Full and final settlement help thread

January2015

Lovetobedebtfree wrote: »

Does anyone know how long it takes once you do a F&F for your credit score to improve and does it improve dramatically?

Debts remain on your credit reference files until either 6 years after date of last payment OR 6 years after date of default. After that they disappear completely from your credit file.

So.... if you make an F&F and the debt was not already defaulted (unlikely, but it could occur in theory), then the debt will disappear 6 years after the date of the F&F.

If you make an F&F and the WAS defaulted already, then the debt will disappear 6 years from the date of the default - regardless of when the F&F was paid.

It's only when these poor debts disappear from your credit files that your credit score will start to improve. However, you need to forget about the relevance of credit scores. They are numbers made up by credit reference agencies and lenders will make their own decisions based on their own criteria.

slm6002

I am almost debt free but I have one debt left. I have been offered a f&f payment but it wasn't low enough for me to pay off. A few months later and after a few more payments through my dmp I rang them to see what the lowest they would accept was. The computer generated a figure which was higher than the original offer. Is this normal?

[Deleted User]

slm6002 wrote: »

I am almost debt free but I have one debt left. I have been offered a f&f payment but it wasn't low enough for me to pay off. A few months later and after a few more payments through my dmp I rang them to see what the lowest they would accept was. The computer generated a figure which was higher than the original offer. Is this normal?

That's a shame:( I'm not sure how normal their action was but I suspect that the creditor thinks that as you are now further down the line towards the end of the debt they'll be sure to get their full balance back and are holding out for that now. Have you been paying token payments or your usual amount? Did your payment to this creditor increase once all your other debts were paid off? If they think you have the ability to keep on paying what you are paying now and are relatively near the end of the debt it's pretty unlikely, IMO, that they'll snatch your hand off with a low F&F offer.

slm6002

carbootcrazy wrote: »

That's a shame:( I'm not sure how normal their action was but I suspect that the creditor thinks that as you are now further down the line towards the end of the debt they'll be sure to get their full balance back and are holding out for that now. Have you been paying token payments or your usual amount? Did your payment to this creditor increase once all your other debts were paid off? If they think you have the ability to keep on paying what you are paying now and are relatively near the end of the debt it's pretty unlikely, IMO, that they'll snatch your hand off with a low F&F offer.

I have had a dmp with stepchange for about 6 years and I have been paying a low amount since then to all debts. I had some money left to me and with it I have paid off most of the debts this month so no increased payments have been made as yet. I have about another 10+ years paying at the exisiting rate.

I spoke to another lady at the company today who was much more helpful that the previous person who didn't really know too much. Still no further forward with paying the debt off but she will be getting back to me soon with an answer

[Deleted User]

slm6002 wrote: »

I have had a dmp with stepchange for about 6 years and I have been paying a low amount since then to all debts. I had some money left to me and with it I have paid off most of the debts this month so no increased payments have been made as yet. I have about another 10+ years paying at the exisiting rate.

I spoke to another lady at the company today who was much more helpful that the previous person who didn't really know too much. Still no further forward with paying the debt off but she will be getting back to me soon with an answer

Thank you:T

10+ years is a long time remaining so, given that the creditor isn't aware of any change in your overall debt balance as yet, I'm really surprised that they were not interested in accepting a lower settlement offer.


It depends who you speak to at these companies. The general phone helpline staff aren't really trained to deal with these sort of requests. You would need to speak to someone more senior which it sounds like what happened in your latest conversation with them:j.


I hope it all works out well for you. It must be wonderful being a lot closer to debt-freedom, having cleared most of your debts :j. Good luck:beer:

redux

slm6002 wrote: »

I am almost debt free but I have one debt left. I have been offered a f&f payment but it wasn't low enough for me to pay off. A few months later and after a few more payments through my dmp I rang them to see what the lowest they would accept was. The computer generated a figure which was higher than the original offer. Is this normal?

Sounds like Idem Servicing. They can be very tricky to negotiate with, priding themselves they do things differently than other companies in this sector, which can mean they take months on something others can do in minutes, but eventually about 65% can be possible.

Whichever company it is, point out the increase and say this is unfair, and ask them to review things and come to a more sensible position.

slm6002

redux wrote: »

Sounds like Idem Servicing. They can be very tricky to negotiate with, priding themselves they do things differently than other companies in this sector, which can mean they take months on something others can do in minutes, but eventually about 65% can be possible.

Whichever company it is, point out the increase and say this is unfair, and ask them to review things and come to a more sensible position.

You are right it is Idem. I will wait for the call back and go from there

Lovetobedebtfree

Sorry guys, another question, I looked at my credit score recently and its "very poor" I am really keen to make it better, does anyone know how long it takes after a F&F settlement for it to improve? Thank you.

StokieBecks

Lovetobedebtfree wrote: »

Sorry guys, another question, I looked at my credit score recently and its "very poor" I am really keen to make it better, does anyone know how long it takes after a F&F settlement for it to improve? Thank you.

It is the history that matters not the made up score. The settled debts will look better than an unsettled one but the file won't improve considerably until the defaults drop off

What are you hoping for that requires a better credit history? Each lender will have their own criteria

System

Lovetobedebtfree wrote: »

Sorry guys, another question, I looked at my credit score recently and its "very poor" I am really keen to make it better, does anyone know how long it takes after a F&F settlement for it to improve? Thank you.

I believe you have to wait for all your defaults to drop off before you will see any improvement. But it doesn't matter as you no longer need credit, so the score is a bit irrelevant anyway. I started off at the beginning of the DMP thinking I needed to improve our credit scores and then realised what a waste of time it was. We have learnt how to live without credit and once the DMP is finished we will have more money every month anyway, as no longer paying debts. To me, the important thing now is building up a huge EF, which I am happy to say we are slowly doing.