Full and final settlement help thread

Space182

sourcrates wrote: »

You can't be held liable to anything you say verbally over the phone, you should make your offer in writing, not verbally, you could lower your offer now due to them having no CCA.

They will not just close the account if you don't pay it, the debt still exists, and they will still ask you to pay it, it would be passed around different DCA's and you would have to fend them off each time.

If they wanted to be awkward, they could go to court and fight it out with you, most creditors do not do this if no CCA exists, it depends on the value of the debt, they may feel 11k is worth flexing there legal muscle for, it depends how far they are willing to chance there arm.

As far as I am aware you cant be defaulted, as there is no agreement in place to break the terms of.

Thank you sourcrates, much appreciated.

I have written to Nationwide requesting a modest reduction from 70% to 60% (due to lack of a CCA) and I've also requested confirmation that they will not give me a default notice as there is no agreement in place to break the terms of.

If they ultimately do put a default against my credit file, presumably I can approach the credit agencies to get this removed as there is no CCA. Has anyone had a success with this?

happy_bunny_2

They can default you. Even without a CCA.

I would be requesting confirmation in writing of your offer as well as confirmation of how the account will be reported to the CRAs. Default, late markers, or arrangement to pay.

Space182

Space182 wrote: »

Thank you sourcrates, much appreciated.

I have written to Nationwide requesting a modest reduction from 70% to 60% (due to lack of a CCA) and I've also requested confirmation that they will not give me a default notice as there is no agreement in place to break the terms of.

If they ultimately do put a default against my credit file, presumably I can approach the credit agencies to get this removed as there is no CCA. Has anyone had a success with this?

So, Nationwide came back and said that they do not hold CCAs for longer than 6 years for in accordance with the Data Protection Act - seems like waffle? They rejected my 60% offer so looks like 70% is as low as they are prepared to go. They have just defaulted me for not keeping up the minimum payment. I'm in two minds whether to just pay the 70% or let it go to a DCA (now they've defaulted me and the damage is done!) and then offer less than 70% (as they haven't got a CCA so threat of court is effectively worthless). Any advice please?

happy_bunny_2

They may have a policy of not keeping CCAs for more than 6 years.

I would just leave it, let it get sold to a DCA for pennies, then point out no CCA and settle for whatever you can. Starting at 10-15%. Should get much better than 70%.

Depends how happy you are fending off threatening letters.

Space182

happy_bunny wrote: »

They may have a policy of not keeping CCAs for more than 6 years.

I would just leave it, let it get sold to a DCA for pennies, then point out no CCA and settle for whatever you can. Starting at 10-15%. Should get much better than 70%.

Depends how happy you are fending off threatening letters.

Thanks Happy Bunny. Could I ask what further damage letting go to DCA would cause? Am I right in thinking that now they've defaulted me they can't do any worse?

What is involved in fending off threatening letters? Just ignoring them or will I have to be seen to respond to avoid court action?

Final question, has anyone managed to get a creditor to mark their credit file as fully satisfied after a partial settlement?

happy_bunny_2

Default is the worst they can do, unless you slip up.

You will have to respond to some letters, but its easy to pick out important ones versus the ones with 'may' 'consider' 'further action'. Its the ones that say 'will start court action' that are important. You can then defend if necessary, but unlikely.

usually though, photocopying the letter saying they have no CCA usually gets them to go away.

Likely it will get passed around a few DCAs to try collecting for them before the eventually sell it or give up.

sourcrates

Space182 wrote: »

Thanks Happy Bunny. Could I ask what further damage letting go to DCA would cause? Am I right in thinking that now they've defaulted me they can't do any worse?

What is involved in fending off threatening letters? Just ignoring them or will I have to be seen to respond to avoid court action?

Final question, has anyone managed to get a creditor to mark their credit file as fully satisfied after a partial settlement?

