Full and final settlement help thread

fatbelly

Hi - this isn't an exact science but 35% is definitely in the ball park for settlements with a normal company. As you say, PRA can be difficult.

These aren't coming back to your credit record. The whole record is removed 6 years after it is defaulted or settled, whichever happens sooner.

If you have 5k available, it seems sensible to start making offers now. Use the National Debtline standard letter and start a little lower to give yourself room to negotiate - maybe 25% 

Chayes17

Hi, not been here for ages but here goes….last year I managed to pay off most of my debt with pretty low  F&F offers and am almost debt free, except for a current account with LTSB, for about £2500. I barely have any memory of it, as it was a really dark time for me

LTSB literally made me jump through hoops. Wanted my life history (abuse including financial, no longer able to work as disabled and on benefits, no longer have equity as I was forced to sell my home due to my ex), sent them I&E, sent them copies of my repeat prescriptions, shared details of my personal history, that I wouldn’t share with 99% of the population

I had, sporadically, been paying £1 off, and all this BEFORE cost of living crisis. As you can imagine, things have only got worse, as they have for many

Initially, I requested write-off but when this was refused, I made F&F offer. Absolutely not was their reply. I had directed my letter to CEO of LTSB

I don’t understand the logic. I will never be able to work again, never again have any equity and am 10 years from retirement. They will NEVER see their debt repaid but my brother would happily gift me %, if I could only get an acceptance. But, I am completely out of ideas and feel hopeless 

Surely they must know, especially from the information that I have provided, and from getting sporadic payments, that they will never recoup their losses?

Any thoughts or ideas?

sourcrates

hearnan said:

Hello, I'm looking for some advice re full and final settlement please.  I've read through alot of these threads but can find the specific information.

I have been paying a DMP for nearly 9 years.  I've paid back nearly 10K and have £14,500 to go.  All the debts have gone from my credit file (except 1 with Next that was settled in 2014 shows settled on my credit file, they then continued to put a no info available and then settled again 2 years later - I'm not sure they can do that can they?

I owe the following

Westcot - Link £8000

Link - £3,300

PRA - £2300

Hoist - £600.00

I have read PRA aren't great with Full and Final but I'm now out of the 6 year reporting with them.  Can they report ever again on these debts?

I can find about 5K and was hoping to do a full and final which is only paying 35% of each debt.

I'm not really sure what to do, carry on paying them through Stepchange or try and get them settled.  Are companies more likely to settle after paying them for over 8 years in a DMP (I've never missed a payment to them).

Thank you.

First off you send CCA requests for each debt, find out what is enforceable, and what isn`t.

Based on the results of that, any offers should always start with a low ball, say 10% of what is owed, and negotiate upwards from there.

Be prepared for the long haul though, nothing happens quickly, turn around for a written response can be a month or more, once a debt drops off your credit file, nothing can bring it back again.

You are much more likely to obtain a settlement on older debts, as they have been hanging on their books for years, and they will want closure.

NeverendingDMP

LexieLou said:

full on final rant on my part....Intrum -  won't accept my F&F, will only accept a 10% and 20% reduction in the debt owed.....oddly this co-incides with my annual Stepchange review, so they may find that they are now getting less money every month.  

Everyone else settled at 50% reduction  

Anyone any ideas how to manage this before I do something silly?  

Thanks

LL xx

Just to Give hope I settled a large dmp debt with intrum at just under 40%. The worker was shocked when I rang to pay it and although v polite I could tell she was surprised when she double checked it.
 dh is currently receiving monthly letters to settle his at 50% with intrum but we can't afford it.
Whether it's a coincidence I don't know but both were previously with Tesco so maybe they had a batch they have been trying to clear.

Pra I think I settled mine at around 75 percent. Dh has no offers from them whatsoever despite us trying our luck so it's gonna keep rolling on. 

Fmmg

I am looking for advice.  I have inherited some money and am thinking about making a full and final settlement offer.  I have spoken to Stepchange who manage my DMP.  They have said the minimum starting offer would have to be 40% of the whole debt - which in my case would be just under 14k (total debt to 9 creditors is 33.7K).  I'm just wondering if I should go for that and save myself the hassle  of contacting creditors etc, or allow Stepchange to do it for me.  I would obviously like to offer the lowest amount possible, given that my inheritance. I have had letters from CABOT previously offering 80% discount on my debt.  However, when I spoke to PRA, the lowest they would consider was 65%.  
Any suggestions would be very welcome! Thanks

bennyhill_2

Fmmg said:

I am looking for advice.  I have inherited some money and am thinking about making a full and final settlement offer.  I have spoken to Stepchange who manage my DMP.  They have said the minimum starting offer would have to be 40% of the whole debt - which in my case would be just under 14k (total debt to 9 creditors is 33.7K).  I'm just wondering if I should go for that and save myself the hassle  of contacting creditors etc, or allow Stepchange to do it for me.  I would obviously like to offer the lowest amount possible, given that my inheritance. I have had letters from CABOT previously offering 80% discount on my debt.  However, when I spoke to PRA, the lowest they would consider was 65%.  
Any suggestions would be very welcome! Thanks

Hi, first off I would not disclose anything to them about an inheritance. Go to them and state you’ve been offered a gift from a relative that won’t need to be repaid and that across all debts you are offering each a prorata amount. I’d start at 15% of total and advise that some of the debts have already been accepted and paid off. Nothing wrong with slightly bending the truth to suit you, rather than their interests. 

