Need help with Halifax full and final settlement

powdrfingr

Hi - I have posted this elsewhere but I really need some advice.

Hi there - I recently found out my dad, at 73 years old, has incurred debts of about £44000 with 11 different creditors. For the past 5 years his memory has been deteriorating and he has recently sought medical help for what he believes is alzheimers, although this is not yet diagnosed. He certainly has some form of dementia which has affected his judgement and memory, and he is undergoing various tests to show what the problem is.

In the meantime I have contacted the CCCS and he is now on a debt management plan with them. At the same time he has cashed in his only endowment (he has a mortgage of £60k) which yielded £27k and I have submitted full and final settlement offers to the creditors proportionately (works out at approximately 62% of the overall figure).

Most of the creditors have come back favourably but we are still left with 3 creditors to convince. Far and away the biggest debt is to the Halifax at about £16k. They have steadfastly refused full and final settlement. It looks like a great deal of the debt is through having used credit card cheques to make payments to the other creditors, and subsequently he's been paying 27% interest on much of his Halifax debt. He didn't realise this at the time and has been unable to understand how his debt has grown so big.

The stress of the debt has sent him into depression, and my mum is following suit. While the debt management plan has been a good fallback far and away the best option for my mum and dad is to get rid of the debt through settlement. To be honest I believe the Halifax have not acted in a socially responsible manner (fancy giving a 73 year old on a state pension a £15k card limit) and have been evasive and unhelpful in my dealings with them. I also think it would be in the best interests of the Halifax to accept the settlement as I can't imagine they would see it all paid off over the long term, such is the state of my dad's health. I can top up their offer to a certain degree but cannot give enough to pay the debt off permanently, but I'm desperate to see them rid of this debt.

Does anyone have any advice on how I can pursue the Halifax in a constructive way that would see them accepting a lower amount? Thank you for any advice you can give

nomis131276

Some times the way F&F's are hadled are contrary. Maybe waiting and re-offering the same might work. I've had a client with a 65% F&F offer accepted with Halifax but had to show that Insolvency was the other option. You could stop paying them anything in the hope they pass the debt on to a collection agency who may take a lower offer, but risk Halifax trying to get a charging order against the house. If they know about the house that could be why because they know they can secure against it and so are prepared to hold out for a higher offer. Do cccs not handle the F&F procedure for you?

stapeley

I advise a visit to a solicitor who deals with debt problems . It could be money well spent . The circumstances of granting these credit cards etc are very dubious. If they are unsecured surely a Judge would be unlikely to side with these loan companies .

powdrfingr

Thanks for your advice so far..the cccs advised they didn't handle final settlements. I don't think waiting much longer would help either as the stress is crippling them both - the prospect of the debt being passed to a collection agency, or possibly losing the house, would really upset them.

I wondered about going to a solicitor but understood that the terms and conditions of the credit card agreement were pretty watertight - does anyone have any further experience of this?

sunnybubble

you realy need legal advice - your parents should be entitled to lagal aid, as these lending antics seem unethical.try and hold the creditors up with payplan( as long as you pay 1% of the ballance, its usually ok),
also go on national debtline' web site( or phone them for advice-08088084000) go on the debt advice link look for factsheet 24 - full and final settlement offers.