Hi, my wife and I have debts of £75000. CCCS have suggested a dmp of £1354 a month. Our joint take home pay with child benefit is £3817 a month. Expenditure is around £2600, CCCS figure is outgoings of £2463 a month which does not include payments to the 12 creditors that we owe. I feel that paying such a large amount will break us. Please help. Advice much appreciated. CCCS see a DMP as way forward, not an IVA. Please help. Any advice much appreciated.
If you can afford to make payments at the rate of £1,350 per month, and CCCScan demonstrate to you that they have a good track record in getting interest and charges stopped in their DMP cases, then this may be a good solution to consider - but from what you are saying the payments have been set at an unaffordable level, so the plan may be doomed from Day 1.
I would advise you to seek advice from an insolvency practitioner - as they will take time to understand your finances and the needs of you and your family. It may not be necessary to enter into any form of formal process, as perhaps some sensible negotiations with your creditors would be a better option, but I certainly would not jump into the first solution which is offered to you without considering the alternatives.
The most important thing is that whatever repayment plan you chose is affordable! CCCS do seem more likely to recommend DMPs than other providers and this may be because they are funded by the banks and he who holds the purse strings.... That said CCCS help many people and a DMP may be the best solution for you. If you are unsure about the advice you have received you can check out a few more firms at www.iva.com.
Take a second opinion as CCCS, in my opinion, can be quite harsh with expenditure allowances. I spoke to a couple recently who were paying over £600 per month into a DMP with CCCS, and were dipping further into an overdraft each month, but I calculated their disposable income at a little over £200
HI, as said above, IF £1350 was affordable, and IF (a big "if") all charges and interest are stopped a DMP might be the way forward.
However, it is always best to speak to a few companies to compare advice and to see who you "gel" with ---- you are going to be working together on sensitive financial issues for quite some time.
Pop over to the link Broke of London gave and compare advice. It is free and without obligation at this stage.
My opinions are merely that .. opinions based on experience. Always seek professional advice.
IVA Completed 23rd July 2013 .... C.C. 10th January 2014
...got to agree with the advice here. I nearly became a CCCS DMP victim.
They are not the free impartial charity that other money saving sites might have you believe. Funded by the banks, so clearly will be looking out for the interests of your creditors, not yours.
Shop around, and let us know how you get on. Good luck.
My opinions are just that: Based on my experience and being a self-employed IVA customer.
Andy - it is bizarre to see such a huge difference between the CCCS assessment and yours. I act of a growing number of ex-CCCS clients who seem to have had the same problem. One has to wonder what levels of expenditure their clients are expected to pay in their own IVAs as well.
Thank you very much for the advice so far. We have gone through the cccs budget planner in more detail and believe the surplus would be at best £1000 a month. My wife even before we started to consider a dmp or iva believed a realistic figure would be an annual contribution of around £9600. I need to contact cccs asap and also one of the experts on here.
Hi again, John. Do also consider the differences between a DMP ( which is essentially an informal arrangement) and the IVA ( much more formal and binding on both sides).
Time-wise there would be very little in it -- IF the creditors in a DMP stick to the arrangement ( assuming they agree to stop interest and charges in the first place). I have seen many instances wher the provider (generally one og the "charity" providers, ask you ti switch to an IVA a few years down the line --- which will have, basically, wasted the time and effort in the DMP.
My opinions are merely that .. opinions based on experience. Always seek professional advice.
IVA Completed 23rd July 2013 .... C.C. 10th January 2014
All excellent advice and I would urge you to take the advice of 2 or 3 others before proceeding with anything so that all debt solutions can be discussed and you fully understand the difference between an IVA and a DMP. Both excellent debt remedies in their own right.
IVA final payment left the bank on the 26th January 2013...looking forward to a debt free future.
It is always a useful exercise to take a second opinion John, and whilst a lot of people will choose the advisor that they first speak to, many tell me that by comparing the advice with a couple of different firms that they get a much better feeling for how firms operate and how well they will be looked after within either a DMP or an IVA.
I was with CCCS and concluded my IVA not so long ago. They were fantastic with me, raising allowances with no argument, were quick to respond, and sent my termnation certificate out in weeks. Yes, they are indeed funded by the banks however I found them to be very fair. Commercial companies have their faults too, you need only read some of the critical posts on this forum.
That said, if I'd known then etc, I'd probably have chosen Melanie! Good luck.
That is good to hear an independent view of the IVA arm of CCCS from someone directly qualified to comment. I appreciate your comments about me Lord Soth, but am glad that you enjoyed good client service throughout your own IVA.
It's each to their own really and one size doesn't fit all so to speak. It's an individual arrangement with your creditors so although I'm with Melanie and can only speak highly of the service received I appreciate others are happy with other companies and have receive the same level of customer care I have always received.
Do shop around it's worth it in the long run, contact 2 or 3 companies and if you're still not happy make it 4 or 5. Homework done in the beginning can help towards a smooth IVA journey x
IVA final payment left the bank on the 26th January 2013...looking forward to a debt free future.
