Full and final settlement help thread

National_Debtline

fatbelly wrote: »

I'm happy with the wording (credit to them for using the F&F phrase) but as you say I'm not happy that an email is reliable enough evidence as proof. I would prefer something on their letterheaded paper. Is this a debt collector? Makes me slightly nervous.

I'm also not happy with a debit card payment to a DCA. That also makes me nervous. Any chance of a cheque, maybe through a third party account?

Hi FB

I can understand why you wouldn't necessarily feel comfortable with an email alone as definitive proof. However, would things be different if the email included the sender's name at the bottom of the message? (I'm assuming that OP got the email from the DCA's company account as opposed to, say, a Hotmail or Gmail account.)

You may well be familiar with the case of Mehta vs J Pereira - here the judge suggested that including sender's name within the email would have the effect of a signature.

http://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/markup.cgi?doc=/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2006/813.html&query=mehta&method=boolean


Regards

Dennis @NDL

Jason_Bourne_2

National_Debtline wrote: »

Hi FB

I can understand why you wouldn't necessarily feel comfortable with an email alone as definitive proof. However, would things be different if the email included the sender's name at the bottom of the message? (I'm assuming that OP got the email from the DCA's company account as opposed to, say, a Hotmail or Gmail account.)

You may well be familiar with the case of Mehta vs J Pereira - here the judge suggested that including sender's name within the email would have the effect of a signature.

http://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/markup.cgi?doc=/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2006/813.html&query=mehta&method=boolean


Regards

Dennis @NDL

I settled on the email offer.


It was from the DCA on behalf of HBOS. All details of the account were listed and it came from a the DCA email address.


Wasn't sure if I did the right thing but I received a letter confirming that the debt had been settled in full, credit reference will be marked partial and that the balance was now zero, so all went well in the end.

National_Debtline

Jason_Bourne wrote: »

I settled on the email offer.


It was from the DCA on behalf of HBOS. All details of the account were listed and it came from a the DCA email address.


Wasn't sure if I did the right thing but I received a letter confirming that the debt had been settled in full, credit reference will be marked partial and that the balance was now zero, so all went well in the end.

That's useful feedback, thanks JB.

Regards

Dennis @NDL

marzom

Hi all,

I tried earlier in the year to settle my debts at 40%. None of my creditors accepted my offers.

My debt free date is 2025 and I thought about trying again in the New Year.

My financial situation is likely to get worse in the next couple of years as my company have stated that they are going to try and take away a contractual allowance. This allowance is more than I pay monthly through StepChange for my DMP.

Is it worth mentioning this in my full and final settlement requests or will my creditors think it is an empty bluff.

Grateful for any advice.

Jason_Bourne_2

marzom wrote: »

Hi all,

I tried earlier in the year to settle my debts at 40%. None of my creditors accepted my offers.

My debt free date is 2025 and I thought about trying again in the New Year.

My financial situation is likely to get worse in the next couple of years as my company have stated that they are going to try and take away a contractual allowance. This allowance is more than I pa y monthly through StepChange for my DMP.

Is it worth mentioning this in my full and final settlement requests or will my creditors think it is an empty bluff.

Grateful for any advice.

Defiantly.

Anything that makes them think that the debt could take a long time to repay if they don't accept your offer.

I said I was thinking of returning to self employment and my income was unknown and not even sure if I will take have anything to spare whilst I established myself. No lies but just an option I was considering.

Jason_Bourne_2

Jason_Bourne wrote: »

Quick question,


I've been dealing with Payplan and the timing of these F&F offers and settlement have been a little tricky. I'm trying my best to stop payplan sending payments out after I've received a written offer but a couple of them have been sent/paid after I settled the accounts. Takes about a week for them to process this and they said they couldn't stop the process even though the money hadn't left payplan yet....


Is that just tough luck or technically do these companies now owe me this money as my balance was zero after my F&F?


I know it's a bit cheeky but some of the payments were over £70 and this would help me pay off the remaining 2 creditors.

For anyone who may have the same problem, all my accounts have agreed to refund my 'overpayment' :lol

van22663

I have had several credit cards with large debts on which I have had an arrangement in place with for almost 5 years. Most have now been handed over to debt companies & I have been paying either £5 or £10 a month by direct debit.
My largest card debt was Lloyds bank with £11,500 outstanding. They wrote to me and offered a 70% discount making the payment about £3300. My account shows partially satisfied but it shows a Nil balance.
I have also had a similar offer off Egg card, which is now with Apex. £6400 debt, paid £1900. Also Goldfish card £2040 with Cabot Financial, they accepted £840.
One or 2 companies will not budge but I negotiated with all these companies myself by telephone, paid by debit card & they have confirmed in writing. One company that wont budge from 20% is Marlin, who are handling Northern Rock loans but all else offered good discounts.

