Stepchange DMP

[LanaL]

Has anyone ever had a DMP with Stepchange ?
What type of amount have you had to pay monthly ? I just did a calculator and it suggested I pay £500 which is impossible!
Altogether I have around £15k debt. The bulk is credit. I’m at a point now where I feel like I’m not living …. I am a teacher , but I left a permanent post due to the affect on my mental health and went in supply but the nature of supply ( not guaranteed , no pay in holidays ) coupled with the few months I had out of work led to me rely heavily on credit and it got worse. I think I have a bit of a problem with spending , I have thought that over the years . I hide what I spend , I waste money with credit , I gamble. I’m now using short term unregulated credit like klarna etc a lot and I’m just really struggling through .

Also, do they take husbands income in to account? As I want to do it alone - he obviously pays for things and that would be reflected in my outgoings but I would prefer to keep it as mine.

Any advice appreciated.

It will be considered marital debt

No such thing as marital debt unless you are looking to divorce and then the courts can decide to take it into account as part of a settlement. So ignore the first poster.

Is all the debt in your name? Not joint? And do you have any joint credit products (e.g. mortgage,) with your husband?

If all in your name then you can do the dmp without him. Stepchange will ask for his income/expenses as part of understanding your budget but you don't have to give these.

If you do have any joint credit products then entering into any kind of debt management will impact on your husband's credit file.

You don't need to give information about your husband's salary. They consider different circumstances, you might as well say that your husband's isn't aware of it, you don't share finances etc. and you only provide your salary and your spendings.

If you've done the calculator but don't feel the amount is correct then phone Stepchange to discuss with an advisor.

You might not have filled it out 100% correctly, you may have missed something, there may be releydetails the calculator doesn't capture. The advisor can check through it with you, give more detailed advice, amend if necessary and answer any questions.

If you owe money everywhere you are probably paying more than £500 a month anyway ? Stepchange are one of the good ones, they should hopefully get the interest stopped so you can pay it down quicker.

Hey, hope this helps.

I had 21k Debt was paying over £600 a month to different debts.

I did the calculator and the maths was way off with it!

Spoke with Stepchange who go through all outgoings and budget realistically so you can still have a life I only paid back £300 a month and you can have it lower, it spends your circumstances. It won’t be as much as you think, trust me.

*depends

I have similar debt, I pay 150 pm to stepchange . My husband isn't taken into account.

I did it all online with them.

I did a DMP with StepChange, it lasted 6 years but was totally worth it. Its now 3 years after I finished paying it all off and my credit score is now excellent.

You need to be realistic about the budget and make sure you include all your expenses, include fun/luxury things like haircuts, nights out etc as you need to be able to sustain the payments.
It gets reviewed every year, or if your circumstances change, but basically all income not accounted for in the budget will go towards the debt.

I'm looking at this process. The amount SC consider available for repayment is directly related to the figures you input for income/outgoings. So if £500 is unrealistic have you missed something from your outgoings?

I have used StepChange in the past for a DMP. They were incredible, so so kind and not at all judgemental . Give them a call, they are beyond helpful and can chat through your situation and go through all your debts, income and outgoings and hopefully come up with a solution for you. They will be able to advise more accurately than the calculator.

Your husband is not taken I to account, the first poster is totally wrong.

Do be aware though that if you have any financial connections then his credit rating could suffer- you need to really research this. My partner went on a DMP.and we closed down our joint bank account first.

Your credit rating will be awful, but you can build it up.

You can do a DMP yourself by doing the negotiations with your creditors, there is actually no need to involve an outside agency.

Have a look on Monry Saving Expert Debt Free Wanabee. Lots of others on there in your situation who can help you.

Im just looking into this but scared i wont then be able to renew my mortage or car finance. Plus i have read that creditors can still take you to court for the money. Any advice please

@Mydogsmylife @LanaL head over to the Money Saving Expert - Debt Free Wannabe board, they are a million and one times more helpful with this kind of stuff than mn (usually - I see here people have been really useful actually!)

DFW board are well versed in this, there's people there with £70k+ debts so you're in a safe space. MN is very debt averse, which in itself isn't usually a problem but often when people come here looking for advice they often get judged and questioned rather than assisted.

Well, anything including finances, such as a mortgage, will look at your record.

Would second this. Excellent advice.

@Boomer55 for example is completely incorrect - switching your mortgage product to a new fixed rate with your existing provider does not involve looking at your credit record and so is not a problem when on a dmp. If you fix for 5 years then you’ll be either clear or close to it by the time your 2nd renewal comes up.

DFW board - honestly will be so helpful, it was for us.