One debt of mine had no CCA, it was passed around 16 DCA's over a period of around 3 years, I saw off every single one of them with a letter bearing the following sentence,

"With regard to your letter dated xx/xx/xxxx, I must inform you that a CCA request was made to the original creditor, on xx/xx/xxxx but they were unable to provide one.
They informed me they do not hold a credit agreement for this account.
As such I regard this debt as been unenforcable, and unless you can prove otherwise, I don't expect to hear from you again with regard to this matter"

Space182

sourcrates wrote: »

One debt of mine had no CCA, it was passed around 16 DCA's over a period of around 3 years, I saw off every single one of them with a letter bearing the following sentence,

"With regard to your letter dated xx/xx/xxxx, I must inform you that a CCA request was made to the original creditor, on xx/xx/xxxx but they were unable to provide one.
They informed me they do not hold a credit agreement for this account.
As such I regard this debt as been unenforcable, and unless you can prove otherwise, I don't expect to hear from you again with regard to this matter"

Thank you sourcrates. This is really helpful. Did they eventually just write off the debt then or did you make them a low offer? Sounds like I should forget about their 70% offer!?

What appears on your credit file whilst the debt is being passed around the DCAs? Does it show repeated missed payments for the three years?

Zekko

Hi,

I wrote this in a seperate thread, but didn't get any responses, so hoping I will have a bit better luck in here.

I'm trying to help my mother out with an outstanding Barclaycard debt of around £5,000.
Initially Barclaycard would only make the offer verbally over the phone and would not provide written confirmation (saying it was not their policy).

I will be helping my mother with the debt since she currently has no way to pay this off by herself at the moment (she has no income, and I understand that the interest on the loan is currently frozen - with no payments being made).
I told my mum that for me to help her out I would need some sort of written confirmation/reassurance from Barclaycard about the agreed settlement amount (so they can't come back later and deny any agreement was reached).

My mum's managed to negotiate a settlement figure with Barclaycard of £1,600.
In her letter to Barclaycard she put the following conditions:

1. This offer is made as payment in full and final settlement of this account.
2. This offer is made on the clear understanding that, if accepted, neither you nor any associate company will take any other action to enforce or persue this debt in any way whatsoever and that I will be released from any liability.
3. I also request that, if accepted, you will make an entry on the credit reference agency file relating to the above account as having been "satisfied" in full and the account closed.

Well, Barclaycard have provided a letter in response to the above, which says:

Thank you for contacting us.
We are prepared, without prejudice, to accept £1,600.00 in full and final settlement of the debt, provided that they payment is made by 20 May 2015.
There are several ways to pay, all of which are fully detailed overleaf.

Can this letter be taken as sufficient written confirmation of the agreed settlement figure, and that they won't case or pass on the remaining debt?
Should my mum write back to get them to confirm the other points in her letter, in writing as well?
Does anyone else have any similar experiences?

Thanks for any help.

happy_bunny_2

Zekko wrote: »

Hi,

I wrote this in a seperate thread, but didn't get any responses, so hoping I will have a bit better luck in here.

I'm trying to help my mother out with an outstanding Barclaycard debt of around £5,000.
Initially Barclaycard would only make the offer verbally over the phone and would not provide written confirmation (saying it was not their policy).

I will be helping my mother with the debt since she currently has no way to pay this off by herself at the moment (she has no income, and I understand that the interest on the loan is currently frozen - with no payments being made).
I told my mum that for me to help her out I would need some sort of written confirmation/reassurance from Barclaycard about the agreed settlement amount (so they can't come back later and deny any agreement was reached).

My mum's managed to negotiate a settlement figure with Barclaycard of £1,600.
In her letter to Barclaycard she put the following conditions:

1. This offer is made as payment in full and final settlement of this account.
2. This offer is made on the clear understanding that, if accepted, neither you nor any associate company will take any other action to enforce or persue this debt in any way whatsoever and that I will be released from any liability.
3. I also request that, if accepted, you will make an entry on the credit reference agency file relating to the above account as having been "satisfied" in full and the account closed.

Well, Barclaycard have provided a letter in response to the above, which says:

Thank you for contacting us.
We are prepared, without prejudice, to accept £1,600.00 in full and final settlement of the debt, provided that they payment is made by 20 May 2015.
There are several ways to pay, all of which are fully detailed overleaf.

Can this letter be taken as sufficient written confirmation of the agreed settlement figure, and that they won't case or pass on the remaining debt?
Should my mum write back to get them to confirm the other points in her letter, in writing as well?
Does anyone else have any similar experiences?

Thanks for any help.

I think full and final settlement is ok.

Most companies wont say this and say 'Partially settled', in which case the points about setting the balance to zero and not selling on are more important.

HB