DMP and F&F offer

[DaveyBoy]

Hi all, I'm new to this but here goes................any advice much appreciated and gratefully recieved

I've been on a dmp since Jan 2007, i was approx 45k in debt and was unable to meet my monthly commitments. National debtline put me in touch with payplan who set up a dmp with me.
Since being on the dmp i've made approx 20k worth of repayments never missing any and now i believe my debt to be around 25k. I also believe all my creditors have stopped interest on these accounts but they also mark my credit file with a default for every month that passes so my credit file now has approx 300 defaults on it.

My crditors are Barclays CDCS (1 barclays loan and 1 overdraft), Abbey PLC (originally a cahoot flexible loan), Barclaycard (origianlly egg card) and Apex (Purchased an egg loan in november 2010)

I'm a home owner with a joint mortgage and we have approx ?k equity in the house and the dmp is just in my name. Selling up is not an option as I'd not get another mortgage. I've been reading about F&F setttlements and thought this may be an option to me as my dad has offered me ?k to help clear my debts.

Do I approach payplan and ask them to negotiate a % offer of are there other avenues I should explore. The last thimg i want to do is rile my creditors and they start chrging interest again and demanding higher monthly payments. I currently pay £400 a month pro rata to my creditors. I currently have no or little contact with any of my creditors

Thanks for reading

[Undercover Elsa]

Re: DMP and F&F offer

Hi Daveyboy,
Welcome to AAD!

I know Payplan do negotiate F&F's, but I'm not sure what the average % is.
Usually a creditor will be far more likely to settle if you've identified a problem with the account eg paperwork errors/unfair treatment etc, or have stopped paying. Thus they feel they have something to gain by accepting, and will often, if it's negotiated correctly, accept quite low offers of around 20-25%.

40% seems a bit steep to me considering you've already paid around £20K to them, but if you don't want to rock any boats it might be your best way forward.
Might be an idea to leave yourself some bargaining room though if you go this route. Tell Payplan you have £7K from a third party, and let them run with that. Then if any of the creditors won't play ball you can make adjustments...

In any event, you need to contact Payplan initially and ask them for a statement of account - exactly what remains on each debt and whether any are still charging interest.

Just my opinion..see what others have to say.

kind regards,
Shep

[MrsD]

Re: DMP and F&F offer

Hi Daveyboy

welcome to AAD!

I agree with Shep and wouldn't go anything like 70% to start with. You should also bear in mind that the balances may not be what you expect, most DMPs go upwards with interest and charges at the beginning so the first thing you should do is find out the balances from the companies. We've had some great successes on here with low F&Fs so its definitely worth reading up on the relative sections. Meanwhile, no speaking to them on the phone and get those accurate balances, then come back and let us know. It would be useful to know how much your paying to each creditor and how near you care to their minimum payment.

[DaveyBoy]

Re: DMP and F&F offer

Right then. Payplan approx £1500 out i actualy owe 26k with all interest frozen at the mo. Ive paid just over 20k in the 5 years on the DMP starting at 250 per month 5 years ago now paying 400. When defaulting my monthly commitments were 380 270 100 and 180 on balances of 17k 11k 5k and 9k there was also 2k overdraft. The 100 was a min payment on a credit card and the 180 was a min payment on a flexi loan the other amounts were on standard fixed rate loans. Been reading a bit about UE on here and wish id known about this 5 years ago?! As expected i have defaults registered on each of these accounts every month since the beginning to middle of 2007.

[MrsD]

Re: DMP and F&F offer

they are allowed to register only one default per account, are they marking your file AP (arrangement to pay)? So if you originally defaulted in 2007, the original defaults will fall off sometime this year, TBH, madness to F&F without checking if they are UE.

Still no reason why UE couldn't apply, looks like most of your debts would have been taken out before 2007 so worth asking for the CCAs, it won't apply to the overdraft as that comes under something different.

Read a few of the diaries and you'll see what it entails. One thing I would say is that if I were you I would stop paying now, if you look at UE, you would stop, if you are still going to go for a F&F, a couple of months with no payments doesn't half concentrate the DCAs minds when you do actually offer them a wee bit of cash.............

[DaveyBoy]

Re: DMP and F&F offer

Me again!


Cant believe how helpful you guys are. After all i'm just a stranger after a bit of advice


My credit report from annual credit report just shows a big black D for every month since the default was first issued, Experian just shows each account status as default and the date it was done. The defaults date range is 16/01/07 - 02/05/07 so come 03/05/13 does this mean all the defaults will be removed from my credit record? What happens to the accounts then? Do they still appear on my credit report? Come that date I'm still going to be owing 19k(ish) if I continue paying my dmp as now until that date.

What happens if I just stop paying the dmp? Do I assume the creditors will either take me to court or sell the debt onto a DCA. Can a CCJ be put onto my credit file? Can a DCA put a new default on my file? Can my current creditors put new defaults on once the old ones lapse?


