Full and Final Settlement help needed.

2toomuch

I have been a 'watcher' of these forums for some time, but never had the confidence to take the plunge and post. I have now found more motivation to sort my debts than ever before ( in the form of an ambition to start a family), but fear that this is a long way off.

I have £36K in debt across 6 creditors and am a (mature) student nurse. This means that I receive a bursary to cover living expenses (which rules out any further benefits) of £561 pcm. As the course requires an average of 40+ hours per week across a full shift pattern, working extra around this is difficult and erratic so increasing income is not much of an option at the moment. I still have a year and a half left on my course and am currently paying £1pcm to each creditor and feel that this is a 'timebomb waiting to go off', as I will still be left with all this debt to sort out when I finish uni and start work - giving me no hope of a life!
There is a possibility that family members may be able to help out with full and final settlements, but funds are still very limited and I haven't seen much info on this recently - does this still happen? What is my best route? Or does anyone have any other suggestions?
Please help....many thanks.

Deep_In_Debt

Hi & Welcome

Are your debts still with the original creditors? Are you still managing to pay the minimum payments?

Sorry for the questions but I found it easier to negotiate good F&F settlement offers when I defaulted on the debts and they got passed to DCA's. I'd had difficulty meeting the monthly repayments.

It's worth contacting the creditors but not sure how accommodating they will be.

Good luck though.

2toomuch

Hi, thanks for your reply, not meeting minimum repayments - defaulted long ago (approx 2 yrs) and paying £1pcm to each creditor - all but one are now with collection agencies. Any idea what a realistic settlement figure is now?

milliemonster

From what I've heard (and I am no expert!) a lot of people start at around 30% and work up from there, if the debts are still with the original creditors they are highly unlikely to accept anything lest than around 80% but if they are now with DCA's they are easier to negotiate with.

You have to make sure that you word the letter correctly so that they don't think you secretly have the full amount to be able to pay it off, plus do they know your situation is likely to change in 18 months when you qualify? (I am a nurse myself) if they do then they may decline on the basis that once you are earning you will be in a better position financially to pay it all off

Kandipandi

I contacted all my creditors a couple of years ago after being on a DMP with the CCCS for a year and they all accepted full and final settlements. I started off offering them all 50% of the debt and when up to 75% but some accepted 50 and some held out. I told them how much i had and how much everyone wanted and most of them were very accommodating i got the letter templates off this site somewhere. Its worth a try - they might just bite your hand off. Nb. Lloyds TSB CC was the only one who wouldnt accept a !!!!!! so im still paying them (but without any interest) x At least if the loan comes from family it will be interest free (or low interest) but before you accept their offer are you confident that you can pay them back. This was a good route for me at the time and im so glad it is done. Good luck with this. Let us know how you get on x

Deep_In_Debt

Hi
I cleared two of mine that had gone to DCA's at 45% and 55% - the original creditors would accept nothing less than 70%. I'm on a DMP with CCCS, so I guess the fact that they knew I had been struggling helped.

I would suggest you start low and take it from there.

Good luck with it.