Full and final settlement

whitenblue

Hi, and thanks for reading my first post.
I'm in trouble, like many others on this site, and would really appreciate help out there.
My situation is as follows:
I own a company that was 90+% reliant on the housing industry for it's turnover. We earned a good living and enjoyed a good standard of living. Eighteen months ago the company was dealt a severe blow with the crash in the housing market and it's turnover, and therefore it's profitability, suffered dramatically. Following staff losses and a period of no income I found I had to turn to interest free credit cards to live. This was not living the high life, but a much reduced standard of living. I owned a car that was on finance, funded originally through the company which was draining our cash, and other commitments taken out at a time when we could afford them.
Work improved, but not as much as we had expected, and only sufficiently to allow me to draw about 45% of my previous income.
My wife, who was one of the staff losses, and who's income we also lost, can't work because of stress and severe depression, (both diagnosed by GP and confirmed by second opinion), and I myself am under two doses of anti-depressants as we try to survive our position.
I had fallen into the interest free credit card trap; when the interest free period was up, I was in no position to move my borrowing and so the interest was piled on.
I eventually sent the car back following months of negotiation with the finance company and it was re-possessed. I now owe 14.5k and followiong rejection of my £100/mth offer they have now issued CCJ proceedings.
I am now behind in a couple of credit card payments and am now being hounded by them.
I owe about 55k in total, between credit card companies and the car finance. Our home is mortgaged to the hilt.
I wonder if anyone out there has any experience of having a reduced Full and Final Settlement offer accepted by a lender, and if so at what level?
My parents have offered to borrow some equity against their property, to lend me if it would help my situation. I would of course have to meet the repayments of this loan, although this would be affordable, as the level of repayments would be significantly less than the interest now being charged-up to 35%!
It would be a limited amount, and would not cover the whole of my indebtedness, but, if the lenders agreed to a settlement in line with what I could afford to repay my parents, it would mean we could try and start to put our life back together.
The company is busier, and I believe we have turned the corner, but time has run out for us personally.
We see this as perhaps the only solution. Please be aware that if I wasn't confident in the company's position, and it's ability to maintain my current level of income, I wouldn't even have contemplated my parents suggestion.

duggie1982

As you are responsible for the payments then i think it could be a bad idea to take your parents money as there is still a small chance of it all going wrong and then your parents having to sort their 'house' out.

I would try to avoid your parents taking out anything against their home and see if there is another way.