Hi, new here, trying to sort out a DMP, would welcome advice

[swanfan]

Re: Hi, new here, trying to sort out a DMP, would welcome ad

Hiya Kagey

What Niddy means is Unenforceability, see here--> viewtopic.php?f=49&t=9

[kagey]

Re: Hi, new here, trying to sort out a DMP, would welcome ad

Hiya Kagey
What Niddy means is Unenforceability, see here--> viewtopic.php?f=49&t=9

Argghhh! sorry, feel really stupid now

Will take a look...

Thanks.

[kagey]

Re: Hi, new here, trying to sort out a DMP, would welcome ad

As far as I am aware, none of the debts are old enough for UE.

[MrsD]

Re: Hi, new here, trying to sort out a DMP, would welcome ad

Hi Kagey

If you are sure that your debts are all post 2007 then UE won't apply. I think for the moment you need to stick with the DMP, if your husband has lost his job, I'm guessing you won't have enough "free income" to enter an IVA. If the creditors continually ignore your requests to stop interest and charges then you have to get a bit pro-active, give them a limited I&E and then if they still don't play ball, complain. The must abide by the guidelines and they must treat you fairly, I complained about Amex and won, no bother so it can be done and is being done all the time. Phone the FOS on phone our consumer helpline on 0300 123 9 123
8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday – we'll be happy to phone you bac

You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain.
keep us posted
Dopeyxx

[kagey]

Re: Hi, new here, trying to sort out a DMP, would welcome ad

Thanks ELD. Feels like we're getting nowhere. We have been sending cheques for lower amounts (calculated pro rata of amount left for payments) each month, requesting they freeze interest and charges, but no go. They just keep writing telling us we must ring them.

Is it possible to complain in writing to FOS? I don't "do" phone calls, think I've seen something somewhere, so will search for an address and template letter to send to them.

We have nothing to pay them with at the moment, have told them so,no replies so far, but no surprise there, most of the time they can't be bothered to state which of our letters they are replying to!

They have National Debtline's K&E form with current income (which is just Job Seeker's Allowance), but have not commented yet. However it has been Christmas which will have delayed post and also few staff working I guess so maybe soon.

Do you think when husband starts a new job we should send new I&Es with new figures and payments we can make?

[MrsD]

Re: Hi, new here, trying to sort out a DMP, would welcome ad

OK Kagey

it would help if we knew how much we are talking here and to whom. Don't worry about the amount, read my diary and I bet we are in more debt than you. if you are really shy, PM me. why doesn't your husband want t go through CCCS? I know it takes control away from you but even if you just went with them for a couple of months, it would help get interest stopped (we had 22 creditors, 19 stopped interest on the DMP, 2 reduced and Amex hammered it on until I complained). if your husband is unemployed then you should be doing the token tango, ie sending £1 per creditor until things get better. You have to understand that they can't take what you haven't got. This isn't a hanging offence, its only debt, you as a debtor have a lot of protections but lots of creditors only afford you that protection if you demand it and make it known to them that you know your rights. most people in debt are treated dreadfully because they don't know their rights and effectively allow it to happen because they are embarassed. Who cares really? Its no ones business but yours but if asking for help from CCCS/Payplan is going to help you get a few good nights sleep, use the service, its free and its confidential and its doesn't show anywhere. I used them (CCCS) for 6 months then ceased payment and asked for all of the CCAs, most were UE and remain so, that's a lot of money, most of it interest slapped on when we were good little payers.
You can complain to the FOS online and by letter, I just gave you the phone number because it is the fastest complaint route, it goes on there and then and the very nice young man asked everything he needs to know right then.

Please stop worrying, you mission in life is not to pay this money, its to be able to lead a life with your husband and family, the creditors come a long way down the list, treat them with the contempt they deserve, its only money.

[kagey]

Re: Hi, new here, trying to sort out a DMP, would welcome advice

New forum looking great. Managed to change password and log in. Will update my thread with details requested by Niddy on old forum soon.

