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Topic starter
22/05/2017 4:40 pm
Hoping someone on here can help! My husband and I have been in a DAS since July 2013. As we get closer to paying it off I have been calculating how much we still owe to see if we could settle the debt any earlier.
The problem is when I have reviewed our credit reports they show that we owe around £1300 more than what I have calculated. In addition to that one of my husband's debts has been settled in full last August and that a large sum of money (around £1300 funnily enough) was paid towards the creditor in one month.
I have contacted the company that runs our DAS and asked them for a full breakdown of what we owe but I was wondering if anyone else has had experience of this or could explain how DAS payments work? In reviewing my credit report it seems that payments towards my creditors are much more sporadic than the regular monthy payments I thought they would be getting. I am now worried that the company we pay £45 a month to manage has messed up and we'll get to the end of the DAS still owing money!
Any advice will be much appreciated 🙂
23/05/2017 9:11 am
Hi Bluerobin.
I think some creditors simply haven't put the resources into properly administering accounts that are included in a DAS. Perhaps, from their perspective, it's a scheme operated in just one part of the UK and which isn't used by enormous numbers of people.
Because of that, I'm not sure that it's wise to rely on the balances that they're reporting to the credit reference agencies when you work out how long you have left or how much you still owe.
For example, one of the issues is that the "payment distributor" will be taking a percentage of your monthly payment, but this should not diminish the speed that your balances are reducing. However, unless a creditor makes the appropriate adjustment in their reporting, it will probably look like you owe more than you actually do.
I think it's best to rely on the reporting that the operator of your DAS can provide to you, rather than paying too much heed to what's on your credit report. Creditors can say that you owe more than you do on your credit report, but it doesn't mean that you actually owe it to them.
Qualified Debt Adviser & Forum Administrator - Ask me anything about Trust Deeds 
23/05/2017 9:24 am
The thing to bear in mind is that whilst the Debt Arrangement Scheme guarantees that you cannot be charged interest and charges, and whilst it also forces creditors to bear the payment distributor and AIB costs in administering the scheme, this is only binding on creditors if you successfully complete the Debt Payment Programme.
As such, many creditors will continue to add interest and charges so that the balance accurately reflects what they are entitled to pursue if the DPP was to break down (ie if you do not complete your payments). Once you successfully complete the DPP then creditors have to write off whatever balance is showing. Until this point then I'm afraid that looking at your credit report will not be very helpful in understanding where you stand.
Scottish Debt Solutions Expert - Ask me for help setting up a Scottish Trust Deed or Debt Arrangement Scheme plan.
Topic starter
23/05/2017 12:45 pm
Thank you both for your responses. Its reassuring (or not) to know that my credit file may not be accurate, I didn't realise our creditors would continue to add charges and interest.
I'll wait for the breakdown from our DAS operator for the true picture of where we are at. We've just over a year left so not long to go now!
