Please help - shop direct and NDR money

[njay]

Hiya,

 

This is my first post, so please bear with me. I am in the process of sorting a DMP with CCCS, however the more I think about it the more I feel I want to do it myself.

 

Do you think this is advisable?? I have 7 debts in total - 6 catalogues and a bank overdraft.

 

What would you suggest is the best way forward?

 

Many thanks

 

Nicki

[Night Owl]

Hi njay, and a big welcome to CAG.

 

Well done for wanting to take control of your debt.

Have you read sequenci's brilliant blogs? this is the debt management one and well worth the read.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/entry.php?184-Looking-for-a-Debt-Management-Plan-Please-ensure-that-you-don-t-end-up-paying-for-it.

 

Lots of peeps here can guide you through the process.

 

Good luck x

[silverfox1961]

Hi and welcome to CAG

 

If you look at this blog first, that will give you a head start.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/entry.php?265-A-quick-guide-to-successful-Debt-Management-Plans

 

Then, if you use the letters in the library:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/content.php?609-Can-t-find-the-letter-you-want-Look-here

You should be able to negotiate quite well.

 

If you find you can't do it yourself, you could give NationalDebtline a ring

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/

 

There are two free DMP companies out there too. CCCS and Payplan.

 

If you have any loans or credit cards which have had charges applied to them-get em back-with interest

[Tingy]

Easy - no problem doing it yourself. Read the blog and any questions post up.

[silverfox1961]

Two threads merged into one (duplicate first post gone)

[baz1986]

NJay go for it yourself that is what i am doing, i really thought i was on my own until i found this site and everyone is so helpful and point you in the right direction, Its amazing how much i have learn t in the last 5 weeks, What i will say though is spend some quality time reading through posts old and new to get a bit of an idea of where to start and read where people have had problems along the way and how to deal with them! And remember to keep posting on here so we can all help each other.....

 

Baz

[njay]

Thanks all for your help so far..

 

I have made a start, applied for a new bank account, done my income and expenditure form and have just started to write letter 1 to all my creditors asking them to put my account on hold whilst i start sorting this out...

 

First step of a long road, but am feeling positive at the moment - am just worried about the overdraft mainly..

[baz1986]

When sending the letters if you can get them recorded delivery because they might use the excuse they never received them, if this is not possible then just send the one regarding your overdraft as this is the one you are worried about. Also DO NOT speak to these people over the phone because they will demand more than you can afford and some times talk to you like crap.. Im not sure what letter you are sending them but i asked for a payment book when i sent my letters and to be fair 4 out of 8 sent me them and the rest i have just set up standing orders for the amount i can afford.

 

Once again good luckx

[njay]

Hiya,

 

Can anyone tell me if I have to include my bank account on my DMP.. it's a joint account with overdraft but the DMP will be in my name only (as my other half has no idea!! )

 

Thanks

N x

[baz1986]

Personally i would serious consider telling your partner, i put it off for ages and when i did tell the other half it was such a weight off my shoulders, But if this is not possible i am not sure how this would be done, going on a DMP does effect your Credit file and will put markers on it, So this could also effect your partners file? Can you manage to pay your Overdraft as per normal off without it going on the DMP? I will do some searching for you and no doubt a lot of other people will post info for you! Tingy or Silverfox can you help on this one?

[Tingy]

Personally i would serious consider telling your partner, i put it off for ages and when i did tell the other half it was such a weight off my shoulders, But if this is not possible i am not sure how this would be done, going on a DMP does effect your Credit file and will put markers on it, So this could also effect your partners file? Can you manage to pay your Overdraft as per normal off without it going on the DMP? I will do some searching for you and no doubt a lot of other people will post info for you! Tingy or Silverfox can you help on this one?

 

you don't have to include it, especially if it isn't showing on your CRF. However, if you're proposing to make a repayment arrangement I would fiddle around with your IE sheet to realease some money for the overdraft. remember that if you took this route it would not be going to your bank, so you can safely put down a supposed already agreed repayment to your overdraft under expenditure on debts. Overdrafts are complicated when it comes to DMP's as the bank can (and do) recall the full amount with only a little warning sometimes which could totally mess up everything. Why don't you contact your bank first with the figure suggested on your IE sheet and explain what you are doing to see if they will accept it?

