What lump sum payments will credit card companies accept?

danielfulshaw

Hi

I have £ 25, 400 worth of credit card debts...however I've been fortunate to just get a one-off payment of £ 6, 300! I want to use it pay off some of my credit cards. However, it's unlikely after this bit of good news that my situation is going to get better as I care for a disabled family member, am now ill myself and am on income support. I have considered declaring myself bankrupt to clear the charges as a last resort as the stress has been dreadful.

I wanted to know how far I can stretch that £ 6k and what the card companies will accept?

My debts are roughly as follows owed to 5 companies
£ 1, 600
£ 2, 000
£ 8, 300
£ 6, 800
£ 6, 500

Wow - seeing that all there is frightening!
So, my question to you good people is what size of lump sum offer can I offer these companies to clear my debts? Would they accept £ 1k or 2k for a £ 6 debt? What's your experience? Did they demand a third or half? Did it depend on your situation?

Pobby

bumping up

cally6008

I would ring the companies that you owe £1,600 and £2,000 to and speak to them and ask them what they would accept as a "full and final offer/payment" in order to pay the account off and then to close it.

Make sure you get this amount in writing and also written confirmation that the company has accepted payment of X amount and closed the account.

danielfulshaw

Thanks ...but what amounts are they likely to accept? Will they accept a third or half the amount?

CLAPTON

firstly and most importantly ... have you already defaulted on these debts i.e. either stopped paying or agreed reduced payment terms?

moongarden

Offer less than you think they will accept initially. How about going in with an offer of 60%? Make sure you only say you would be able to get the 60% amount in cash from a family member or whatever. If they know you have a pot of money enough to pay off all of their own debt they will not care if you can't pay the others.

danielfulshaw

I am paying a small sum back on all but one of those - between £ 30 to £ 70 depending upon the cards. I wouldn't ever make out I could pay one off in full as I want to stretch that £ 6k as far as it will go. I've heard you should offer a third to a half. But...if I offer a third and they reject it, I don't want them to think they can get that up to half and then sense there's more in the pot.However, i need to start low ...

MrsTinks

But have you defaulted on any of the debts? Or are you just trying to avoid paying all of what you have borrowed?

danielfulshaw

Well of course I have defaulted

MrsTinks

Well it's not an of course A lot of people try to negotiate reduced settlements without actually having defaulted - whether or not we agree with it is a different matter. However the amounts etc are obviously VERY varied if they already see their money as at risk as opposed to people who're just trying to chance getting a smaller settlement figure in the hope creditors will accept it especially due to the current financial climate.

I would in that case start by offering them 1/3 and work up from there. I don't think you will get them to accept any less than that and I doubt they'll even go that low... do you have any assets that they might eye up and decide to try and put a charge on to "insure" the debt through the courts?

danielfulshaw

No, I don't. I don't own the house and don't have any savings..this was really a last resort rather than trying to abolsve myself from paying them back. But thanks for your advice and I will see what I can offer them unless anyone has any better ideas.