Make it clear that if they don’t accept, the 15% being offered will be added to the amount available/being offered to the other debts. 

How old are the debts?

Fmmg

bennyhill_2 said:

Fmmg said:

I am looking for advice.  I have inherited some money and am thinking about making a full and final settlement offer.  I have spoken to Stepchange who manage my DMP.  They have said the minimum starting offer would have to be 40% of the whole debt - which in my case would be just under 14k (total debt to 9 creditors is 33.7K).  I'm just wondering if I should go for that and save myself the hassle  of contacting creditors etc, or allow Stepchange to do it for me.  I would obviously like to offer the lowest amount possible, given that my inheritance. I have had letters from CABOT previously offering 80% discount on my debt.  However, when I spoke to PRA, the lowest they would consider was 65%.  
Any suggestions would be very welcome! Thanks

Hi, first off I would not disclose anything to them about an inheritance. Go to them and state you’ve been offered a gift from a relative that won’t need to be repaid and that across all debts you are offering each a prorata amount. I’d start at 15% of total and advise that some of the debts have already been accepted and paid off. Nothing wrong with slightly bending the truth to suit you, rather than their interests. 

Make it clear that if they don’t accept, the 15% being offered will be added to the amount available/being offered to the other debts. 

How old are the debts?

Thank you for your response.  My DMP started in 2014 and all but 2 of the debts are with debt collection agencies.  So do you think I should try to negotiate myself rather than through Stepchange? 

bennyhill_2

Fmmg said:

bennyhill_2 said:

Fmmg said:

I am looking for advice.  I have inherited some money and am thinking about making a full and final settlement offer.  I have spoken to Stepchange who manage my DMP.  They have said the minimum starting offer would have to be 40% of the whole debt - which in my case would be just under 14k (total debt to 9 creditors is 33.7K).  I'm just wondering if I should go for that and save myself the hassle  of contacting creditors etc, or allow Stepchange to do it for me.  I would obviously like to offer the lowest amount possible, given that my inheritance. I have had letters from CABOT previously offering 80% discount on my debt.  However, when I spoke to PRA, the lowest they would consider was 65%.  
Any suggestions would be very welcome! Thanks

Hi, first off I would not disclose anything to them about an inheritance. Go to them and state you’ve been offered a gift from a relative that won’t need to be repaid and that across all debts you are offering each a prorata amount. I’d start at 15% of total and advise that some of the debts have already been accepted and paid off. Nothing wrong with slightly bending the truth to suit you, rather than their interests. 

Make it clear that if they don’t accept, the 15% being offered will be added to the amount available/being offered to the other debts. 

How old are the debts?

Thank you for your response.  My DMP started in 2014 and all but 2 of the debts are with debt collection agencies.  So do you think I should try to negotiate myself rather than through Stepchange? 

100% yes. Do what is in your best interests. I presume you aren’t paying any interest on the DMP so if they won’t play ball just leave it for a while (at least a year) and then reapproach them. You’ve got nothing to lose IMHO. 

fatbelly

That's poor advice from stepchange, probably to make things easier for them.

If you look back on these pages, plenty of people settle for less than 40% - did you say you'd already been offered a 20% deal. So it would be stupid to offer that one 40%.


If youu use this link, and scroll down, a poster called whambam got lots below that figure


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/115430/full-and-final-settlement-help-thread/p118

Do it yourself - the standard advice is to start with a cca request on any that are consumer credit debts

Fmmg

fatbelly said:

That's poor advice from stepchange, probably to make things easier for them.

If you look back on these pages, plenty of people settle for less than 40% - did you say you'd already been offered a 20% deal. So it would be stupid to offer that one 40%.


If youu use this link, and scroll down, a poster called whambam got lots below that figure


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/115430/full-and-final-settlement-help-thread/p118

Do it yourself - the standard advice is to start with a cca request on any that are consumer credit debts

Thank you.  I've read a little about the CCA - is it right that if the company cannot produce the original CCA within 12 days, then the debt is unenforceable and so doesn't have to be paid? And if this is the case, would you just stop making payments or use this to negotiate a very low settlement?