DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 12

Puzzcat · 9 July 2018 at 7:14AM

wanttobethrifty wrote: »

after signing up to STEPCHANGE for a DMP last month, all is going well, have had 4 of my 5 creditors writing stating that they will default my account around august/sept time, apart from CREATION, who have stated that they accept the reduced payment plan. how do i get CREATION to default me? i dont want to be paying for the next 4 yr, only to find out that interest is going to continue on this account, therefore not making much of a dent in my balance. anyone dealt with them before and can give me any pointers??

They never defaulted me, I complained to fos and ico, I did get the interest reduced and then it stopped when the debt was sold on but never defaulted and both fos and ICO backed creation, apparently they don't have to default before selling.

muppetscotland · 9 July 2018 at 9:45AM

Like many on this site, our life turned upside down a few years ago with the failure of our small business, ill health and the local job and housing market crashing all at the same time!

We realised a DMP was the way to go and rapidly set up agreements with our creditors, all of whom behaved well.

It took us a long time to get new work but my husband was eventually offered work overseas and we followed as a family this month.

We are by no means living the high life and our finances are still very stretched as he had to accept a package which was pretty close to the bone due to being basically desperate.

Our house in UK will hopefully get rented out (our mortgage is in arrears so that's a convo to have with the building society) but for now it is a drain on finances as well as although only paying mortgage interest we still have council tax and all the other stuff like home insurance and utilities to keep the heating on etc (once the heatwave ends!).

My worry is that if I tell my creditors we are moving away it will prompt action like court action or bankruptcy proceeding. I have very intention of continuing to pay but can't realistically increase the amounts they're getting, certainly not until the house is let. Even then they won't get the original contractual payment as those heady days of high pay in my husband's work sector are long gone.

So basically what do I do? We are having the post redirected, so I can deal with it from new home country, but what if they send people round, particularly if we have tenants? We're in Scotland so always the risk of bailiffs. I am trying to keep my head but it's hard! Please give me some words of wisdom! Thank you

sourcrates · 9 July 2018 at 12:49PM

muppetscotland wrote: »

Like many on this site, our life turned upside down a few years ago with the failure of our small business, ill health and the local job and housing market crashing all at the same time!

We realised a DMP was the way to go and rapidly set up agreements with our creditors, all of whom behaved well.

It took us a long time to get new work but my husband was eventually offered work overseas and we followed as a family this month.

We are by no means living the high life and our finances are still very stretched as he had to accept a package which was pretty close to the bone due to being basically desperate.

Our house in UK will hopefully get rented out (our mortgage is in arrears so that's a convo to have with the building society) but for now it is a drain on finances as well as although only paying mortgage interest we still have council tax and all the other stuff like home insurance and utilities to keep the heating on etc (once the heatwave ends!).

My worry is that if I tell my creditors we are moving away it will prompt action like court action or bankruptcy proceeding. I have very intention of continuing to pay but can't realistically increase the amounts they're getting, certainly not until the house is let. Even then they won't get the original contractual payment as those heady days of high pay in my husband's work sector are long gone.

So basically what do I do? We are having the post redirected, so I can deal with it from new home country, but what if they send people round, particularly if we have tenants? We're in Scotland so always the risk of bailiffs. I am trying to keep my head but it's hard! Please give me some words of wisdom! Thank you

As long as you keep in touch and keep getting the mail, all will carry on as normal.

As long as it’s been paid they will not waste further expense on sending debt collectors or sheriffs round, for the latter to happen it must of gone to court first anyway.

I was in debt for a good 10 years and never once had a knock on the door, only certain DCA’s use doorstep collectors, and that’s usually in cities where they can visit a lot of clients in a short period.

Don’t overthink things.

OohSoHolly · 11 July 2018 at 5:02PM

Soooo....

DMP is due to start on the 1st August :j I can’t express the relief of this and how happy I was to receive the email informing this had been setup. I’ve already had contact from one creditor accepting what StepChange have offered and hope that the rest will follow suit and the phone calls will stop!

I am having difficulty with PayPal Credit, who don’t seem to be interested in my DMP. Has anyone else had any experience with these while on a DMP? I contacted them back in May to inform them of my financial difficulties and that I had contacted StepChange however they haven’t acknowledged any of this and still keep applying late payment fees to my account. I’ve contacted them again now my DMP is setup and just hoping I’ll get some acknowledgement of my arrangement

EmergencyNurse · 11 July 2018 at 8:18PM

Has anyone had any trouble with payments to StepChange not getting to creditors? I've made two monthly payments to StepChange and today I receive a letter from Barclays stating they haven't received their payments. i've checked on my StepChange statements and all the bank details are correct. It's fair to say I'm annoyed because Barclays have now cancelled the arrangement and are moving the account to 'active debt recovery'. They have advised me to contact StepChange if 'I believe the payments should have been made to us'. ..'However this will not suspend further recoveries action'
!!!!!! wish I'd Self Managed this ducking DMP. from the outset.

