that was quick cheers tingy I'll do two separate letters then, I've the harrasment template to use. Thanks Ian

HI All I've finally drafted the letter for satander I'd be gratful for any input if its a bit heavy handed etc. I've included a bit about telephone calls as i've getting between 5 an 6 calls a day from them while not terrible is becoming annoying. With Thanks Ian

Another update after more letters this week, halifax have accepted a £5 per month for six months at with interest and charges frozen! and I'd offered the pro-rata payment so thats a good response. I've still satander and Tesco to write to and see how they respond. Cheers again all .... its great to see it all start to work. I expect I'll have some troubles with satander but lets see. Ian

Yes looking good many thanks to scott and your good self for the great advice. Controls another matter .....I now need to get mrs T to try to live within the budget - which is manageable and doesn't leave us short. She's having trouble adjusting! In fairness to her she's doing as many extra shifts as she can at work so thats a brilliant help. I keep saying she can do what she likes with anything she earns over her basic as i've only declared that amount on the IE. Its tough she see me as her dad she says scolding her if she buys anything - not entirely true - but i might be a bit short occasionally. Ian

Thanks Gents, my IE includes a list of creditors censored as suggested by Tingy, with the pro-rata amount for all parties listed. I'll send it again with the next letter. pointing out other creditors have accepted reduced payments. I'll post my letter for input later or tomrorow. What to do with nationwide? I was going to write and thank them for their offer but point out the letter reached me before I was able to make the requested payment, but I will be happy to accept those terms changing the start date to the 4th of July and see what they say. I might ring up is this a good idea? Thanks again for all the input. Ian

more post today a slight victory nationwide have agreed to freeze interest and charges and accept my offer dissapoinitingly though say the first payment must reach them by the 4th june (today)! Might have to break the rules and give em a call. idiots ... Just spoke to nationwide helpful as ever collections are shut but the CS rep has added a note to the system to say i called and there is a mistake in the letter. Ian

Hi all a little update. I sent all my letters off with tingys advice in a more considered rather that agressive style, and the results are starting to come in. I've managed to agree a short term arrangement with M&S for a fiver a month for the next 3 months with a review after that time they've been surprisingly reasonable. Sandander have been back in touch they are still asking for a bank statement, a pay slip and a list of creditors with confirmation of outstanding balances, before they'll consider a temporary arrangement! i've sent an IE in naturally. whats the approach now more agressive is there any rules i can quote to tell em to stick it. Thanks Ian

cheers scotty Look forward to it later, see to the kids first. don't get your self in bother just to clarify one loan is in both our names the rest are just in mine although she was a card holder on one. As far as it goes she perfectly happy to fully contribute, as mrs T says we're in it together she spent it as well as me. thanks once again Ian

Daft Question time: Just had a thought all the debts are in my name, should i be including my wifes income in the IE? She obviously has enjoyed the benefits of the cards etc. Cheers Ian

Thanks Tingy point taken that does read a bit aggressive. I like your paragraph I'll use that thank you. Time to write some letters .... Cheers Ian

here's My next letter to the creditors is this approach ok?, I've taken your advice tingy and censored the I&E form to just type of credit. On the subject of IE - haircuts? mines not a problem but mrs tioaboa has a her hair coloured and such and that seems to cost a small fortune, she's stepped it back with groupon deals and shopping around but it still adds up - I'll included it will they question it? it can be as much as 60 quid. As always thanks for any advise. btw should i include a harrasment type statement to try to stop em calling up? if so any recommendations Ian

Indeed I'm very grateful to scotty and Tingy for all the help and direction, And today is no different I've had a response from satander they asking for an I&E form (which is fine - I'll send my own rather than the one they sent) and a Bank statement and payslip to which my gut reaction is b*gg*r off. I recall one of you saying it needs a court order for such things? do i need to? I'll probably follow up with another letter sending an I&E and maybe a offer and ignore the requests for payslips and statements. Cheers Ian

