DMP Mutual Support Thread - Part 12

If things are getting a little tight then I'd definitely make a call to Stepchange. They are there to help and advise. They never judge; be honest and I'm sure they'll echo what's been said about dropping payments.

We called on many occasions whilst on our DMP. It was usually around Christmas/January time as OH is self employed and work would just dry up through the winter weather. I hated making the call and always got OH to do it. It gave us some breathing space when we needed it though and took the pressure off.

Okay - a quick update.

Am still waiting on the PRA group to respond re 3 x CCA requests.

Just received response from LINK re 3 x CCA requests to them - all are recon's, some with other bits and pieces (T&Cs, balance o/s etc.) I intend to sit down and read it all properly this weekend and decide on next steps. They seem to think they've provided all they need to - so we shall see. Nothing they've sent is a 'signed copy' of anything - but I know from reading other posts this doesn't mean it's NOT enforceable. They are all post 2007 debts anyway. Worst case it's given me some breathing space to build up some emergency/F&F funds and I intend to stall further by writing back to say 'Thanks, am now taking legal advice and will respond within x weeks/months). Will probably end up paying, but at a reduced rate now I can do what I want because I'm self managing - so all good

Am dealing with some tough family issues right now - so this debt malarkey is having to take a back seat, but the positives here are that if I was in the same position when I started, the added family pressures would have sent me over the edge. Now I feel confident that I can handle the debt to-ing and fro-ing without sleepless nights and I have to say its all because of this forum/thread and the many supportive thoughts/comments and advice given my you guys :T

K.T.W wrote: »

*Deep breath*
Okay, I've been reading through some of this thread and I'm seriously considering going down the DMP route. I have some questions that I'm hoping you friendly folks can help me with......

My questions are:
- Is it possible for only myself to enter the DMP and not my OH? His salary comfortably covers his own personal debts plus his half of the household running costs. We have a joint current account where both of our salaries are paid and all the bills come out of. It's my debts combined with a big drop in salary that are causing the problems, where even our combined income is struggling to cover everything.
- I think this is a 'no', but is it possible to enter a DMP with some but not all creditors? For example, I bank with NatWest and have a loan with them plus two fairly small overdrafts. Ideally I would like to keep up my payments on the loan at full (meaning it will be paid off in two years), and therefore keep my bank accounts in good standing.
Thanks in advance for any help!

Hi there,

Okay, to reiterate sourcrates advice - yes you can go it alone and manage your debts how you want if you go self-managed. The ones you intend to reduce payments to will undoubtedly ask for an income and expenditure account to 'prove' your in financial straits. So you'll have to be wiley about how you respond to that. In terms of keeping your bank account in good order - it would certainly make sense to do it that way.

If you follow a standard DMP route you would have to open a new and separate bank account and, although I'm no expert, I think you'll find your husband would have to do the same because of the 'right of offset' rule - NatWest would be entitled to take the OD from your joint account at least.

From what I understand from what you've written - this looks like a temporary situation as you are just getting back on your feet and your financial position looks like it may improve over time - so that's something to consider, if you think you can handle a few disappointed creditors. They will default you, or place markers on your credit file though - you'll not be able to avoid that regardless of whether you go it alone or not.

With all that said - you also need to consider how long you'll need to put this 'arrangement' in place. I appreciate you want to keep your husband out of this; that his income allows him to service his debts and pay half the household bills - your situation is exactly as mine was, just in reverse. We are in a DMP because my husbands income was cut drastically and he was unable to handle his debts (in fact built up more because if it - without my knowledge). My income allowed me to service my debt and pay money into the household -but when push came to shove it made better sense to join forces 'so to speak'.

Anyway - the choice is yours to make. Just weigh up all your options - do an I&E and use NEDCAB or the StepChange Online Debt Remedy Tool to look at how your fixed and what you can afford/not afford to do.

Good luck.

Suseka97 wrote: »

Oh they will default, yes - but the date might not be the date from when you started (or within 3 - 6 mths) of your DMP. As I've mentioned before - they took ages to default me and hand my debt over to Wescott and then I had to push hard for them to backdate the default. But my struggle with Hfx was some years back and they may have got their act together since. It's just worth keeping an eye on that's all

Thanks again

I will ring them and ask for the defaults to be backdated. BC did after I asked so no harm in trying
M