Story about full and final settlement

Burlesque_Babe

I'm not sure if this will be a help to anyone offered a similar 'deal', a warning, a case of 'my own fault in the first place' for being naive, normal practice, or I've been held to ransom , but anyway......

Back in 2001, I was issued a CCJ for £500 from Capital One from a CC I stupidly used and just never paid (it was in the bad old days when I was in a bad relationship , and was in debt and coped as best I could with the situation I was in).....it went to a DCA and they said if I paid 50% it would be a full and final settlement. I agreed and they sent me a letter, which still said the other £250 was outstanding, but the account was settled. I thought it was over. I was wrong.

Anyway, I held onto this letter for grim life as proof I had paid, until I managed to lose it about 6 months ago. Along the way and inbetween, I had left the guy I was with, and the CCJ had come up when I was getting a mortgage. I presented the letter (it was marked as unsatisfied on my credit report), but it didn't make much difference and I was offered a poor mertgage deal, but at least I was offered one (I had 2 recent non CCJ defaults on there as well, which were settled, but showing as defaults).

Anyway. Fast forward to 2005. Discovered MSE and gained online access to my credit report and learning fast from all the lovely people here. The Credit Agreement with Capital One is showing as settled (they gave me back my CC 2 years ago on a completely new account!), but the CCJ section is still showing as unsatisfied. I rang the court and they say the whole amount is showing as owed. I rang Capital One and they said they didn't want any more money, the account was settled, BUT, because there was still £250 outstanding, they would only ever report it as 'partially satisfied'. I explained the CCJ was still classed as fully outstanding and unsatisfied, and they sent me a one line, vague letter to say the account was settled.

I'm looking to change mortgage from the awful deal I had to take when I moved. I applied this week, but was declined due to the CCJ still showing . I sent the letter, along with an email from Equifax saying they were going to refer it to the Registry of Judgements to see if it could be removed. No joy with the mortgage company.

The mortgage company said they would re-consider my application if the credit report could be marked as satisfied, or a certificate of satisfaction obtained. So, I called Capital One again. I felt like I was being held to ransom. No, they didn't want any more money - the debt had long been written off.....however....if I paid the remaining £250, they would happily report the account as fully satisfied and so I should be able to get a certificate of satisfaction.......first step is a letter on its way from them an then I shall be on to the court.....

The guy on the phone even said 'we have lots of people like you - they come back a few years later, we get them to pay the rest of the money and then they can approach creditors - if you pay this money - you can do the same....do you want to make payment?'

Naivety maybe, but if I'd known at the time 50% payment didn't quite mean what they said/I interpreted it to mean, I would have done things differently

So, for what its worth, that's a story to share with you.....I guess on the positive side, it might mean though my credit record gets cleaned up in the next month or so with the CCJ shown as satisfied, I really hope so!!

Hopefully, I'll never be in that situation again. My record is immaculate since I moved 18 months ago - lots of rows of lovely '0's......but the blot from 4 years ago is a lesson to me

keith_lard

Thanks for that, interesting!


K.