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- Thu Jul 26, 2007 6:11 pm #162175 Hi and well done to the people who set up this amazing site, im sure its been a great help to many people.

My situation is i owe £21k to 20 different creditors, cannot afford contractual payments. I entered a DMP with Debt Free Direct and to be honest had a nightmare. They used my monthly payment to pay someone elses debts and sent me their statement in error ! So that was the end of them lol

Anyway, been speaking to Thomas Charles who though very helpful were quite forceful in reccomending an IVA. Wanted three months payments before they did any work to help me, so they are also gone !!!

I spoke to Payplan, they were very helpful and advised me that they could not assist me because they believe the best route for me is a DMP, and some of my creditors will not support them. But to be fair to them theyeve done all budget and expenditure statements for me and sent me out letters to send to my creditors.

The reason im posting here is to ask what the chances are of being able to negotiate with my creditors to freeze interest payments without using a company to help me, ive also been on CCCS and they have sent me through a DMP pack, seemed too easy. Currently I havent paid any of my debts for approx 6 months, as money has been paid to fee charging companies who actually dont do anything to help. I am really worried that if i write and my offer is not accepted or they dont freeze my interest im stuck!!!

I have 2 CCJs which i am paying a total of £229 per month, I have £190 disposable income until Feb 2008 then this will increase to £377. I have even rented out a spare room to try and gain some actaul disposable income. This all started when my wife left the marital home.

I am also getting a payrise at work in about 6 months which should enable the amount i offer my creditors to increase also.

Could someone please please just be honest with me and give me their advice whether DMP, IVA or BR is the best option, as this is making me ill with all the letters and phone calls.

Thank you very much.

- Thu Jul 26, 2007 7:04 pm #162178 Hi... and welcome!

I can't really advise you personally on whether a DMP is your best option, but if that's what Payplan have advised then I suspect it probably is: they have, after all, nothing to gain or lose from whether you take their advice or not. From what you've said about the spare room I assume you have your own house and I'd therefore be wary about the effect BR would have on it.

It's perfectly possible to do your own DMP and negotiate with the creditors yourself: I know I'm not the only person on here who has done. Getting the interest frozen IS going to be a bit of a stumbling block, initially at least. However, if you have 20 creditors, none of whom have received any payments for six months, then my guess is that the accounts will start getting passed to DCAs quite quickly - which will make your task a lot easier. It's largely just a question of chipping away at it until the creditor falls into line, so it can be done!

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- Thu Jul 26, 2007 7:09 pm #162179 Thanks Yogi

Its so nice to know im not alone, it seems like a taboo subject between friends and family.

With regard to your comments, i dont own my own house, i rent (from my boss lol) who has no problem me renting the spare room.

Ive buried my head for far too long, for some reason i feel brave at the moment. I just want to make sure everyone gets back all their money and if they cant assist me a little their not going to beat me.

I will survive !!!!!!!

Thanks for your support, much appreciated.

- Thu Jul 26, 2007 8:34 pm #162198 hi simon and welcome

have you considered bankruptsy at all?

I am in an IVA at the moment, I considered thomas charles but like you said they wanted 3 months payments first. I didn't go bankrupt because i wanted to pay back what i had borrowed but TBH i think bankruptsy would have been a better option for me

good luck

deej

"Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat money"

- Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:13 pm #162205 To be honest, if i get just a little co operation i can pay the whole amount back within 5 years or so. Like you, i want to pay back as much as i can, to teach me a lesson so it doesnt happen again as much as anything else.

Also, i work in the financial services industry, so i dont think bankruptcy would be an option for me, also i see that as a last resort, where i have no further options. At end of day i do have a disposable income, albeit only £200 pcm at moment and within a year my CCJs finish so will have another £228 to offer creditors per month.

Just fingers crossed they accept my offer in the interim and freeze interest.........................