 

Also, importantly, do you have a parachute account, -ie- another bank account opened with a group in no way connected to your current bank just in case things go pear shaped and you need to shift your money elsewhere quickly. If you haven't, I'd strongly recommend opening one asap.

[njay]

Hi there,

 

Thanks Baz and Tingy for your advice... I have set up a new bank account but cannot decide whether I should just start using that now - ie bills and wages etc, or continue to use our account withthe overdraft for the time being and start paying off a bit each month??

 

Obviously if wages and bill stop on the manin account I assume that the bank will recall the overdraft immediately??? Is it worth asking them to reduced the overdradt amount by a little each month, so I know that's going down too?? Also would this mean I would not need to send the proposed DMP to my bank?

 

Aaargghh, my head is spinning.

 

Thanks for your help again.

 

Nicki xx

[Tingy]

I think I suggested last night that if you don't want the OD covered in your DMP, then why not write to the bank asking them to freeze all charges and interest and ask if you can pay off the overdraft at £xx per month. They can only say yes or no, then you can decide what you want to do. It will not do any harm to let the bank know you are suffering from hardship as the Lending Rules then kick in which basically means they have to be nice and helpful towards you - demanding immediate repayment of your overdraft would not be doing that.

 

If you don't want them to think you're abandoning them, you could even ask if they have a very basic account with no OD limit on it to help you resolve your situation.

[njay]

Hi all,

 

Am after some more advice please. I am in debt with Shop Direct (5 separate accounts which have now been passed to NDR) and Simply Be (now passed to Reliable collections).

 

I have sent my income and expenditure form to them all and my offer of payment at this current time.

 

THey have all refused my offer of payment saying it is too low.... where do i go now, I cannot afford to pay anymore than I have offered.

 

I am still being charged interest and missed minimum payments fees on all of the accounts, so therefore my debts are increasing rather than decreasing, and Reliable Collections seem to write to me daily telling me I need to phone them to get this sorted, which I have already said I won;t do as I want it all in writing.

 

So please could someone point me in the right direction...

 

Thank you.

 

Nicki

[maroondevo52]

njay,

 

I have merged your threads, it's always better to stick to one as others can see what advice you have been given in the past.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[Tingy]

Don't be disheartened by the fact that they have rejected your offers. Personally I would not worry too much at the moment that the debts are increasing (I know that's easier said than done). I'd invest £6 and send a CCA request to all of the catalogue debts - make sure you pay by postal order and just sign it digitally.

 

Who is the bank ?

 

It would be helpful if you could tell us more about your debts - the more we know, the better we can advise.

 

How old are they? How big are each of the debts? What has caused them -eg- have you had a change of circumstances or is it a case of simply overstretching yourself?

 

Tell us everything you can about them and then we will be better placed to advise. The CCA requests may also shed a different light on how you handle them. They have 14 working days in which to respond to your request.

 

Things often don't run smoothly to start with. The hardest bit is what you're doing now, especially as you are getting these initial payments set up by yourself rather than getting them set up by someone like CCCS then backing out of it.

[silverfox1961]

Just found this on the SD website

 

Sometimes our customers have difficulties paying. When that happens, we need an empathetic person to call them and negotiate the best way for them to pay off their debts. It means understanding our product range, following policies and procedures, and talking to third parties such as the Citizens’ Advice Bureau and debt collection agencies. So you’ll need good communication, problem-solving and PC skills. It’ll be up to you to decide the best course of action, so it’s also important you’re commercially aware and confident making decisions. Educated to GCSE standard (or equivalent) you’ll be good with figures, words and people. Any knowledge of the Consumer Credit Act or FSA/OFT guidelines would be an advantage

 

I about choked! However, they do say that they follow the FSA/OFT guidelines so when you write back you could inform them that they should be doing so.

OFT guidelines

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

[Gabi18]

Hello everyone!

I'm new here. i would appreciate any advice with my situation. i've been on DMP with DFH. I hsve just have terminated agreement(today) as i want to do my own DMP. i've got debts circa £6k: 6 are payday loans, 2 credit cards (LLoyds and Capital One), Shop Direct, The Money Shop, Lloyds overdraft, Oakam loan.

Every month I paid into DFH £200 and £164.74 was going pro - rata into my creditors' accounts.

DFH called me today after receiving my notice and I was told that the termination of my contract with them can affect THEIR negotiation with my creditors.