[kagey]

Re: Hi, new here, trying to sort out a DMP, would welcome advice

Here's the last reply from the old forum:

Never-In-Doubt wrote:
Santander card
Santander loan
Sainsburys (Halifax)
M&S money (HSBC)
Next (Sod these muppets)
MBNA
HFC (HSBC)
Quote:

I've highlighted the points above in red, to show others who the actual creditor behind each account is as some are easier to argue with, than others......
From what you've said i'll be able to make them all accept whatever payments you are offering, they are all easy to deal with lenders when given a good hard kicking up the arse. So time to stop worrying, we'll look after you. :yeah


Thank you Niddy. Here goes:

1. Lender name & Type of Credit (ie card/loan/bank account/other) :Santander Credit Card
2. Date Account Opened (approx) :Feb 2010
3. Amount Owed : £6 342
4. Date last full payment made (before arrears started) : 11/5/10
5. Date last payment of any kind was made :Just sent £1
6. Have you been defaulted/ccj for the account:default notice
7. Who is writing to you about the debt? lender
UE won't apply because its too late, so this needs to go into a DMP

1. Lender name & Type of Credit (ie card/loan/bank account/other) : Santander loan
2. Date Account Opened (approx) : April 2007 with Cahoot
3. Amount Owed : £3400 approx
4. Date last full payment made (before arrears started) : June 2010
5. Date last payment of any kind was made : Just sent £1
6. Have you been defaulted/ccj for the account: default notice
7. Who is writing to you about the debt? The lender or a DCA? lender
UE probably won't apply, might be worth sending a CCA, depends on the date in April.

1. Lender name & Type of Credit (ie card/loan/bank account/other) : Sainsburys loan
2. Date Account Opened (approx) : July 2009
3. Amount Owed : £11886
4. Date last full payment made (before arrears started) : June 2010
5. Date last payment of any kind was made: Just sent £1
6. Have you been defaulted/ccj for the account: Default notice
7. Who is writing to you about the debt? The lender or a DCA? : lender and Albion (DCA)
UE won't apply as its too late, needs to go into a DMP

1. Lender name & Type of Credit (ie card/loan/bank account/other) : M&S credit card
2. Date Account Opened (approx) : not sure, don't have all paperwork, 2007 or earlier
3. Amount Owed : £514
4. Date last full payment made (before arrears started) :June 2010
5. Date last payment of any kind was made: Just sent £1
6. Have you been defaulted/ccj for the account: Default notice
7. Who is writing to you about the debt? The lender or a DCA? : the lender
Again worth sending a CCA

1. Lender name & Type of Credit (ie card/loan/bank account/other) : Next catalogue
2. Date Account Opened (approx): 2003 or earlier (don't have earlier paperwork)
3. Amount Owed : £655
4. Date last full payment made (before arrears started) : June 2010
5. Date last payment of any kind was made: Just sent £1
6. Have you been defaulted/ccj for the account: No
7. Who is writing to you about the debt? The lender or a DCA? : Lender
May be UE, send a CCA
1. Lender name & Type of Credit (ie card/loan/bank account/other): MBNA credit card
2. Date Account Opened (approx): June 2010
3. Amount Owed: £4553
4. Date last full payment made (before arrears started) : none made
5. Date last payment of any kind was made: just sent £1
6. Have you been defaulted/ccj for the account: No
7. Who is writing to you about the debt? The lender or a DCA? Lender, but did briefly have communication from Aegis but told them we are corresponding re an agreement with MBNA and they haven't written since!
UE won't apply, keep on with £1 payment


1. Lender name & Type of Credit (ie card/loan/bank account/other): HFC (initially interest free loan, didn't pay off, so started charging interest for goods purchased in Currys)
2. Date Account Opened (approx): August 2009 interest free/April 2010 started applying interest
3. Amount Owed:£859
4. Date last full payment made (before arrears started): June 2010
5. Date last payment of any kind was made: just sent £1
6. Have you been defaulted/ccj for the account: No
7. Who is writing to you about the debt? The lender or a DCA?: The lender
UE won't apply here as again its too late

Thanks very much for your help.

Also, we have changed our telephone numbers so hopefully no more calls from these pests and we can actually answer the phone again now.

Well done on changing the phone, should make your life easier. I've just added my thoughts above, no harm in getting the CCA request off and then I'm sure Niddy will be along . Take care and I hope you are sleeping better!!!

Dopeyxx

[kagey]

Re: Hi, new here, trying to sort out a DMP, would welcome advice

Just realised there's more missing, so will copy it below.

wishfullthinking
Post subject: Re: Hi, new here, trying to sort out a DMP, would welcome ad
PostPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2011 9:12 pm
Forum Learner
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Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 10:55 am
Posts: 99
totally agree with every word of evenlessdopey,i was with cccs setting up a debt management plan you give them a quick call they take a few details then make an appointment to call you back,they call you back take all the info they need then either email or send you a pack to sign and send back,its dead simple,i have shelved mine untill i have finished sorting my ue ones from the en ones then intend to go back with cccs,while you are on benefits they might not accept you onto a plan but will give you a client number and letters to send to your crediters on headed note paper i think it just looks better cos it looks like you are taking your debt seriously [ha ha ha]

_________________
at the start of this journey i owed
£52000.00 UNSECURED £5000.00 SECURED
£0000.00 secured debt as of 17/12/2010 fingers crossed

.............................

