DMP Mutual Support Thread (Part 4)

very_silly_and_scared

Thanks, wasn't sure what to do about that. I have a cat and was thinking about vet emergency bills etc and those sort of 'out of the blue' things that tend to come when you don't expect them....

I am going to use the first month's to pay off a big chunk of the council tax.

One more thing. Am going to do what you did and sent the 'trouble paying' letter. Sorry to need all these teeny details confirmed, but do I send a token payment with them?

Ex-Spendaholic

I'll look at your SOA too. I find it easier advising others where they need to cut back than actually doing it myself. :rotfl:

As for the text books I'm not sure if anyone mentioned freecycle and ebay. Never ever buy a brand new text book. Someone somewhere will have them.

very_silly_and_scared

Yes, I know how that works!

rugbymum

Still here!
Thanks for the information, but we're already watching ebay for my textbooks and when his reading lists come through we'll do the same for his. GhostHunter I was just looking at some of the other posts and I think I would have to say go with the payment meter. Your company (E-on?) will be able to tell you roughly how much you use each week and they will tell you what the minimum repayment amount will be per week. I owed over £600, my meter was changed in november and my debt is now £89, nearly there! I pay £15 off my debt and the helpful person told me we use an average of £17 pounds per week. EVERYTHING in my house runs off electricity. Heating being the killer! My gas is only £7 per quarter for that reason.
It is a pain having the meter but it will put your mind at rest about building up more debt for your gas and leccy.
As soon as your debt is paid you can switch supplier and get them to change the meter back to a normal one. Do you rent privately? If so you MAY need your landlords permission to change the meter. Most HA and local authority landlords won't give a monkeys!
I also found that by contacting the company and ASKING for the payment meter meant that they were more helpful (different department).
I sincerely hope that helps.

rugbymum

abi1811 wrote: »

I live with my 2 kids but no other adults. thanks for explaining that for me. One other question though, do you know where i stand if i continue to work p/t? Would i still be exempt.

Abi if you're a single person with kids keep applying for council tax benefit regardless of how many hours you work. Part-time work shouldn't affect you, unless you earn HUGE amounts and have big savings. ALWAYS apply for everything, you may only get pennies but it all helps. I was working full-time but as I have four kids I didn't earn enough to have to pay full council tax

Janey51

DH and I have been in a DMP administered by CCCS for 21/2 years.
DH died suddenly last month. He had no insurance.
CCCS have been great. They asked me for a copy of the Death Certificate and they have removed DH's name from the DMP. I had an email from CCCS to say that I would be contacted by DH's creditors about his estate :rolleyes: which consisted of just under £4000 in his account which was the balance of an insurance payout we received following a house fire we had in Nov 07.
I have signed his car (worth about £1000) over to DS.
DH had no stocks, shares, property, jewellery or Ferraris.
Has anyone else had experience of what hapeens now?
I do not feel like dealing with this but will have to as I am sole executor. The thought of dealing with letters from creditors is awful.
CCCS say they are unable to help with this but have suspended the DMP until September.

Janey51

Does anyone know what the CCCS allow one person for housekeeping expenses on their plan? For 2 of us it was £230 per month and £20 for 3 cats.

very_silly_and_scared

I am SO sorry. How awful for you. My thoughts are with you.

I am just going through the preliminaries with CCCS at the moment and am single with a cat. I definitely got £10 a month for her and I think around £140 for me. I'm sorry, I don't have my paperwork with me at the moment but I will check when I get home. I just thought you'd prefer a speedy 'estimate from memory' than having to wait a while for any response at all.

I am sorry I don't know what happens as far as dealing with the estate is concerned but until someone more knowledgeble comes along (and they always do!) you could call CAB or I found a web link to free advice/info from the legal services commission the other day which may be useful to you. Let me go and find it if I can....

And just to remind you, there is lots of support on here....

very_silly_and_scared

http://www.clsdirect.org.uk/

0845 345 4 345

It's called community legal advice and is a 'proper' site funded by the Legal Services Commission. They are open from 9am, it's 4p a min from a BT phone and they will call you back if you need.

There are also two areas you could look at on the site 'Family and Personal' and 'Money and Tax'. They may give you more information about what you need as well.

hope that helps you.... x

rayday2

Janey - I am so sorry to hear about your bereavement.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/dmbmanual/DMBM800120.htm is a list of the industry standard accepted amounts for living on, I hope this helps a little.

I have no idea about dealing with estates but I did ask a question on the family board of this forum a while back concerning my MIL and her potential estate and there were some helpful responses there.

Rach
x