If you are working out your Debt Management Plan (DMP) living expenses budget we explain what allowance you can include for your pets.

Before you start a DMP one of the most important things to do is calculate your living expenses budget. It is critical that you get your living expenses right as this will form the basis of the decision about how much you can afford to pay your creditors each month.

As such if you have pets at home it is important to remember them when putting together your budget. However what you include must be reasonable. If you include figures which your creditors feel are unreasonably high they are unlikely to agree with your payments and may continue to add interest and charges to your account balances.

What expenditure on pets is reasonable in a DMP?

If you are a pet owner your creditors will understand that you need to budget a reasonable amount each month to keep your pets. You need to pay for pet food and possibly other expenses such as bedding or insurance.

A budget for pets which is considered reasonable by most creditors is c£30 pounds a month. This may or may not be sufficient for your needs. It is likely to be to low if you have a number of pets for example a couple of large dogs.

However because if you use this type of debt solution means you will still be required to pay back everything you owe your creditors will normally be prepared to be flexible where things like pet living expenses are concerned. For this reason, an increase in the amount you budget for your pets will normally be acceptable as long as you can justify it.

Do you want help to start a DMP? Give us a call on 0800 077 6180 or complete the form below to speak to one of our experts

Is any amount of pet expenditure unreasonable in a DMP?

Ultimately there are no limits to the pet expenses you can say you need when proposing a DMP. For this reason you can use the solution even if you need to pay for very expensive pets. An example of this might be a horse which could cost £200+ a month to keep.

However you need to understand that it is in your interests to pay as much as you can each month back to your creditors. The higher your expenses are, the lower your creditor payment will be and the longer it will take you to pay off your debt.

BMD Tip: If your creditors do not agree with the expenses budget you propose this does not mean that your Plan cannot continue  because you can start paying the reduced payments regardless. However you might find that the creditors who do not agree are likely to continue their collection activities and continue to add interest and charges to your account.

You should try to pay as much as you can into your DMP

Ultimately if you need to use a DMP it is because you cannot afford to maintain your normal monthly debt repayments each month. The plan will allow these payments to be reduced but you must remember that you will still have to repay all of your debt. As such the more you can pay the faster your Plan will finish.

If you have expensive pets it might therefore be wise to give these up to enable you to pay your debts faster and become debt free sooner. However if you are unable or unwilling to do this you can still include the expenses you need to cover their cost.

If your creditors do not agree with this your Plan can still be put in place. However without your creditor’s support you may find that paying off your debt is a lot more difficult with the additional interest and charges that may be added.