Hi arab6767.

Yes - you'll be asked to provide documentation evidencing your income and expenditure.

It varies according to the detailed circumstances of any particular case, but I think a nervousness tends to creep in if a DAS looks like it will run for much longer than ten years.

It will depend on your creditors, but I'd say anything up to 10 years has got a chance. The closer you are to that 10-year point though then the more potential for creditors to start objecting.

Thanks Kevin, I'd hope to keep it to 9 years maximum. I've never missed a payment, don;t know if that makes a difference.
Just that the debt and the interest have become too much to cope with. I'm more than willing to accept that it's my debt and it's my responsibility to pay it back. But preferably without the risk of the house being involved.

That makes sense. There is no right or wrong route to take - as long as you are informed about all of your options and what would be involved then it is up to you what you prefer.

The unknown part is of course whether creditors will accept your proposals. In a DAS the more you pay, the lower the term and the higher the chance of acceptance from all of your creditors. If any of your creditors reject the proposals then it would go to the DAS Administrator for them to decide whether the proposals are "fair and reasonable" at which point if your expenditure figures are in excess of the normal acceptable limits then you would really have to give a good justification as to why.

It's fair enough if you think about it - if one or more creditors is being forced to freeze interest and accept repayment over a longer period then the DAS Administrator is going to want to be sure that you are paying as much as you can afford.

Yes I can understand that. But at the same time wouldn't creditors be happier that a debtor is willing to pay their debts in full over a longer period, rather than entering a trust deed or going bankrupt?
Have you much experience of creditors refusing a DAS?

You are probably right, arab6767. Only way to find out is to give it a try.

HMRC often refuse DAS proposals I find, but generally speaking most creditors will accept as long as they are reasonable offers.

Hi guys, haven't been on here for a while and thought I'd share what's been happening over the last couple of months.
I came clean about the debts to my wife a couple of weeks before Christmas and she has been amazing. I've had several meetings with Citizens Advice and yesterday we applied for my DAS so its fingers crossed all of my creditors accept it.
The advice I'd give to anyone reading this and it was the advice I've had from yourselves... if you are struggling with debt speak to your creditors. I've amassed huge gambling debts and was honest and upfront with all 7 creditors, which are all credit card companies. All of my balances have been frozen and no interest is being charged now. A couple of them even offered to arrange counselling for my gambling problems. I couldn't believe how good they have all been.
I have a long road ahead of paying off debts however the difference between my life only 2 months ago and now is incredible. Just because I opened up and spoke to people and faced my debts head on.
I'll keep this thread updated with how my DAS is going.
Thanks again for all of your advice David, Kevin and everyone else that has commented.

That's wonderful to hear arab6767. I'm so pleased that you've taken these positive steps to make things better.

We do so often hear from people that they get loads of support from family when they open up about something they've concealed for a long time.

It's great to hear also that your creditors have been supportive. The debt collection (and debt advisory) sector has become much more aware in recent years that many of their customers are in really quite vulnerable positions. They've also been subject to more regulatory scrutiny about how they work with customers addressing issues that aren't just financial. This awareness and scrutiny really seems to be feeding through now to people being better supported while they take the steps that they need to take.

Please do let us know how things progress for you.

Hi all, just a quick progress update,

My DAS was approved a couple of months ago and although I have years ahead of paying off my debts, it's now one affordable monthly payment. Still get the odd letter from Creation who have been charging me interest but spoke with the DAS administrator who was going to write to them to remind them of the terms of the agreement.

My life is back on track. For anyone coming on to this site looking for help or inspiration, my life was in a terrible state only 6 months ago but with the advice of people on this website things have completely turned round. It can be done.

Good for you arab6767 and thank you for sharing your experience.

Don't worry too much about Creation. They can write in a statement that they're charging you interest, but they cannot and you don't owe them it (so long as you stick to the terms of the DAS).

You've come a long way in a few months.

Great news Creation (like the username too!)

Great to hear that arab6767. Thanks for sharing the benefit of your experience - I am sure there are many reading this that will take a lot of optimism from your posts.

Hi guys, got a quick query that you may be able to help with.

Since I took out my DAS 6 months ago my payments have been coming out fine and dispersed among the 6 credit card companies as arranged.

However what I was told is that the credit cards will all default which will obviously affect my credit rating, to be expected. However the 2 cards I have with Barclaycard and another couple don't appear to be defaulting. The cards are showing as suspended on the online accounts but the minimum payments showing as what I now pay them monthly from my DAS. Is this common and will this not be a problem for building my credit rating in the future?

Hi arab6767.

I'm afraid I'm not sure how common this is.

With trust deeds I think there's clear guidance that accounts should be defaulted and that this shouldn't happen (the date used for the default notice) after the trust deed began.

I don't know whether this is also the case with DAS; it might be different I guess given that it isn't insolvency. You could contact the Information Commissioner's Office if you want a definitive answer.

How long is your DAS due to run for? It's perfectly possible that Barclaycard will formally default the debt at some point in the future that doesn't restrict your future ability to access credit once you're free of the DAS restrictions on doing that.

Hi TDA,
Just the next 11 years.... to be honest credit is the last thing from my mind and I'll be mid 50's by then so won't
really have any requirement for credit but just wondered as I like to know what's going on.
I'll make a few enquiries with the administrator and see what they say.
Thanks