Settling account - Santander wants a lot of info about finances

bigsmall999 · 22 July 2017 at 5:48PM

Apologies if this isn't posted in the correct place.

I'm currently in the process of negotiating settlements and clearing several defaulted credit accounts. I have already settled two (at 26% and 35%; total original debt ~£3k), and have four left to clear. (total ~£16k).

One of the remaining accounts is a defaulted Santander loan, and the debt is currently owned and administered by them. I offered them a partial settlement and they have replied with a long, detailed form requesting info on (among other things): my income, my expenditures, other credit accts/debts, offers for settlement I've sent out for these accounts, etc.

So my question is, how should I respond to this? Am I legally obliged to inform Santander of these other debts and financial info? If I'm honest about my other debts, could this prejudice Santander against a settlement? Also, can they use my current income against me (you earn this much, therefore you could settle at a higher rate)?

Please advise!

redpete · 23 July 2017 at 8:49AM

Partial settlement implies you can't afford full payment. Seems reasonable for them to ask for evidence of this.

sourcrates · 23 July 2017 at 11:07AM

bigsmall999 wrote: »

So my question is, how should I respond to this? Am I legally obliged to inform Santander of these other debts and financial info? If I'm honest about my other debts, could this prejudice Santander against a settlement? Also, can they use my current income against me (you earn this much, therefore you could settle at a higher rate)?

Please advise!

Hi,

In this situation, your not obliged to fill in any forms or share any information, with anyone.

You can choose to fill in as much, or as little of the form as you deem necessary.

The purpose of the form is to establish that the offer you are making is affordable, so to avoid this, just say the money is a gift from a relative, only available for a short time, and if the price is right.

bigsmall999 · 23 July 2017 at 12:12PM

redpete wrote: »

Partial settlement implies you can't afford full payment. Seems reasonable for them to ask for evidence of this.

I wasn't questioning whether it's reasonable for them to ask, rather what the best course of action is for me.

sourcrates wrote: »

Hi,

In this situation, your not obliged to fill in any forms or share any information, with anyone.

You can choose to fill in as much, or as little of the form as you deem necessary.

The purpose of the form is to establish that the offer you are making is affordable, so to avoid this, just say the money is a gift from a relative, only available for a short time, and if the price is right.

Thanks for your reply.

I already said on my settlement offer letter that it's a gift from a relative etc. So in my reply to their letter, should I reiterate these points and refuse to offer any other information?

Settling account - Santander wants a lot of info about finances

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