[kagey]

Re: Hi, new here, trying to sort out a DMP, would welcome advice

kagey
Post subject: Re: Hi, new here, trying to sort out a DMP, would welcome ad
PostPosted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 12:20 pm
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Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2010 9:18 pm
Posts: 28
Hi,
The original reason we didn't go with CCCS was that at the time at no point did we have enough money in our account for them to take out the £200 for repayments they needed a month. We have (through taking a mortgage holiday and opening a new bank account) rectified that and would be able to do so now. Of course now I need to wait until my husband is working and we have money for repayments as CCCS need you to have at least £200 available for repayments a month.
We also joined a different debt management board and were recommended to deal with it ourselves for flexibility if husband's contract should end, which it has now done.

Whilst some of our debts may have started pre 2007 we have been making at least minimum payments until May 2010.

When we first addressed the problems regarding not having enough money to meet minimum payments last June I did contact CCCS and fill in their form online to work out pro rata payments and how much money we have available. I have referred to their web client reference number in some of my letters (not all I admit) and used templates from debt managements forums or the CAB or national Debtline for my letters to them. I don't feel we've done anything wrong whilst handling this, we have made lower payments all the way through since June 2010 and requested they freeze interest/charges, but only one company was prepared to do so.

When my husband is working again we will set up a DMP and probably be repaying these debts and have no money for the rest of our lives!

[kagey]

Re: Hi, new here, trying to sort out a DMP, would welcome advice

evenlessdopey
Post subject: Re: Hi, new here, trying to sort out a DMP, would welcome ad
PostPosted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 1:46 pm
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Oh Kagey

No you won't be paying for the rest of your lives. of course you haven't done anything wrong and who told you that you need at least £200 for CCCS to set up a DMP for you? That is simply not true. You have to have some income to make a payment but the payment is worked out on what you can afford not what the creditors want. CCCS add up all your outgoings and take that from your available income, then they prorata what's left and give a pro rata amount to each of your creditors. and to be honest taking a mortgage holiday isn't a permanent solution because at some time that will stop and you'll be left with the addtional money on the mortgage amount and your outgoings will be up again. CCCS are also flexible and if your husband is not working, they take that into account and allow you to reduce the payments. I know of people who have had really bad months with washing machines blowing up and CCCS allow them to reduce/amend the payment to take account of that. and the creditors are fine with all of this because they can't have what you haven't got. Why not read up on the uE, if you took out your cards before 2007 they could be UE, you would have to ask them for a CCA by sending the letter on the templates thread and enclosing £1 postal order. Its worth a look and could get rid of some of your debt, although it isn't an easy option. You'd be best to read up thoroughly and ask a few questions before you start. It doesn't matter when you last paid, its when it was taken out that is important. So chin up its not that bad. I understand why you would want to deal with it yourself but undoubtly CCCS/Payplan have more clout and even if you just get started with the enforceable debts you can stop your involvement with them at any time and switch to self managed. It isn't easy dealing with the banks, they don't make it easy but it can be done and it can be done to your advantage. Must be worth a phonecall to CCCS to see what they say, in the meantime see if you can work out which debts you took out before April 2007 and have a good look at the UE diaries on here. it will be OK, really.

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[kagey]

Re: Hi, new here, trying to sort out a DMP, would welcome advice

Thanks. I've read a few times online that CCCS will only take you on for a CMP if you have at least £200 to split between repayments. Also read that UE only applicable if no payments have been made since 2007. I know we should probably CCA some of the debt, but it hardly seems worth it as these companies are so unpleasant to deal with and just send out the same old letters anyway, all the time .... "you must now ring us to discuss this matter or we can't help you". All I've read online suggests that chasing UE is just hard work and doesn't seem to get anywhere, or they ignore you for years and then come back for it!

I can't call CCCS, can't cope with phonecalls, prefer everything in writing, so that there can be no misunderstandings.

Sorry, I know I sound negative and pathetic but that' s how I feel. I am fed up of reasoning with these companies and getting nowhere. They clearly don't believe we can't afford the payments and think we are messing them around. So I guess we just accept that we enter into a DMP with someone like CCCS when we are able to and pay for as long as it takes.

