However we did have an overdraft with Halifax. BOS and Halifax subsequently joined forces and the only thing that happened was that BOS wrote to us (eventually) stating that because of our situation with Halifax they were withdrawing our overdraft facility.

At this point we were worried that they might take money from our BOS account to service the Halifax debt and phoned to ask if this was likely to happen. They said no it couldn't happen so we left things as they were. It has been fine. We still pay Halifax through the CCCS and run our main current account with BOS albeit without an overdraft facility (but we wouldn't have used that anyway).

Having said that I have an account with Cahoot and GE Money are one of my creditors. Eeeeek.

rugbymum

I've just sat and read every single post on here over the course of the day. It's got me thinking quite hard about my DMP. I had a letter from black horse telling me I was in arrears with my agreed payment plan and they were charging me an additional £310 for the privilege. I'm now wondering if any of my creditors have stopped any of their interest and charges, especially Barclays who are positively vile people to deal with. I'm with CCCS and the best thing has been the lack of letters and phone calls (a record 18 in one day from Black horse!).
I've had to stop work for health reasons, my official last day should have been tomorrow, but I've been signed off for the last three weeks. I spoke to CCCS and explained that my circumstances would be changing and they have suspended my August payment. I will be living on maintainence, child benefit and child tax credits pending a reply from the benefits agency. I'm panicing at the though of reducing my payments and dreading all the letters and phone calls starting again. Thay made me ill last time and I don't get enough sleep as it is because of the pain that I'm in.
My panicky thoughts are increased by the fact that my oldest starts university in september and I've got two lots of new school uniforms to get as well. I start college in september as well (re-training to get back into work) and I need to get equipped for that too!
ARGHHHHHHHH!

Ossireo

I get the impression from a few people on here that once your payment plan is in flow ad you start to cease getting the annoying letters your creditors have come to accept what CCCS have advised them and that you are paying what you can afford.

With this change in circumstance I would think that the bulk of the change will be processed by CCCS and if they are still dealing with it hopefully the creditors will know that you are still paying what you can afford even though your circumstances have changed.

Keep in touch with the Job Centre Plus and make sure you chase up your application and keep CCCS informed of the progress if need be.

A massive big hug for going out there and retraining, what sort of stuff do you need for September? Also it may be worth contacting the School to see if they can offer any advice on help for school uniform (I know there are grants for certain years uniform) As for your oldest starting Uni, make sure you check your eldests entitlement for help with things now your circumstances have changed adn you are no longer working.

Most importantly, keep intouch on the forums here, theres a whole bunch of friendly people who are here to share the stress with you and it does make a difference to know there are others in similar positions etc who can maybe offer advice you may not have considered!

Take care :A

rugbymum

Thanks Ossi.
My son and I have filled out about a million forms to ensure that he gets every penny that he's entitled too, he's also applied for a bursary as he's going to Edinburgh Uni and we live in Suffolk, only 7 or so hours drive away LOL!
My local authority don't do clothing grants any more, but I've managed to track down a second hand school jumper (the rest I can get cheap & second hand). It's shoes that are the biggest problem/cost. I'm looking on ebay for my course books (they're cheaper on Amazon than the "official supplier" if I get no joy on ebay).
The biggest course expense is some replacement chef knives. I'm getting one for my birthday from a friend, but the other three cost £198.
I'm just worried about Black Horse getting shirty when they say I'm already behind on my agreement. I'm having problems sticking to my budget anyway. When I feel very low (my happy pills don't always work terribly well), I'm not very good at self-control and tend to overspend. Mind you I'm not as bad as I used to be!