When I took out my financial management plan with Harrington Brooks I was told my debt would be cleared in 10 years and I've been paying for 7.5 year's and now I've been informed that I have another 48 months to go so I've been misinformed from the beginning to get me to to take my plan out with them. Is the anything I can do about this.
A financial or debt management plan is never for a set period as it depends upon the continuing co-operation of each creditor and whether or not they decide to add in interest at any time, which they are free to do so. It is an informal solution, unlike an IVA which is much more rigid.
At the start the time frame looked likely, but things change.
My opinions are merely that .. opinions based on experience. Always seek professional advice.
IVA Completed 23rd July 2013 .... C.C. 10th January 2014
I am one of the team here at Freeman Jones (for IVAs) and Gregory Pennington (for DMPs). There are several reasons why a DMP can end up lasting longer than the original term. These include:
* Are some of the lenders in the plan still adding interest and charges to what you owe? Generally, with a DMP most lenders will agree to freeze further interest and charges but this isn't guaranteed.
* Have you reduced your payments at all over the term? This will add length to the plan. Similarly, if you have missed payments into your plan.
* Have you added any extra debts to your plan since it started?
* Were the balances correct at the start of the DMP? Often when we contact lenders at the start of the DMP we find that the actual debt balance is higher than the balance the customer told us. When customers start a DMP or IVA with us now we can run a credit search to get up to date balances, but this wasn't something that we could do back when you started your DMP.
If you'd like to drop me an email to ian.williams at GregoryPennington.com then we can have a look at your case and identify why your term has extended.