What should I do first?I mean I made the decision about doing my own DMP and I want to stick to it.

Any help and advice will be really appreciated.

 

Gabi18

[Tingy]

Hi Gabi,

 

First thing is to start your own thread.

 

Do you know how much DFH were paying each of your creditors. If not, you need to replicate your IE form on the one in the library here which will work out your pro rata payments for you. Given you'll now be able to pay them slightly more as you won't be paying £35.26 to your DMP provider. Write to them explaining you are going to be paying a bit more and I doubt they'll turn you down. Ideally, if you know what DFH were paying, you'll be able to put this letter in with your first payment, thus assuming it is all going to continue seemlessly.

 

Once on your own thread we'll address interest, charges etc....

[njay]

Ok, so have now sent my catalogues a second letter saying that I am sorry they feel unable to accept my offer of payments but it is the best I can do for now... and will see what reply I get from that.

 

Simply Be (now part of the JD Williams group) are doing my head in though... My debt to them was £1900, now risen to £2200 with charges and interest..

 

My pro-rata offer of payment to them is £30.04 per month. They have written telling me they will only deal with me by phone, then threatened to send a doorstep caller, then they wrote and said in light of my current circumstances they would be prepared to accept reduced?? payments of £111 per month!! yeah right. So I e-mailed them and asked if they had actually read the budget planner I had sent them, to which they have replied asking me to complete a new one - which to be honest I am not inclined to do as I know they have received my original one.

 

I am now thinking of doing the CCA and see what happens from there....

 

Any other words of wisdom at all?

 

Thank you all.

 

Nicki.

[Tingy]

Hi,

 

I'd be inclined to do one of two things:

 

1. Send off a CCA request as you've already mentioned.

 

2. Send them a letter to say that most of your other creditors have agreed to your pro rata payments and that you would like them to reconsider your offer. In the meantime you'll continue to make the offered payment. Say the payments have been worked out pro rata from your disposable income and mention that by pressurising you into paying more than you can afford they are in breach of the OFT Debt Collection Guidelines and CPUTR 2008, along with several other significant pieces of legislation you could mention.

 

Ask them to reconsider and see what they say. (Think there's a template in the library - I can supply one otherwise).

 

 

 

 

If you choose to take my second course (which I would as it keeps your DMP on track), then if they fail to provide a satisfactory response to this letter, pm me with a link to the thread and we'll get a little "heavier" with them.

[njay]

Thanks Tingy,

 

 

Will follow your second course of action and let you know how I get on.

[Tingy]

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Acc/Ref No 4563210025897412

 

Thank you for your letter dated dd/mm/yyyy concerning the above account.

 

We are are sorry that you feel unable to accept the offer which we have made. The majority of our other creditors have accepted the offers made to them and we have commenced payments.

 

We cannot offer you more because we can only afford £775 per month between all our other creditors, and it would be wrong to cease or reduce payments to our other creditors in favour of your company. The offer made to you is on a pro rata basis, as used by the county court.

 

In the light of the other creditors agreeing to our repayment plan, please would you reconsider our offer. We will be making the payments in line with the offer to your company, on a weekly/monthly basis, as a gesture of goodwill.

 

We look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.

 

Yours faithfully

Mr A N Other

[njay]

Hiya,

 

I have sent letter above to them, went in the post yesterday. Today, however I have received a letter from Reliable Collections telling me they are going to do a doorstep visit on Weds (no date so I don't know which Weds), as my last payment wasn't enough...

 

Will they and can they do this? Or the fact that they haven't put a date on there , is it just another scare tactic to get me to either ring them or pay money I haven't got? What shall I do ?

 

Thank you.

 

Nicki x

[silverfox1961]

Hiya,

 

I have sent letter above to them, went in the post yesterday. Today, however I have received a letter from Reliable Collections telling me they are going to do a doorstep visit on Weds (no date so I don't know which Weds), as my last payment wasn't enough...

 

Will they and can they do this? Or the fact that they haven't put a date on there , is it just another scare tactic to get me to either ring them or pay money I haven't got? What shall I do ?

 

Thank you.

 

Nicki x

 

Hi,

You have hit the nail on the head. This is a scare tactic. They may just call on Wednesday but all you have to do is tell them to sod off and they have to.

 

You could send them the doorstep letter from the library (if you haven't done so already) or keep a copy by the door, hand it to them and gently slam the door