The reason for all these questions is I'll probably be looking to move house in a couple of years and having no defaults will make this so much easier (I hope).


With regards to the UE my Cahoot Flexi Loan (now with santander) was taken out in feb 03, the Egg loan (bought by Apex in Jan 10) was opened in Dec 05, The Egg Card (Now Barclaycard) was March 06, Cant find the date for the Barclays Loan but i seem to think it was mid 06. Seem to think the Cahoot an and Egg accounts needed application forms and agreements signing and returning however I'm certain the Barclays loan was all done online as I was already a customer and all i had to do was a few clicks here and there as the website told me I was already pre approved for the loan up to a certain value. I seem to remeber i also had to just tick a box online and this apparently negated the need for me to sign any agreement.


Once again, any advice is much appreciated and gratefully recieved

[BBoo]

Re: DMP and F&F offer

Have you read the thread about Full and Final Settlements on this site? It is pretty comprehensive and gives a guide how to work out what to offer each creditor etc... It takes you through things step by step.

allaboutDEBT | Our Templates | Creditor Offer Templates

[DaveyBoy]

Re: DMP and F&F offer

Decided i'll request CCA's. Nothing to lose as all accounts defaulted anyhow. Hopefully will find a problem with them and then i'll assess my options. I've read about not signing anything but reckon they will have my signature as i defo signed letters i sent to them telling them i was in the process of setting up a dmp with payplan.
Thanks all

[MrsD]

Re: DMP and F&F offer

whoah!!

if you are sending CCAs, send the letter from out template section.
start a diary in the UE diaries section
don't sign any letters, sign them digitally, its perfectly legal
I agree with your plan of action, once you start to get replies, post up the results to Niddy and we will guide you from there
What are you going to do about the DMP, keep paying or stop?

[DaveyBoy]

Re: DMP and F&F offer

Well my next payment isnt due until next month now so that buys a bit of time but the more i think about ut the keener i am to stop it and await developments.

[MrsD]

Re: DMP and F&F offer

Remember, it doesn' matter what bits of paper you have, its what bits of paper they have.................or not as the case may be

[DaveyBoy]

Re: DMP and F&F offer

Nothing ventured nothing gained. CCA's posted out today so fingers crossed. Will start a UE diary in the coming days. Cheers all

[DaveyBoy]

Re: DMP and F&F offer

Okay guys. CCA requests sent out and only 1 of 4 have replied so far. The others are no longer within the 12+2 limit as that lapsed today. The 1 I got back was deemed enforcable by Niddy so any advice on where i go from here with a) a f&f for the enforcable and b) the cca no shows. Thanks again

[Deepie]

Re: DMP and F&F offer

Okay guys. CCA requests sent out and only 1 of 4 have replied so far. The others are no longer within the 12+2 limit as that lapsed today. The 1 I got back was deemed enforcable by Niddy so any advice on where i go from here with a) a f&f for the enforcable and b) the cca no shows. Thanks again

Do nothing just yet...wait a few more days to see if anything comes back........

[Pip]

Re: DMP and F&F offer

Okay guys. CCA requests sent out and only 1 of 4 have replied so far. The others are no longer within the 12+2 limit as that lapsed today. The 1 I got back was deemed enforcable by Niddy so any advice on where i go from here with a) a f&f for the enforcable and b) the cca no shows. Thanks again

Hello DaveyBoy!

I'm in a similar situation to you and have only just started the UE journey this year. Some of my CCAs have come back as enforceable, but as I see it (and please, some more knowledgeable/experienced members' comments would be gratefully received!)... even with the enforceable ones, the run-of-the-mill DCA employees aren't going to know whether a CCA really is enforceable or unenforceable. It's a personal choice, but just because you've found out that a pre-April 2007 CCA is enforceable shouldn't necessarily mean automatic and instant capitulation.

However, the advice that you get from Niddy, In 2 Deep and others on the diaries is fantastic, and they know when a letter from a DCA is just bluff and bluster, or what to do if they really are getting serious. I had a look through others' diaries myself to learn their experiences with the same original creditors and DCAs as mine, and it's pretty reassuring. The situation I am considering in a similar situation to yours is to pursue UE as far as I can, and if and when things get heavy with the enforceable ones, that's the time to start thinking about (low!!) F&F offers.

One thing to consider which is very often overlooked is that when DCAs write to you about court cases (e.g. Carey), in those cases, the debtor was taking the creditors to court, i.e. the debtor was the claimant. If the creditors take debtors to court, then the creditor is the claimant and the debtor the defendant which is a very important distinction. However one motto here on AAD seems to be AVOID going to court wherever possible -- but excellent advice is available if it does happen!

I am very new here though and very near the start of the path, but that's how I see it. If you haven't already, try searching the diaries for each of your creditors/DCAs and read what others have experienced. It's fascinating reading!
Pip