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

tight_jock

Hi
My first post so be gentle with me!!
My business collapsed forcing me to totally reconsider the way we spent/saved. Personal debts of around £100k!!!!

The CAB are the only place to go to:T

Make sure you speak to the money advice team and not just an "ordinary" advisor. We are making token payments to card companies and DCA`s to be reviewed 6 monthly. We fully expect to be able to write off a large proportion of the outstanding balances in about 5 years. As for F+F it will be a long time before we are in a position to have saved enough to be able to offer. I would prefer to have them written off !!
My credit rating is shot to bits already but , to be honest ,I prefer paying cash for everything - I also get a better deal in a lot of cases.

WHO NEEDS CREDIT ??:beer:

Weggy

tight_jock wrote:

Hi
My first post so be gentle with me!!
My business collapsed forcing me to totally reconsider the way we spent/saved. Personal debts of around £100k!!!!

The CAB are the only place to go to:T

Make sure you speak to the money advice team and not just an "ordinary" advisor. We are making token payments to card companies and DCA`s to be reviewed 6 monthly. We fully expect to be able to write off a large proportion of the outstanding balances in about 5 years. As for F+F it will be a long time before we are in a position to have saved enough to be able to offer. I would prefer to have them written off !!
My credit rating is shot to bits already but , to be honest ,I prefer paying cash for everything - I also get a better deal in a lot of cases.

WHO NEEDS CREDIT ??:beer:

With that sort of amount, surely bankruptcy would be the better option for you personally?

polajoo

Hiya,

I've been talking to the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (fantastic and free!) about trying to find a way out of my problem.

They've suggested:

• an IVA (cannot do -- have a house with a lot of equity that I cannot 'use', see below)
• defaulting on payments (cannot do -- can't jeopardise my chances of getting a mortgage as I need to buy out a partner in a year or two, and don't want any charges on my property)
• consolidating (cannot do -- many of my loans are interest-up-front, which I was unaware of at the time)
• Requesting reduced amounts (cannot do -- don't want any default notices or charges on my property)
• Offering a F&F payment

You see that the one at the bottom seems to be the only one that I seem to be able to do. However, I am up to date with all of my loan payments (while my overdraft suffers), as I don't want to risk my chances of getting a good mortgage.

Has anyone had any success of just out-of-the-blue offering a Full & Final Payment to their creditors, rather than a collection agency?

What are my chances? Anyone know?

Weggy

I'd say your chances are very slim. Why would they accept a settlement offer from you when, as far as they're concerned, you're able to continue making payments and therefore pay back the full amount?

Think of it this way. If a mate borrowed £100 from you and then a few days later offered you £50 to clear his debt, you'd tell him where to stick it. However, if you'd been chasing that debt for 6 months, and you've fallen out with him, when suddenly he offers you £50.... chances are you'd take it.....

Toto

You could try but from the lenders point of view they would see no reason to accept. If you are up to date with them, as far as they are concerned they are getting all of their money plus the interest. At this stage, to them you are not a bad credit risk.

Toto

The truth of the matter is I don't think you can have it all ways. You can't keep your credit rating spotless and pay your current creditors less than you borrowed.

Why don't you start a new thread posting your SOA so everyone can see your income/outgoings and debts. That way perhaps some very wise people can help you keep your credit rating in tact and pay back your debts.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280

see this post for help with your SOA.

polajoo

Hmm ... good point. Ok, will start a new thread. Thanks. :-)

amberz

Hi,
MCBIRNIE 25after reading this I thought I'd mention this! ( dont know if it is a law or just a saying), but isnt a "spoken debt a payed debt" ?, I used to have an account with provident(loan company), I worked as a manageress in a public house at the time and on one occassion, the collector came into the pub on her day off. She had a little drink in her lol, I said hi in the passing and she immediately said hi back followed by " come here you, you never payed me this week", and sat laughing with her friend's. I had indeed payed her, that week but told her it was the last payment I would ever have to make as a spoken debt is a payed debt, then told her to laugh that one off to her manager at Provident. She never ever came back to my door for payment and no-one else did either. I have never heard a thing ever again from her or the company!!!. I also used to have a man who collected money I owed to BT, I had given him around 6payments at the time and one day he had knocked on the door while I was asleep, by the time I got out of bed he was away, but on my heater in my hallway was a calling card!!!!! I waited till the next time he came and asked him if he had entered my home, he said no, but left very red faced when I told him the card must have been uplifted by a gust of wind and sat onto my radiator then?, I told him not to ever come back to my door or I would have him done for breaking and entering, and again I have never heard another thing from him or BT, infact I am with bt now, and have been since one week after this event lol. No use to you, but maybe someone knows if you can use that old saying, spoken debt is payed debt?.I think if you mean you had an two sided argument with this person, then I would think they would be more professional than to shout back your business in the street, I would have welcomed the answers then persuid slander or the threat of it.

AmberZ[/I]

Metropolitan_Anthony

polajoo wrote:

Hiya,

Has anyone had any success of just out-of-the-blue offering a Full & Final Payment to their creditors, rather than a collection agency?

What are my chances? Anyone know?

I am more or less in your situation. My earlier post in this thread showed a mixed experience with DCA's. One (Wescot) offered me no f&f and I got a default. The other (Credit Solutions) offered me an f&F and I had the debt settled without a default. A DCA was involved in both cases. I found you could not get a f&f with the creditor directly. It is hit and miss.

Roughly a default is issued after 3 months of non payments to the creditor. Your best bet may be to withold payments for 3 months, then suggest an f&f. You are more likely to get a default notice warning than an agreement to settle the debt. In which case make sure you have 3 months payments put aside and quickly pay them to avopid the default being registered with Experian etc.

Firefly

In relation to Full & Final settlements, what are the pros and cons of having your credit file marked 'partially satisfied'?

I've negotiated settlement of a debt and have been told this will only constitute partially satisfied.

How can a debt be 'in FULL and final settlement' when it's not FULLY paid?