Debt Arrangement Scheme

A question about : Debt Arrangement Scheme

Hey All

Am new on here - decided to share my story....

I have always been pretty poor with managing my money. Since university have taken every credit card/overdraft/storecard/loan i could get my hands on and over the years things have taken their toll. I did get a handle on it a few years back but it seemed never ending.

I earn a decent wage but never had anything left at the end of the month and was often incurring bank charges.

Had a baby in February last year and things really went to pot. To cut a long story short I told my sister of my troubles and she told me to look into the DAS. I contacted my local money advice centre - in Edinburgh on the bridges.

To be fair, that experience was a bit grim and I felt really stupid talking about my problems but the woman I spoke to did recommend me to the Debt Arrangement Scheme - bizarrely though she couldn't answer all my questions. And Edinburgh doesn't have an Approved Money Advisor employed so I had to be referred to a private Money Advisor. I was told by the council office that the charge might be around Ј500 - err well its turned out it Ј2k!!
But there are alot of benefits...

So i had my meeting in November and took in all my paperwork - finally opened a lot of mail which i had been ignoring for quite some time. We went through all the figures and came up with a timescale and an amount i can afford. It went through in December and its such a relief to know its done. But - its also a relief thats there is no way i can take out any more debt! Finally learning my lesson.
No more calls from citifinancial, rbs or any others!!
And i don't have to tell any more lies to my husband! Am hoping 2010 will be a new fresh start for me and my finances!!

The DAS scheme worked for me as i only wanted to focus on my debts - and not include my husband - these debts aren't his. And it isn't tied to my house in anyway. And its reasonably flexible - so long as i maintain contact with my debt advisor.

Was a bit annoyed about the fee thing - but under the DAS all charges, fees and interest are frozen so long as i maintain my payments. And 2k is less than what i would have been paying on a consolidation loan or something similar!

So - hopefully in 5 years and 11 months i'll be debt free - fingers crossed for me!

If anyone is thinking of this route and wants to ask me any questions - please msg me - will be happy to help if i can!

Best answers:

• Are you sure about the costs, i have used my local CAB and they do not charge a penny to set up the DAS. I think the money distributer will take 10%, but this is taken from the creditors
  FF
• Unfortunately - yes. If i lived in a different region it would be free if a money advisor was employed by the council. Its a sore point as I know it should be free!
• 5 years 11 months doesn't seem that long in the scheme of things. I'm glad you got that sorted out. Here's to your fresh start! Welcome to the board.
• Great to hear you got yourself sorted out, although I too am surprised at the fee.
  My husband has a DAS - which cost nothing to set up, we stay just outside Glasgow, it was set up by our local Welfare Rights office.
  Anyway all the very best and here's to 5yrs 11months.
• we live just outside glasgow,our DAS never cost a penny to get up and running,although it did take a while to set up,but we start making payments at the end of this month,we started the ball rolling in september,most of the phone call have stopped and we are currently getting only one or two,we just thank them for calling and refuse to talk over the phone,then we get out local CAB to call them,a ton less stressful than prior to september,my wife will be dept free in under 3 years and i will be dept free in less than 8,intrest is frozen and they cant apply charges i am led to believe,although i have notices A&L credit card and EGG are still trying to apply charges to my accounts even though they are aware of the DAS,i think it is a case they are not on top of scottish law,,,what ever way i would recommend a DAS,dont put it off get things sorted,you will have to ajust your lifestyle but it will be worth it in the end,we made it through xmas for the first time without credit cards,and still had a good xmas,the secret is planning,and planning is what we are going to do from now on,already saving for xmas next year,the way out parent used to do it,remember.....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  best of luck
• The DAS is perfect for someone like you NewMummy (oh and congrats on that too) as you say - it's specific to you (as I guess all formal arrangements in Scotland are) but more importantly you do not have to address the fact that you own a property or release any equity etc ...
  The fee is pretty hefty - do you mind me asking if this company just charged Ј2k and passed you on to someone else to see out the course of the DAS or are they supervising it as well (at least if they're going to be doing almost 6 years work on it you won't feel SO bad ...) but unfortunate all the same.
  Would it have been an option to do the commute to Glasgow - surely you don't have to go to Edinburgh Money Advice just because you live there and more importantly if they do not offer the facility! This is a position that Edinburgh really need to fill I'd say!
  BUT at the end of the day - it's sorted, it's paid and that's that ... happy 2010 NewMummy
• Just a short update, DAS got approved last week ,just getting all the paper work sorted. Was pleasantly surprised as it will be for 13 years and I heard that anything over 10 was doubtful.
  Just trying to get the exact balances, as the DAS agreement has different figures than the CCCS statement or the actual statement supplied by the creditor !! but only minor differences, at the best it might reduce the term by 2 months.
  For a while had a few thoughts about converting from my DMP to a DAS, as my creditors had been a bit quiet, however at least I get peace of mind on the DAS, in that no charges and interest had be added.
  Has anybody on a DAS ever had any creditors trying to add charges etc ?
  FF
• Hi there everyone
  First time i've posted.
  After coping with debt for effectively the last 8 years i've finally come to breaking point. I'm now unable to meet my min payments and the stress of not knowing what might happen is making me ill. That and the fact i am in a job that I may well lose due to this should my creditors go for bankruptcy is making my life a living hell.
  Have been to see my local CAB and have a meeting tomorrow with the likely outcome its looking like the option of the DAS. Can anyone tell me how they found this process and how long it took, also how their creditors were with it?
  Finding it pretty hard to cope just now so any advice would be welcome.
• The DAS process for my husband was quite straight forward, as far as I can remember.
  The man from Welfare Rights went through a SOA, with us, then went through all my husbands (rather large) debts.
  OH gave WR all the debt details, ie account nos, etc and signed a permission consent for WR to act on his behalf, and that was it.
  The info was sent to the AiB and the DAS was approved. The last step was setting up a DD to PayPlan each month to pay the DAS.
  Later on it came to light that my OH had kept a cheeky wee debt all to himself, which he couldn't pay so after a fair amount to nagging from me, we went back to WR who arranged for the DAS man to visit again, and he was granted a variation to add in the additional debt.
  It was all very straight forward for him - and we're talking debts in excess of Ј80,000!!!
  Good luck Bat31 - get some advice - we found Welfare Rights just fabulous, once you take that first step the mist will begin to clear.
  MPx
• frankfish, as I understand it from my own DAS money adviser, interest and charges continue to be added by your creditors, but once you've paid off the whole initial amount, they're all written off at the end of the DAS - she warned me I might continue to see them on statements.
  BTW I'm just going through the initial stages of a DAS with my local council money adviser (free!). This after seven months struggling with a DMP where the creditors mostly wouldn't stop interest or charges - my debt has increased from Ј80k to Ј85k, even though I've paid back around Ј3.5k in seven months, and my money adviser was doing the negotiations. I just hope the DAS is accepted as I too am looking at 13 years in the first instance (although from next year my OH will be working after finishing training, and it'll drop to about three years)
• Hi there, I have never heard of the DAS. My husband has five credit cards (and this is the second time he has done this, the first time he ran up Ј60 and we added onto our Mortgage which is terrible cos we can only pay the interest on it) anyway he now owes Ј18.500 and we have been refused loans, think cos he keeps moving the c cards about and I dont want/cant afford to add it on to the mortgage so we dont know what to do. We have been trying to get one of the c cards quashed but that has already taken 8 months and we are paying into that one along Ј133.00 per month (Ј90 interest) could DAS help us, we seem to have enough money to pay everything off when I look at the monthly figures it looks tight but ok but even with budgeting we still cant pay off our two Ј3,300 o/drafts and my husbands c cards even enough to let us pay more than just the interest on our mortgage. I would hate to move, is this the answer, we have 3 children and the stress is terrible. My husband doesnt seem able to cope and cant even go and get another job to pay off his debts, help what can I do.