By the way, the mortgage holiday was a temporary measure to get us out of the mess we were in with an overdraft and weekly salary payments that were used up on bills meaning we never had any money in the bank at all. Now we have a little buffer so that we could afford for CCCS to take £200 at a time out of our account without it costing us unauthorised overdraft charges because we had exceeded our overdraft AGAIN! It was a nightmare and I don't regret the mortgage holiday for a minute. It was three months and helped immensely. Yes our mortgage has increased monthly by £8 but it was worth it to take a bit of the pressure off us.

[kagey]

Re: Hi, new here, trying to sort out a DMP, would welcome advice

roomtobreathe
Post subject: Re: Hi, new here, trying to sort out a DMP, would welcome ad
PostPosted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 7:59 am
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Hi Kagey!

Remember being in debt isn't a crime and if you haven't got it then they can't have it. It really isn't the end of the world.

I'm on a DMP with CCCS and when some of my income disappeared the smallest amount they could deal with was about £45, £5 per creditor so not sure where your £200 came from.

I think it would be worth your while going with CCCS to see if it can help your creditors come to an understanding. It may help, it may not but in the beginning it's certainly a help, least I've found it so.

I have 9 creditors, only one has agreed to the DMP and marked my credit report accordingly. Two have refused outright, one issuing a default on my credit report file. The others just say keep paying what you can, some adding interest, some not. But when you finally realise the amount of debt you have then using the CCCS has been of great help to me in getting to grips with it.

And it's good to know, and to see in place like this that there are always others worse off than yourself! Like me for a start! £55k in trouble and I've finally realised that life is too important to worry about things like that. They can default me, they can CCJ me, they can send nasty letters, they can stick my picture on a dartboard but I haven't got it so they can't have it. Unless they bring the workhouse back then I'm sleeping soundly at nights.

[kagey]

Re: Hi, new here, trying to sort out a DMP, would welcome advice

evenlessdopey
Post subject: Re: Hi, new here, trying to sort out a DMP, would welcome ad
PostPosted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 1:05 pm
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thanks Roomtobreathe, I'm glad that your producing plenty of big snores............its great!

Kagey I know you feel just exhausted by all of this and I understand, (before we went into a DMP we took a mortgage holiday but in the end it is just a temporary fix). You could go on the CCCS website and do the debt remedy, its free and you don't even have to give your name and it will come up with options. You can do all your dealings with CCCS on email so you don't ever have to speak to anyone if you don't want to.
With regards to UE, the main criteria is that the debt was taken out before April 2007, doesn't matter at this stage when you last paid. No it certainly isn't the easy option, they do phone a lot (ignore, don't answer), and they write but that's OK cos everything runs through your diary and Niddy has already written all the letters you will ever need. They will default you, but then they probably will anyway cost you have already broken the t&cs of the agreement. It is a fightback for all of the rate rises, bad service, rude people etc. No one can be rude if you don't answer the phone and believe me they are much more circumspect about what they write down, they know the guidelines and rules but can chose to just ignore them. So have a think, actually a good idea may be to take a week off from it all, don't answer the phone and don't open letters, nothing is going to happen and it would give you time to relax and make a viable plan. But most of all take care and really really try to emulate Roomtobreath with the snoring!!!

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Life is for living, not worrying!!

[kagey]

Re: Hi, new here, trying to sort out a DMP, would welcome advice

kagey
Post subject: Re: Hi, new here, trying to sort out a DMP, would welcome ad
PostPosted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 1:11 pm
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Thanks. They all make it feel like a crime, though.

Some of the cases I have read are not particularly encouraging, re. CCCS. I presumed creditors would accept offers from a company like this, but if they have only accepted one out of 9 for you, that isn't very promising. Did they take care of the letters, phone calls etc.?

I can't understand why these companies know the lending code and yet refuse to give in and accept lower payments when they are told we don't have enough to keep up the payments.

I sent letters on 25th Dec with I&Es, telling them we have no income and they refuse to acknowledge our letters. They rarely state which letter of ours they are replying to anyway, so we never know if they have read them or not, and constantly just say we can't help you if you don't ring us! What a waste of time and postage costs! In the meantime they continue to charge interest and late payment fees!

I was told on another debt forum that CCCS will only take on a case if you have at least £200 available to make repayments, I don't know if this is true as at the time when I filled in the CCCS budget sheet online we had just over £200 available so they would have accepted us for DMP but we never had that sum of money available in one sum to pay to them. I will contact them again as soon as I know how much we have coming in with a new job.

I think we've received default notices from nearly all if not in fact all creditors now, demanding payment of arrears, which we aren't able to pay.