Payplan or CCCS for debt management plan?

[rebeccas78]

Hi,

I'm relatively new to this so I hope this appears in the right forum! I have recently had a phone appointment with CCCS regarding my current debts and their advice is to go with a DMP which I understand and am relatively relieved about doing (albeit not looking forward to the calls / letters etc from Credit card companies and bank!!) anyway, the thing is that after my appointment I discovered through this site that another company also offers to manage a DMP for an individual at no cost and they are called Payplan.

 

I have now arranged a phone appointment with them also for the start of next week but was wondering if people could give me any advice based on their good / bad experiences of who they would recommend out of the two?

 

Also, a further question re DMP.... if I go for a DMP and some of the creditors don't agree to freeze the interest, I assume that the debt will continue to escalate due to interest charges so will I still be expected to repay it all anyway / end up in court over not paying the total amount / be issued with a CCJ etc..?

 

Many thanks for some much needed advice in advance!

[sequenci]

Hi there,

 

Payplan and CCCS are both pretty similar - they both offer free DMP's and have a good success rate at getting the interest and charges frozen. It's important to check with the creditors that the interest etc has been frozen and if they refuse to do so consider a complaint about their actions.

 

I think the consensus on this forum is that CCCS are slightly better although I work with both firms in a very close capacity and find them equally helpful and professional.

 

If you have any further queries gimmie a shout, I'm a debt counsellor by trade ( i work in the free advice sector ) and know all there is to know about debts and your options

[PGH7447]

or do it yourself:)

[sequenci]

or do it yourself:)

 

Another fine option. However, most people find that the creditors will agree the reduced payments a great deal faster via a third-party. It shouldn't be like that at all.

[rebeccas78]

Hi there,

 

Payplan and CCCS are both pretty similar - they both offer free DMP's and have a good success rate at getting the interest and charges frozen. It's important to check with the creditors that the interest etc has been frozen and if they refuse to do so consider a complaint about their actions.

 

I think the consensus on this forum is that CCCS are slightly better although I work with both firms in a very close capacity and find them equally helpful and professional.

 

If you have any further queries gimmie a shout, I'm a debt counsellor by trade ( i work in the free advice sector ) and know all there is to know about debts and your options

 

Hi,

Many thanks for your reply and offer of help. I have never had any experience of either CCCS or payplan before (fortunatley I guess!). CCCS were very helpful on the phone appointment but I feel a little 'worried' that I hand over the 'hands on' management of my debts to someone else and it is slightly out of my control! Up to now I have been managing to pay the mimimum payments albeit through robbing Peter to pay Paul! but I have not defaulted. I will speak to payplan next Monday and will decide after that how to progress.

 

On my appointment the counsellor said that I am in an advantageous situation as I can pay £633 per month between 6 creditors (4 credit cards, 1 personal loan and 1 o/d) and pay off all my debt in 3 years and 9 months so long as they all freeze the interest. This is great but I am worried that they won't all (if any) agree to freezing the interest and worried about what could happpen or what I should do if that happens! You mention that I could consider making a complaint about their actions, as I want to plan ahead(!) can you provide me with some more information about how I would go about doing this or where I could get template letter(s) etc..?

 

Many thanks again!

[PGH7447]

Hi,

Many thanks for your reply and offer of help. I have never had any experience of either CCCS or payplan before (fortunatley I guess!). CCCS were very helpful on the phone appointment but I feel a little 'worried' that I hand over the 'hands on' management of my debts to someone else and it is slightly out of my control! Up to now I have been managing to pay the mimimum payments albeit through robbing Peter to pay Paul! but I have not defaulted. I will speak to payplan next Monday and will decide after that how to progress.

 

On my appointment the counsellor said that I am in an advantageous situation I bet he did, and what does that leave you a month? as I can pay £633 per month between 6 creditors (4 credit cards, 1 personal loan and 1 o/d) and pay off all my debt in 3 years and 9 months so long as they all freeze the interest. This is great but I am worried that they won't all (if any) agree to freezing the interest and worried about what could happpen or what I should do if that happens! You mention that I could consider making a complaint about their actions, as I want to plan ahead(!) can you provide me with some more information about how I would go about doing this or where I could get template letter(s) etc..?

 

Many thanks again!

 

of the 4 credit cards how old are they? and have you checked that the creditor holds an enforceable agreement by way of a cca request? because CCCS and payplan wont check for you.

 

The loan same questions as above and do you have PPI taken out on it?

 

and the overdraft are there any charges you can claim back?

