Full and final settlement help thread 19 November 2005 at 11:20AM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Debt-Free Wannabe 2.7K replies 1.5M views

Loopy_Laura_2

OK am putting my offer letters in the post today, have offered just under 30% on both. Fingers crossed!

Weggy

Good luck! Make sure you let us know how you get on....

MCBIRNIE25

Got an interesting one over this.
Was dealing with a creditor I absolutely loathe, to the point we have had some huge rows in the middle of the square I live in after they have knocked at obscene hours. Anyway, since becoming a DFW I thought i would negotiate a full and final offer to get rid of this scum bag!!!!!Anyway, we couldn't agree on an acceptable figure, i offered 30% he wanted 62%, so I have put a cheque in the post and popped in a letter AND ALSO WROTE ON THE CHEQUE that cashing this cheque constitutes accepting a full and final offer on the account and I see this account as settled. The cheque has been cashed... anyway, just taking legal advice on this now to see how it holds up.Expecting a call back from my legal advisor anytime now... Will keep you posted.

Toto

Hey good plan, I hope it works for you. If it does it's something I will think about doing. I am sure seeing a cheque in their grubby little hands adds an awful lot of weight to your f&f offer.

Good luck!

btw fancy spilling the beans on who the dca was?

MCBIRNIE25

Haha, not yet, don't wanna curse my application. Believe me when i said there was near fisticuffs on more than 1 occassion. I also feel sorry for my poor neighbours seeing me berating a DCA person in my undertwear at 10pm lol.

Toto

If I were you neighbour you would have got a round of applause LOL

Let us know how you get on with the legal issue, I wish you all the good luck in the world, hopefully you can now put this all in the past.

Metropolitan_Anthony

Weggy wrote:

you're a long way from being able to negotiate a full and final settlement. You'll need to enter into a payment agreement with these companies and then keep to those agreements for many months.

I've only got experience of two f&f situations from back in December 2003, a goldfish card and a providian/monument card. These are now settled .

By December 2003 I had entirely missed three months of repayments on the goldfish card. They defaulted me instantly and sold the debt to westcot. Westcot forced me to repay around 100% of the debt. The only concession from westcot was that the repayments were spread over the next 10 months. I made all these payments and got a "settled" letter from westcot.

The reason I did not offer to settle for less with Westcot was partly inexperience, partly because I had no lump sum to offer but mainly because westcot insist on doing everything over the phone. It is very important to know your own weaknesses and strengths. I am very weak over the phone and I have no negotiating skills. They had me at a disadvantage. I am much more persuasive in writing.

I had better fortune with Providian/Monument in December 2003. Again after three months of non payment to Providian my debt was sold to a DCA called Credit Solutions or something similar. One phone call to the DCA and they made me a f&f offer of 60% of the debt. I was very surprised and agreed to this, wrote the cheque and settled the debt. I was also lucky to avoid a default on my credit record.

My point is that I might be in a position to settle more debts this way with some lenders within three or four months of non-payment. The differences this time are as follows:

• I'm a little more experienced thanks to this site.
• This time I do have funds to hand to make f&f offers to compliant lenders.
• I'm planning on making precisely zero phone calls. I'll make all offers in writing.

We'll see.

Toto

I had a letter from wescot today regarding the BOS loan. they said

The creditor is prepared to assist you in clearing this debt by offering you the opportunity to make a reduced settlement on the outstanding balance on favourable terms.

What should you do?

To take advantage of this opportunity please contact 0870 *** ****

This settlement offer is conditional on you contacting us within 10 days of the date of this letter. Please note this offer is available for a limited period only.

I will write and reply, saying I would like the offer in writing etc and negotiate from there. My problem is I won't have the settlement money until the house sells and I can't say how long that will be, hopefully not too long, but you don't know.

Toto

I have drafted this reply... what do you think? Any laws dating back to the 70s with sub sections I should mention LOL

Dear Sir/ Madam,

I would be interested in discussing settlement terms with you regarding this debt but would prefer to keep all communication strictly in written format.

I would therefore appreciate you forwarding me your settlement proposal terms in writing to ensure all discussion is properly documented.

I would also appreciate it if you could give me the terms of payment in the proposal. Including the time frame in which you would expect the settlement to be made.

Kind Regards

Toto

code-a-holic

My husband had a debt of £14k (lloyds tsb loan) that we had been paying £1 a month after he lost his job. We had come in to some money so offered them £8k over the phone. After a bit of to and fro, and speaking to his advisor they accepted £9k if we paid with a debit card within 7 days. It has shown as satisfied on the credit report - but that is better than the many negatives that would have accumulated. Good luck!