Cheers scotty, Tingy, I've already set up a barclays card cash account set-up ready. The halifax one is an old account we've never closed my wife uses for ebay proceeds and the child benefit. it has a small overdraft on it but she's not the best with money so its always overdrawn. My current bank First Direct are behaving well so far so i'm not ready to move my account yet. We'll see if they're the same when i offer them a reduced payment on my loan (currently my largest unsecured debt). I'm sending in a bank charges reclaim today lets see what they do? Thanks again Ian

Thanks Scotty, I'll take a look at that I'm getting ready to write my next set of letters with my offers, however I'm concerned that not one of the creditors has yet responded to my original letters, should i keep paying the token amounts until i get some response/agreement to freeze charges? BTW halifax credit cards have send a statement with a section in block capitals suggesting it can tap into a halifax account we have with them, bearing in mind its overdrawn would they still go at it? only the child benefit goes in there currently. Thanks for all your help guys (any computer issues fire any questions this way - quid pro quo after all - its what i do for a living) Cheers Ian

Thanks Guys for the great advice. This is the first month in a long time where we've still got cash in the bank at this time in the month! I was about to start drafting my offer letters tomorow. National Debt Helpline suggested i could if i wanted to pay say 1 debt in full, bearing in mind if i do it myself its not actually a "dmp" apparently so the rules can be more flexible! as long as my creditors agree, and its all detailed in the I&E form i send in. Also I was going to claim for some bank charges i've a bout 3K's worth over the last 7 years ! after FD sent me my SAR back. That should see off at least one card ! Also another question we've put the house on the market and are planning to downsize. As i said further up this post we've a fair chunk of equity to come. We're hoping to be on our way in 2-3 months (touching wood), do I stretch out the token payments and go for F&F or do i start with the pro-rata'd amounts, and then try for F&F. Cheers Ian

I've sent out the letters, and had a chat with a collections rep at Nationwide (very reasonable no pressure) if I go to a DMP they'll only accept it through a managed agency like CCCS can they do that? I'd like to have done this myself.

Ok thanks Tingy, I'll take that on board and recalculate it. 8-) I understand the equal shares part, but its seems mad to push the Tesco loan beyond its repayment period. But if thats how i need to proceed then i guess thats the way to go. I'll send me letters off tommorow and keep this thread up to date. Cheers Ian

I'm following Sequenci's blog at the minute, I've no PPI on any of these just a few charges i can reclaim, and a load from my FD overdraft. I've a SAR letter to do for that. Back to my question can you pay some creditors in full while distributing the rest among the others, as they've a under a year to go and would release more funds to the other debts later on. my initial letter looks like this. Only thing i need to add is a line about only corresponding in writing as satander have already been chasing me 2 or 3 times a day inspite of me speaking to them! Cheers Ian

Hi Guys what a great site top info here i've a question about setting up a DMP. I've got a list of me creditors im working through the spreadsheets. I've two loans that have less than a year to go and would like to continue paying the current payment to complete them, and dmp the rest of me debts. Is this ok to do? Creditors Tesco Loan 1580 left to pay - 9 payments left TV Hp 170 - 6 payments left (in fact as i've stopped all the DD to the credit card companies i was thinking of paying it off with the spare cash.) good idea? the rest First Direct loan £16,500 (8 payments made on 84 month term) Nationwide 19.9% APR £2512 Santander 24% APR £3144 M&S 23.9% APR £2404 Halifax 24% APR £8650 After my budget i've around £450 to pay the rest (it needs maybe 600 to see the minimums paid). I'm only in 1 months arrears with nationwide and santander at the minute. but will be with all but FD and Tesco after payday. I'm planning to write the intial letters with token offers for the CC companies while I work out everything and set up a parachute account. I was considering a further loan from my mortgage as we've loads of equity in our property - i know paying debt with debt isn't smart - but we've an ltv of 35% at the minute. My only fear is if we do that We'll be in the same boat as now maybe 12mths down the line. We can keep living on credit! Sorry for the long and rambling post. Any help gratefully received. With Thanks Ian