[rebeccas78]

of the 4 credit cards how old are they? and have you checked that the creditor holds an enforceable agreement by way of a cca request? because CCCS and payplan wont check for you.

 

The loan same questions as above and do you have PPI taken out on it?

 

and the overdraft are there any charges you can claim back?

 

Hi,

The cards are: Egg within the last 8 months, Virgin started in April 09, Mint-not sure maybe around 2 years, M&S around 2 years also.

 

Loan through Natwest, June 08, no PPI.

 

O/D, went over limit twice in last few months, was charged £25 each time.

 

Not sure how all this works to be honest! Can you explain to me what CCA is and how it works?

 

Thank you.

[sequenci]

Hi,

Many thanks for your reply and offer of help. I have never had any experience of either CCCS or payplan before (fortunatley I guess!). CCCS were very helpful on the phone appointment but I feel a little 'worried' that I hand over the 'hands on' management of my debts to someone else and it is slightly out of my control!

 

You will still be able to liase with your creditors should you wish to. As a DMP is an informal arrangement it's not legally binding and so can be amended at any stage.

 

This is great but I am worried that they won't all (if any) agree to freezing the interest and worried about what could happpen or what I should do if that happens! You mention that I could consider making a complaint about their actions, as I want to plan ahead(!) can you provide me with some more information about how I would go about doing this or where I could get template letter(s) etc..?

 

If your creditors are big high-street names they are very likely to freeze the interets and charges. They have various codes of practice that they should be following and need to demonstrate that they are. The big two that spring to mind are:

 

- the banking code

- the office of fair trading's guidance on debt collection.

 

Both (in a roundabout way) state that the creditors have a duty of care to treat you in a reasonable way and that it would be unfair for a creditor to demand that your repay a debt at an unaffordable rate.

 

the debt collection guidance is here:

 

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

 

the banking code is here:

 

BBA – British Bankers' Association - Banking Code 2008 in PDF format

 

Don't worry, I think things will be fine...

 

As an aisde, please feel free to hang around the forums, your assistance would be greatly received within the employment sub-forum

[sequenci]

 

Not sure how all this works to be honest! Can you explain to me what CCA is

 

You can make a formal request to see if a creditor has a copy of your original contracts to see if there are any omissions or mistakes which could potentially render them legally unenforceable.

 

Your agreements are very new and the unenforceability provisions were altered recently; this means that any agreement taken out after april '07 is likely to have the ability of being enforced in a court. As the agreements are very new my suggestion is to press on with a DMP as any legal challenge is liekly to end up with the creditor winning.

 

If any of the agreements were signed pre april 07 let us know and we shall fill you in

[PGH7447]

Hi,

The cards are: Egg within the last 8 months, Virgin started in April 09, Mint-not sure maybe around 2 years, M&S around 2 years also.

 

Loan through Natwest, June 08, no PPI.

 

O/D, went over limit twice in last few months, was charged £25 each time.

 

Not sure how all this works to be honest! Can you explain to me what CCA is and how it works?

 

Thank you.

 

To be honest with debts this new a cca request is unlikley to produce an unenforceable agreement.

 

but a cca is a request to the OC to produce the agreement you signed within 12+2 working days, it cost £1 and should be sent by recorded mail.

 

Have you tried negoiating directly with these companies and asking a for payment holiday and interest freeze?

 

As soon as CCCs or payplan get involved then your credit rating is liable to take a bashing

[rebeccas78]

To be honest with debts this new a cca request is unlikley to produce an unenforceable agreement.

 

but a cca is a request to the OC to produce the agreement you signed within 12+2 working days, it cost £1 and should be sent by recorded mail.

 

Have you tried negoiating directly with these companies and asking a for payment holiday and interest freeze?

 

As soon as CCCs or payplan get involved then your credit rating is liable to take a bashing

 

Hi, I have tried to speak to Natwest in particular regarding my loan but their answer to helping me with the £10k I owe on that was to consolidate all my other debt with this amount and my o/d into one loan and repay it over five years at a stupidly high rate of interest and that just wouldn't work for me.

I have not approached the other cards regarding freezing interest etc.. mainly as my partner was previously in a similar situation with 2 of the 4 cards that I have mentioned and asked them for such assistance and to keep it short let's just say that they were terrible to him after that! But I do understand why you recommend that.

 

My credit history has already taken a bashing! Mainly because over the 2 last years (approx) I have been applying for 0% cards and being a credit card tart! The problem was when I ended up having to use them for my living costs and then was late paying two of them by one day and they invoked the normal interest rate. I then applied for other cards which I didn't get and that dented my credit rating further. I guess that having also gone over my o/d limit in twice in recent months won't have helped my rating either.