Suseka97 · 12 July 2018 at 7:26PM

EmergencyNurse wrote: »

......today I receive a letter from Barclays stating they haven't received their payments........ I'm annoyed because Barclays have now cancelled the arrangement and are moving the account to 'active debt recovery'. They have advised me to contact StepChange if 'I believe the payments should have been made to us'. ..'However this will not suspend further recoveries action' !!!!!! wish I'd Self Managed this ducking DMP. from the outset.

Contact SC to make sure they have the right details, but other than that,,,,, just ignore Barclays threats. I recall a letter or two from Barclays saying much the same at the outset of my DMP, but eventually everything settled down. It doesn't matter if they 'cancel the arrangement' SC will just keep making payments and in terms of 'further recoveries action' its just standard, routine stuff...it takes a long...long...long time for 'further action' of any note to be worth your attention.

tillboy · 12 July 2018 at 7:31PM

OohSoHolly wrote: »

Soooo....

I am having difficulty with PayPal Credit, who don’t seem to be interested in my DMP. Has anyone else had any experience with these while on a DMP? I contacted them back in May to inform them of my financial difficulties and that I had contacted StepChange however they haven’t acknowledged any of this and still keep applying late payment fees to my account. I’ve contacted them again now my DMP is setup and just hoping I’ll get some acknowledgement of my arrangement

I’m in a similar predicament, I’ve written and emailed but basically had no response at all, my current plan it to keep ignoring their demand until they take some kind of enforcement action or pass to debt collectors so I then have an “in”not sure if this is the best approach and hopefully somebody else can offer advice...

backandevenmorebroke · 13 July 2018 at 10:47AM

So today I took the plunge on starting a DMP with Stepchange.

I have set up a new basic bank account (as one of my debts is an overdraft), cancelled my credit card direct debits and arranged for my account to be switched on the 23rd July. I have drafted all of the letters to my creditors (SC template) and offered a £1 token payment until I have sought further advice as this will give me a few months to build up an emergency fund.

I am feeling quite upset about it all as I'm a single parent and I don't want to tell my family about the DMP so feel like I don't have much support. I feel like a huge failure at this point.

Any advice/words of encouragement would be much appreciated.

DMP_Tiger · 13 July 2018 at 11:40AM

backandevenmorebroke wrote: »

So today I took the plunge on starting a DMP with Stepchange.

I have set up a new basic bank account (as one of my debts is an overdraft), cancelled my credit card direct debits and arranged for my account to be switched on the 23rd July. I have drafted all of the letters to my creditors (SC template) and offered a £1 token payment until I have sought further advice as this will give me a few months to build up an emergency fund.

I am feeling quite upset about it all as I'm a single parent and I don't want to tell my family about the DMP so feel like I don't have much support. I feel like a huge failure at this point.

Any advice/words of encouragement would be much appreciated.

Welcome to the land of DMP's :beer:

1) You are NOT a failure. Facing up to your problem and doing something about it is a MASSIVE and very brave step along the road to SUCCESS.

2) I don't think many of us have told anyone about our DMP's - apart from spouses/partners who are quite often involved anyway.

3) You will find all of the support that you need right here on this board.

4) The support on here is better than support from family because nobody will judge you and we are all in a great position to help you on your DMP journey.

5) Good luck!

Suseka97 · 13 July 2018 at 2:34PM

backandevenmorebroke wrote: »

So today I took the plunge on starting a DMP with Stepchange......I am feeling quite upset about it all as I'm a single parent and I don't want to tell my family about the DMP so feel like I don't have much support. I feel like a huge failure at this point. Any advice/words of encouragement would be much appreciated.

I echo the words of DMP_Tiger - and welcome you to DMP land.

I can imagine that as a single parent the whole situation must be quite daunting, but you've done the hard bit - by getting your DMP up and running. This forum is a great support network of people who are, or have been, in the same situation and so we're all here to help each other. Be ready for the standard ' warnings of default' type letters that will drop on your doormat over the next few weeks - be assured these are just computer generated letters that your creditors have to send when you stop making your contractual payments. Any wobbles you might have... pop back on here and we'll help keep you on track

Good luck and well done for taking the first step to debt freedom :T

DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 12

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