My wife and I are in our late 50;s ans In May of 2006 I was taken very ill and had to give up work and my wife also gave up full time work to look after me although we had PPI none of them would pay out so in desperation we used the services of a debt management company and paid them a fee of over £1000.00 and then a monthly payment of which they also take a fee this at a time of worry and stress gave us some peace of mind and now although still ill and unable to work again I started to look at our debts and discovered that some of them had been sold on but they had all accepted the monthly payment plan but when I looked more carefully some where charging a monthly payment protection fee and some had started to charge interest where interest was not being charged before as per the repayment plan When I asked the debt management company why all this was being now charged some of the charges go back over a year they told me they could do it and it was up to me to contact the my debt companies trouble is where the debts have all been sold on I do not have all there details even through I have asked for them from the Debt management firm for them and a statement of what is owed and to who and any interest ,fees etc now being charged to my debts as I was advised that all interest would be frozen so how can this debt manage management company say they are managing our debt when I owe more now and every month it is going up even more does anybody else had any sort of problems like this as I feel we have been mugged by them and all we want is a list of whom we owe , how much , so we can move to a free debt advice company and try and recover some of the fees we paid and stop the interest thenks for any advice on this

Visit one of the free charitable organisations below, they will be used to ending DMP's with dodgy companies and securing the return of funds that you should not have paid, they will thern set up a plan that ensures all of your money actually reaches your creditors and reduces the debt.

http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/

http://www.cccs.co.uk/

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/

http://www.payplan.com/

http://www.insolvencyhelpline.co.uk/

Thanks for your reply thats just what I intend to do but they need to know who we owe our debts to and how much is now owed and the only persons who know this are the debt management firm and although I asked for a fullstement from them I had nothing and the way its going for evey pound I ams now paying to them less there fee my debt is going up by X 30 due to the interest and fees which have now been added on which nobody told me about only that the varous debt companies had accepted the repayment package put to them by the debt management company so we thought that at least people where getting some repayment not a lot but at least we are not hiding from our debts and paying what was agreed now we owe loads more and we dont even know to whom or how much now

Inform the DMP you are ceasing all payments to them with immediate effect, until they provide the full itemised breakdown lists you require.!

They will soon co-operate when they realise you are serious and have stopped paying anything to them. Once you do have the necessary information... go to any of the organisations above, to set up a new plan and secure the return of any funds you overpaid to the old incompetent DMP company.

I have been dealing with Payplan, they do not charge a fee and all your available money goes to your debts. They only deal with unsecured debts - not mortgage secured loans, overdraft etc. I pay Payplan via standing order a set amount each month which goes towards debts. Most companies have stopped charging now that they have received our Letter of Authority and Statement of Affairs which clearly shows our position. Only one or two still charging but they may pass to Collection Agency. Payplan will call you to work out a sensible budget and then start contacting your creditors. They have an online facility called Justabank where you can register and keep an eye on payments. Eventually all letters will slow but creditors can still contact you under a DMP.

I would not worry as there is little they can do - you can only afford to pay what you can. If you agree what you can afford they have little power in a court and will just look stupid if they take you to court (which I am almost certain they will not). The main thing is to pay your mortgage and other utilities first. If you have say £180+ left per month they should be able to help you. Do not panic. As you sort yourself out you can negotiate with the creditors to pay back say just 20% of your debt in full and final settlement. It is not your fault you are in debt. Everyone has some kind of debt. I am in debt for the first time in my life due to the mess of the banks etc. and my husband's job situation. If you need any further info please ask. Some of our debts are huge but I no longer panic as I know I am at least paying something and not ignoring it. Believe me, I felt very low at one point. Once you understand how these banks and other institutions operate, you will become more relaxed about the situation.