SgtRock

SgtRock wrote: »

Hi all. This is my first post,so be gentle with me and please answer in layman terms. I get very confused with financial talk/jargon.
Basically,my ever worsening financial situation hit ridiculous levels around May with combined loans/cards totalling around £30K. I had to do something(which I should have done far sooner),so I contacted Stepchange. I have been paying £155 per month
,since June.
Current balances are:
Sainsburys Bank £10,942.93
Barclaycard £6,809.85
Blair,Oliver & Scott(Halifax loan) £3,924.64
Robinson Way(Halifax credit card) £751.43
Nationwide credit card £3,370.51
Halifax bank overdraft £2,431.67

However,I have recently inherited enough to pay off all of the above. Naturally,I don't wish to pay any more(far less preferably!) than I need to. My parents,God rest their souls,worked very hard through their lives & left me and my siblings approx £60K each through inheritance.
I really don't know what to do,or how to go about things now?
Do I keep quiet,& continue to pay £155 through Stepchange,& invest?
My gut feeling is to pay these debts off,with F&F offers,but wouldn't know where to start?! How much do I offer? Do I write or phone? Or do I actually ask Stepchange for advice,or is it not in my interest to let them know of my new situation?
I am worried that as I have banked this large amount,NOT into my Halifax bank account,but into an account I opened with Natwest in the summer,that I may not have helped my cause etc.
Incidentally,Nationwide sent me a very hostile letter recently and are to begin court proceedings(adding between £60 - £360 costs). Should this happen,it's not going to look good for me,should my inheritance being known.
Also,Barclaycard want £860.20 immediately,followed by a further £133.64 to reach them by 18/12/2013 !! The statement also mentions that Mercers Debt Collections Agency is now dealing with my account,& that I should phone them should I not be able to pay the above.

I could sure use some help...!

Just to update. I haven't actually done anything really,other than switch bank accounts from Natwest to Santander on the advice of Fat Belly(thanks). I have decided short term to wait til the new year and make offers to my creditors,& continue paying my creditors through Stepchange.
However,I received a very unpleasant letter from Shoosmiths solicitors this morning. Lovely timing on Xmas eve! Basically Nationwide have instructed them to obtain my balance outstanding (£3345.03). Basically,I need to contact them in the next 14 days with my repayment proposals & their intention is to reach an agreement in order to avoid necessity of Court action etc.
Clearly I do not wish this to go to court. Before this letter Nationwide appeared ok with receiving small payments via Stepchange. Now this..! It's one thing taking on a DCA or the creditors,but a solicitor?? Or is this just scaremongering?
Should I make an offer via phone(because of short time scale) to Nationwide or phone up Shoosmiths? I'm really not sure what to do,& almost feel like paying in full. I'm scared tbh. Any advice would make my Christmas a happier one! ;-)

notsocannylass

We entered into a DMP with Payplan back in July 2009 with debts of around 130K. To date we have repaid 159K and according to them have 12000 remaining to pay. My husband lot his job in October. We knew this was likely to be, so informed Payplan immediately . Our DMP was scheduled to be completed in Jan 2014. Every step along the way we informed Payplan by phone or by email. We knew we would be receiving a settlement of around 10k and we told Payplan that we would offer this as a final settlement to out creditors. Our final regular payment was made at the start of Nov and as we were expecting the lump sum, we cancelled the standing order. The lump sum of 10k was paid to Payplan mid November. We were told negotiations for a short settlement were underway and that creditors should look on our offers favourably. Since the beginning of December we have received numerous phone calls and letters from our creditors - adding charges and default letters - and have repeatedly contacted Payplan only to be told that very few of the creditors will accept anything less than the full amount. It transpires that back in October, when my husband lost his job, we should have been instructed to complete a new I and E form! So now that we have done that , we are waiting again and Payplan have our 10k and the creditors are hassling us having left us alone for 4 plus years!!
Advice? Suggestions on a postcard please?!

Sazzie23

Hi not so canny

See you haven't had a reply yet so I thought I'd bump it again

Cheers