  Quote:
• Sorry that should have said he ran up Ј60,000. not Ј60.00
  I just wish my husband would earn a bit more at the weekends, but I can never see him trying that hard! he just seem to have given up with me, with everying....
• Sorry I should have explained better, we have one o-draft of Ј2,500 and another of Ј1,300. My husband has ccard debts of Ј16,200 and we havent paid our mortgage(other than the interest) for the last three years. I have tried everything, i.e. second jobs, budgeting but nothing seems to help, i feel so sorry for my children, who keep hearing us fighting, but my husband just wont try to get a w-end job or try to help the situation he seems to have lost it pretty much and maybe I would be better off without him. I have stuck my him for the last ten years since he last ran up Ј60,000, which we also could pay and had to add onto the mortgage. Nothing ever changes, I now have all his c cards and his bank card but he still buys Itunes here and there, will he ever grow up? does anyone have any suggestions?
• [QUOTE=poorpeople What is hubby spending on? 60k plus 18k ?
• Awh Poor People - you sound like you're at the end of your tether
  First and foremost, don't make any rash decisions with regards to your marriage - you've lasted this long and if anything can put a strain on a marriage it's certainly MONEY MATTERS .. and usually is
  I can understand that you want your husband to be a bit more PROactive in tackling HIS debts (rather than just you) but some people really do bury their heads in the sand. Taking on a p/t job for some people is just regarded as something they HAVE TO DO if they do not have sufficient income to cover outgoings but I'm not sure what your situation is like - is he already working 37-40 hrs per week and feels he couldn't do any more on top of this.
  Is there any equity in the home?
  You've added Ј60k to the mortgage so how much is the property worth? And how much is your total mortgage now including the Ј60k?
  It might be worth considering the likes of a Trust Deed (3 year plan to address debts) but with limited information it would be hard to determine if this would be suitable or not...
  DAS is similar to the Debt Management Plan in UK (Scotland too) except that the DAS is government scheme (monitored by Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) who also regulates Trust Deeds & Bankruptcies) - the main difference between DMP & DAS is that the DAS provides protection over your assets i.e. if you have a property with Ј50k equity - and your debts are only Ј22k then technically you're not insolvent BUT you may not want to touch the equity in your property ..
  If you stop paying creditors then they may put an inhibition on your property whereby you wouldn't be able to sell or remortgage without paying their debt in full first - the DAS means that you will make a monthly payment to yours creditors until ALL your debts are cleared but your property / car etc are all secured. You do not have to release equity or sell your home.
  Once you sign up to DAS you must repay all of your debts - you cannot opt to do a Trust Deed 3 years down the line.]
  All interest and charges are stopped and ALL monies go straight to creditors to deduct from your balance (that is with CAB or Money Advice) there are SOME companies who will charge a % each month for maintaining DAS but you can find someone to do it for you FREE of charge.
  Remember that Insolvency in Scotland - be it DAS, Trust Deed or Sequestration (bankruptcy) is all treated on a individual basis therefore if debts are in your husband's name only then he will have to sign this - you can't do it for him. But it looks like he needs a solution and he needs to commit to taking no further credit - if he's only paying one monthly payment (and having someone else distribute it among his many creditors) then life should go back to how it once was ... and hopefully it will be more pleasant for you too ...
  You might even get to go out for dinner once in a while and get things back on track ...
  One last thing - with regards to the equity in your home - if debts are ONLY in husbands name then only 50% of equity would be attributed to him (that is presuming that the property is in both your names ...)
  Cheer Up PP - there are solutions and hopefully you'll get one and get sorted once and for all x
• Choo choo i know we've had our jousts, but i know nothing of Scot law and I've learned a lot, it sounds good advice but of course I can't comment as I don't know. (That was not meant to detract from your reply by the way.)
• I was wondering if anyone could tell me if a DAS can be a joint programme? My husband and I have joint unsecured debts of approx Ј58000, we are worried sick about this as we have been making minimum payments from savings but these have now run out. We would hope to make an arrangement before things get any worse for us. We have looked into DMP with CCCS but it seems like we would be paying for around 12 years and there is a distinct possibility interest would still be being added to this. We have a "Drop In" appt at citizens advice tomorrow, so hopefully should be a bit clearer then
• DAS cannot be proposed JOINTLY I'm afraid, No.
  It falls under similar legislation to that of Trust Deeds and Sequestration therefore your affairs are taken on an individual basis.
  You could do 2 separate DAS - that is if you can afford to make a payment each month. Go to your appointment tomorrow and see what advice they give you.
  I presume you are a homeowner if you're looking @ DAS?
  The time scale won't differ TOO much from that of a DMP because you are still committing to paying back 100% of your debts (albeit with interest and charges stopped)
  If CCCS are saying that a DMP would take 12 years then this means that they were asking you to pay just over Ј400 per month jointly - and this is with NO CHARGES / INTEREST / FEES ...
  So strictly speaking a DAS would take a similar timescale = 12 years if you're able to afford Ј200 each (or Ј150 & Ј250) - one might finish sooner than the other. Lesser payments = longer term BUT if you have a property that you do not wish to release equity from then this might be an option worth considering.
  IF NO PROPERTY - then other options to consider would be a Trust Deed or Sequestration (bankruptcy in Scotland) ...
  I hope this isn't too long-winded Worrier ... I have a tendency to go on a bit ... but if I've forgotten to mention anything please just ask x