 

If I end up going the DMP route (which looks highly likely!) I don't plan on ever getting into debt again and never want another loan or credit card!

 

Many thanks for your advice!

[rebeccas78]

As an aisde, please feel free to hang around the forums, your assistance would be greatly received within the employment sub-forum

 

Hi,

I take it you looked at my post on the employment section! I think this site is great and will pop into the employment section to see if I can assist and return the favour to others!

I will update on here next Monday evening following my appointment with Payplan to let you know what I decide to do!

Many thanks again.

[sequenci]

I did see it We actively encourage everyone to help out as much as they can. This is a community forum and is built upon a framework where everyone helps everyone else (if you see what I mean!)

 

My better half is head of HR for a well-known charity, I try to get her to come on to the forum but she works a squillion hours a week already. It takes a very special type of person to working HR for sure!

[Ell-enn]

It takes a very special type of person to working HR for sure!

 

sure does

[sequenci]

God, excuse my grammar.. I'm still at work and terrible at multi-tasking.

 

i.e. I'm a bloke.

[PGH7447]

It is actually quite easy to live without credit cards etc, although I do find that some hotels etc wont accept a debit card.

[sequenci]

It is actually quite easy to live without credit cards etc, although I do find that some hotels etc wont accept a debit card.

 

There are ways around that, though.

[PGH7447]

yep cash:D or a prepaid card

[sequenci]

yep cash:D or a prepaid card

 

hehe.

[andydd]

or do it yourself:)

 

When I approached my credit cards with difficulties they all did nothing and wouldnt budge, it was Egg who then passed me onto Payplan, thee didnt actually do much (just sent me some bumpf and I & E sheets) but when I wrote back to the card companies with my payplan I & E sheet they all instantly allowed a token payment each month and froze my interest, so it would appear that you at least need to contact payplan (or cccs) to 'prove' you are serious and actually in debt, and then re-approach the card/loan companies.

 

Andy

[sequenci]

so it would appear that you at least need to contact payplan (or cccs) to 'prove' you are serious and actually in debt, and then re-approach the card/loan companies.

 

Andy

 

As long as you follow the general method of approaching creditors you can do it yourself, no problems. e.g. token or pro-rata payments.

 

Most creditors will like you to have contacted one of the free advice agencies as they will know that you've been given 'holistic' advice.

[PGH7447]

I was actually refering to doing it yourself and using the tools provided on here to show these firms that you are aware of your rights and that it would be in their interest to playball

 

Did this with MBNA and a couple of others who have stopped all interest and accpeted my proposals, those who dont, dont get paid - SIMPLES

[andydd]

As long as you follow the general method of approaching creditors you can do it yourself, no problems. e.g. token or pro-rata payments.

 

Most creditors will like you to have contacted one of the free advice agencies as they will know that you've been given 'holistic' advice.

 

Well..my experience differs, I had no joy at all even when requesting lower payments, less or frozen interest, they just wouldnt budge at all. It was only when I re-aproached them with some Payplan sheets that they suddenly were more flexible, Egg & Cap1 froze interest and allow a token payment of £10, (now £1 after I was made redundant), I'm paying Barclaycard £7.

 

Note, I'd CCA's them all too and none apperared to have a valid CCA so that may have swayed them into accepting lower payments too.

 

Andy

[PGH7447]

Note, I'd CCA's them all too and none apperared to have a valid CCA so that may have swayed them into accepting lower payments too.

 

and your still paying them!! why?

[mjc007.5]

Afternoon all,

 

My experience to date is not much to choose between them - both professional, talked me through the options. I have gone with CCCS and although some of their admin and support functions are a bit clunky the counsellors themselves remain very good

 

 

I have learned quite quickly that there is not a one size fits all approach. CCCS have helped me steady a very rocky ship (particularly with the "mainstream") but we are combining this (effectively so far) with advice from the good folk of CAG and some limited legal input. I have also (for research purposes) used other sites along the way. Hence everybody with legally owed debt is getting paid but those who do not (by virtue of not having credit agreements, or having one that is unenforceable, reclaimable interest, charges etc.... as everybody knows this list is a long one ) are being challenged with some success (to date). I am sure there will be dark times to come but the feeling of relief (and then being empowered and wanting to help others along the way) is enormous!

 

 

I suppose advocating what CAG has done all along - pay back what you legitimately owe whilst challenging everything that you do not! Basically using the same rules (and law) to do to them (the firms) what they are quick enough to do to you ........