A Payplan Clients Journey… Helpline
The very first person a Payplan client will speak to on their journey with us is a debt advisor from our team. On an average day the Helpline advisor will take around 200 calls, that is 200 different people seeking some form of debt help. The calls range from; people struggling to pay off a £50.00 phone bill to people who are over £50,000 in debt. Some people ring with the Bailiffs knocking at the door and they need help dealing with them. Some people haven’t paid their mortgage for months and are now having their home repossessed. Some people feel like they are in a vicious cycle with no way of getting out of it. Some people bury their heads in the sand hoping that it will all go away. And some people just can’t simply cope anymore.
Whatever the problem, the Helpline team are there to deal with it all from 8am in the morning until 9pm at night five days a week.
What should I expect?
From the first phone call you can expect your Payplan advisor to share with you all of their knowledge and experience to help you in your situation. They are on the other end of the telephone to listen to you and not to judge you.
Do I need to prepare anything for the call?
No. All you need to do is call us and ask for help. Your advisor will ask for a few basic details, like creditors and debt level as well as a brief bit of background information.
What happens next?
After your call, depending on your circumstances, we will either arrange a phone call to fully assess your case or if you cannot be placed into a plan we will refer you to our Special Advice Team who will assist you with an Informal Arrangement.
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Please Help Us By Taking Part In Our Debt Demographics Survey
Payplan are conducting a survey to help us understand current perceptions about people who are experiencing debt difficulties. The short survey explores expectations about the gender, housing status, marital status, average monthly income, total amount of unsecured debt and amount of years that it would take these people to pay back their debt as well as the regions they live in.
Why Are We Doing This Survey?
We want to test people’s perceptions of those who are in financial difficulty against the real picture. Once we have received all the results from this survey we shall be publishing our own real life stats which have been collected over the last 3 years and contrasting them with the results of this survey. The results of this survey will give us a good insight into how people perceive those who are in financial difficulty and how this differs from the real picture. Hopefully, we’ll be able to dispel some popular myths about debt in the process.
Please click here to go to the survey it will only take you a few minutes to fill out and is only 7 questions long!
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A Clients Story…
For this blog I wanted to do something a little different. We help thousands of clients each year with their debts problems. Each and every client that comes to us has a story to tell for how they found themself in the situation they are now in.
Today Kevin shares his story…
It started a few years ago. Our bank accounts were being maxed out and to pay our bills we had to use our credit cards. We looked into how our accounts were being used and we noticed that there were transactions that we did not recognise. We contacted our bank who was not willing to help and said that unless we could prove that we had not spent the money we would have to bear the cost. My wife and I spent weeks trying to find out where the money was going and getting enough evidence to prove that we were right and we even contacted the relevant stores asking for them to check their CCTV for photos to prove our case. Unfortunately this was no to avail and this carried on for over 18 months. One day my wife and I were shopping in a supermarket when at the same time in another store someone was charging something else to our accounts. We managed to get a refund of this charge however the bank would still not reconsider our case.
In this time just to pay our bills we had maxed out our credit cards to pay our bills to the tune of about £25,000. We couldn’t afford the payments and we didn’t know where to turn. We were getting phone calls and letters demanding money which we didn’t have. We visited our local CAB who were very helpful and suggested we contact Payplan. We did this and someone went through the details we would need for them to help. After going through all of these details we entered into a DMP and we were able to agree a monthly payment which we are able to afford. We were assigned a Case Officer and a Personal Finance Manager. The interest has been frozen and we no longer get phone calls or letters demanding money. I visit justabank weekly and look at the offers that are on there and they have helped us with our everyday expenses as well. In the recession my salary has decreased and we advised them and our payments were reduced and as and when my salary increases I will pay more into the DMP.
If you are struggling with debts don’t go to a fee paying company ring Payplan as it is free and all the money goes into your DMP.
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Mortgages & Remortgages
Buying a home and getting a mortgage is a huge financial commitment whether you are a first time buyer or whether this is your second or third home. Due to the current economic climate the housing market appears more unpredictable than ever and it can be a difficult decision as to whether you jump onto the property ladder or not.
Today I want to briefly go through what a mortgage is and what it means to remortgage.
What is a mortgage?
A mortgage is when you take out a loan from a bank, building society or specialist mortgage lender in order to purchase a property. Your mortgage lender will agree to lend you the money based on the condition that you maintain monthly payments for the term of your mortgage; if you fail to do so then you risk your home being repossessed. The lender will take first charge on your property which means in the event of sale they get first priority.
What are the different types of repayments for a mortgage?
In order to repay your mortgage, it isn’t as simple as splitting the amount borrowed over a set length of time. There are several different repayment types. The most common repayment types are;
- Interest only – this is where your monthly payments will go towards paying off the interest on your mortgage only. You will then be required, at the end of the mortgage term, to pay the remaining capital (amount originally borrowed). This is usually done an endowment paid as part of a separate agreement or savings. This type of mortgage is traditionally known as an endowment mortgage.
- Repayment – this is where you repay the capital amount and the interest off your mortgage together in one monthly payment. At the end of the mortgage term there will be nothing to repay.
What are the different interest types?
All mortgages will be subject to an interest rate, and the amount of interest you repay will largely depend on the type of rate you are on. Here are a couple of options;
- Fixed Rate – this is where the interest is fixed for a certain period of time.
- Variable Rate – this is a rate dependant on each individual lender and can fluctuate. It is usually reflective of the rate that lenders buy and sell money between themselves.
Remortgage
Remortgaging is where you replace an existing mortgage with a new one, without moving home. This could be with the same lender and you just change the product or it could be with a different lender all together.
If you have equity in your property then it may be possible to release some of this and help relieve any financial strain that you may have from other debts or allow you to carry out some home improvements. However failure to keep to your repayments of a mortgage or other debts secured on it will, of course, put your house at risk of repossession.
What do I do next?
If you want any help or advice then we have a dedicated team of specialists who can help you from Who’s Lending, who are part of Payplan Financial Services.
Payplan Limited introduce customers to Payplan Financial Services Limited, who also trade as Who’s Lending and are authorised and regulated by Financial Services Authority. FSA Register Number 302801.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on a mortgage or any debts secured on it.
If you are still unsure about anything call one of our specialists who will always be happy to help 0800 5870652.
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